hafts. Observant of Kshatriya duties, Arjuna then pierced
Drona in that battle with nine arrows. Cutting the shafts of Arjuna by
his own shafts, Drona then pierced both Krishna and Arjuna with many
shafts that resembled poison or fire. Then, while Arjuna was thinking of
cutting off Drona's bow with his arrows, the latter, endued with great
valour, fearlessly and quickly cut off with shafts the bow-string of the
illustrious Phalguna. And he also pierced Phalguna's steeds and standard
and charioteer. And the heroic Drona covered Phalguna himself with many
arrows, smiling the while. Meantime, stringing his large bow anew,
Partha, that foremost of all persons conversant with arms, getting the
better of his preceptor, quickly shot six hundred arrows as if he had
taken and shot only one arrow. And once more he shot seven hundred other
arrows, and then a thousand arrows incapable of being resisted, and ten
thousand other arrows. All these slew many warriors of Drona's array.
Deeply pierced with those weapons by the mighty and accomplished Partha,
acquainted with all modes of warfare, many men and steeds and elephants
fell down deprived of life. And car-warriors, afflicted by those shafts,
fell down from their foremost of cars, deprived of horses and standards
and destitute of weapons and life. And elephants fell down like summits
of hills, or masses of clouds, or large houses, loosened, dispersed, or
burnt down by the thunder, or by the wind, or fire. Struck with Arjuna's
shafts, thousands of steeds fell down like swans on the breast of
Himavat, struck down by the force of watery current. Like the Sun, that
rises at the end of the Yuga, drying up with his rays, vast quantities of
water, the son of Pandu, by his showers of weapons and arrows, slew a
vast number of car-warriors and steeds and elephants and foot-soldiers.
Then like the clouds covering the sun, the Drona-cloud, with its arrowy
showers, covered the Pandava-sun, whose rays in the shape of thick
showers of arrows were scorching in the battle the foremost ones among
the Kurus. And then the preceptor struck Dhananjaya at the breast with a
long shaft shot with great force and capable of drinking the life-blood
of every foe. Then Arjuna, deprived of strength, shook in all his limbs,
like a hill during an earthquake. Soon, however, regaining his fortitude,
Vibhatsu pierced Drona with many winged arrows. Then Drona struck
Vasudeva with five arrows. And he struck Arjuna with t