f being vanquished by foes in battle,
addressed Prishata's son, saying, "O lord, O thou that ownest steeds
white as pigeons, let such measures be adopted that I may not be taken a
prisoner by the Brahmana."

"'Dhrishtadyumna said, "O thou of excellent vows, never shalt thou be
placed under the power of Drona, however much may he strive. Even I shall
check Drona today with all his followers. As long as I am alive, O thou
of Kuru's race, it behoveth thee not to feel any anxiety. Under no
circumstances will Drona be able to vanquish me in battle."'

"Sanjaya continued, 'Having said these words, the mighty son of Drupada
owning steeds of the hue of pigeons, scattering his shafts, rushed
himself at Drona. Beholding that (to him) evil omen in the form of
Dhrishtadyumna stationed before him, Drona soon became exceedingly
cheerless. Beholding this, that crusher of foes, viz., thy son Durmukha,
desirous of doing what was agreeable to Drona, began to resist
Dhrishtadyumna. Then a terrible and a fierce battle took place, O
Bharata, between the brave son of Prishata and thy son, Durmukha. Then
Prishata's son, quickly covering Durmukha, with a shower of arrows,
checked Bharadwaja's son also with a thick arrowy downpour. Beholding
Drona checked, thy son Durmukha quickly rushed at Prishata's son and
confounded him with clouds of arrows of diverse kinds. And while the
prince of the Panchalas and that foremost one of Kuru's race were thus
engaged in battle, Drona consumed many sections of Yudhishthira's host.
As a mass of clouds is dispersed in different directions by the wind,
even so was Yudhishthira's host, in many parts of the field, scattered by
Drona. For only a short while did that battle look like an ordinary
combat. And then, O king, it became an encounter of infuriated persons in
which no consideration was shown for anybody. And the combatants could no
longer distinguish their own men from the foe. And the battle raged on,
the warriors being guided by inferences and watch-words. Upon the gems on
their headgears, upon their necklaces and other ornaments, and upon their
coats of mail, rays of light like those of the Sun seemed to fall and
play. And cars and elephants and steeds, decked with streaming banners,
seemed in that battle to resemble masses of clouds with flocks of cranes
under them. And men slew men, and steeds of fiery metal slew steeds, and
car-warriors slew car-warriors and elephants slew elephants. And soon a
fier