. Beautiful bows with golden staves, O Bharata,
loosened from the grasp of slain warriors, and costly ornaments, and
sharp shafts furnished with wings of pure gold or silver and washed with
oil, looked resplendent (as they lay scattered on the field), the latter
resembling, in particular, snakes that had cast off their slough. And
swords furnished with ivory handles decked with gold, and the shields also
of bowmen, variegated with gold, lay on the field, loosened from their
grasp. Bearded darts and axes and swords and javelins, all decked with
gold, beautiful coats of mail, and heavy and short bludgeons, and spiked
clubs, and battle-axes, and short arrows, O sire, and elephants' housings
of diverse shapes, and yak tails, and fans, lay scattered on the field.
And mighty car-warriors lay on the field with diverse kinds of weapons in
their hands or beside them, and looking alive, though the breath of life
had gone.[460] And men lay on the field with limbs shattered with maces
and heads smashed with clubs, or crushed by elephants, steeds, and cars.
And the earth, strewn in many places with the bodies of slain steeds,
men, and elephants, looked beautiful, O king, as if strewn with hills.
And the field of battle lay covered with fallen darts and swords and
arrows and lances and scimitars and axes and bearded darts and iron crows
and battle-axes, and spiked clubs and short arrows and Sataghnis[461] and
bodies mangled with weapons. And, O slayer of foes, covered with blood,
warriors lay prostrate on the field, some deprived of life and therefore,
in the silence of death, and others uttering low moans. And the earth,
strewn with those bodies, presented a variegated sight. And strewn with
the arms of strong warriors smeared with sandal paste and decked with
leathern fences and bracelets, with tapering thighs resembling the trunks
of elephants, and with fallen heads, graced with gems attached to turbans
and with earrings of large-eyed combatants, O Bharata, the earth assumed
a beautiful sight. And the field of battle, overspread with blood, dyed
coats of mail and golden ornaments of many kinds, looked exceedingly
beautiful as if with (scattered) fires of mild flames. And with ornaments
of diverse kinds fallen off from their places, with bows lying about,
with arrows of golden wings scattered around, with many broken cars
adorned with rows of bells, with many slain steeds scattered about
covered with blood and with their tongues protr