and wrath, and in great cheerlessness of heart at the sight of the
prosperity of their foe. Skilled in speech, and filled with rage at the
success of the foe, the king said these words in the hearing of all the
troops, "O foremost of regenerate ones, without doubt thou hast set us
down for men who should be destroyed by thee. Thou didst not seize
Yudhishthira today even though thou hadst got him within thy reach. That
foe whom thou wouldst seize in battle is incapable of escaping thee if
once thou gettest him within sight, even if he be protected by the
Pandavas, aided by the very gods. Gratified, thou gavest me a boon; now,
however, thou dost not act according to it. They that are noble (like
thee), never falsify the hopes of one devoted to them." Thus addressed by
Duryodhana, Bharadwaja's son felt greatly ashamed. Addressing the king,
he said, "It behoveth thee not to take me to be such. I always endeavour
to achieve what is agreeable to thee. The three worlds with the gods, the
Asuras, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Nagas and the Rakshasas, cannot
defeat the force that is protected by the diadem-decked (Arjuna). There
where Govinda, the Creator of the universe is, and there where Arjuna is
the commander, whose might can avail, save three-eyed Mahadeva's, O lord?
O sire, I tell thee truly today and it will not be otherwise. Today, I
will slay a mighty car-warrior, one of the foremost heroes of the
Pandavas. Today I will also form an array that is impenetrable by the very
gods. Do, however, O king, by some means take Arjuna away from the field.
There is nothing that he doth not know or cannot achieve in battle. From
various places hath he acquired all that is to be known about battle."'

"Sanjaya continued, 'After Drona had said these words, the Samsaptakas
once more challenged Arjuna to battle and took him away to the southern
side of the field. Then an encounter took place between Arjuna and his
enemies, the like of which had never been seen or heard of. On the other
hand, the array formed by Drona, O king, looked resplendent. Indeed, that
array was incapable of being looked at like the sun himself when in his
course he reaches the meridian and scorches (everything underneath).
Abhimanyu, at the command, O Bharata, of his sire's eldest brother,
pierced in battle that impenetrable circular array in many places. Having
achieved the most difficult feats and slain heroes by thousands, he was
(at last) encountered by si