beholding
thee incessantly drawing to a circle, in course of the conflict, the
Gandiva which resembleth a circle of fire, my sight faileth me and my
heart is rent asunder. And seeing thy fierce form in battle, like that of
the wielder of the Pinaka while inflamed with wrath, and looking also at
the terrible arrows shot by thee, I am filled with fear. I fail to see
when thou takest up thy excellent arrows, when thou fixest them on the
bow-string, and when thou lettest them off. And though all this is done
before my eyes, yet, deprived of my senses, I do not see it. My spirits
are drooping and earth itself seems to be swimming before me. I have no
strength to hold the whip and the reins.' Hearing these words, Arjuna
said, 'Do thou not fear. Assure thyself. Thou also hast, on the field of
battle performed, O bull among men, wonderful feats. Blessed be thou,
thou art a prince and born in the illustrious line of Matsyas. It
behoveth thee not to feel dispirited in chastising thy foes. Therefore, O
prince, stationed on my car, muster all thy fortitude and hold the reins
of my steeds, O slayer of foes, when I once more become engaged in
battle.'"

Vaisampayana continued, "Having said this unto Virata's son, that best
of men and foremost of car-warriors, the mighty-armed Arjuna, again
addressed the son of Virata, saying. 'Take me without delay to the van of
Bhishma's division. I will cut off his very bow-string in the battle.
Thou shalt behold today the celestial weapons of blazing beauty, shot by
me, look like flashes of lightning disporting amid the clouds in the sky.
The Kauravas shall behold the gold-decked back of my Gandiva today, and
assembled together the foe shall dispute, saying,--"By which hand of his,
the right or the left, doth he shoot?" And I shall cause a dreadful river
(of death) to flow today towards the other world with blood for its
waters and cars for its eddies, and elephants for its crocodiles. I shall
today, with my straight arrows, extirpate the Kuru forest having hands
and feet and heads and backs and arms for the branches of its trees.
Alone, bow in hand, vanquishing the Kuru host, a hundred paths shall open
before me like those of a forest in conflagration. Struck by me thou
shalt today behold the Kuru army moving round and round like a wheel
(unable to fly off the field). I shall show thee today my excellent
training in arrows and weapons. Stay thou on my car firmly, whether the
ground be smooth or