not succeed in slaying the ruler of the Sindhus. As
long as I shall fight, shooting my whetted shafts, the heroic Dhananjaya,
capable of drawing the bow with even his left hand, will not succeed in
getting at the ruler of the Sindhus. All that a person, bearing love and
affection to thee and always solicitous of thy good, may do, shall be
done by me, O thou of Kuru's race! As regards victory, that depends on
destiny. I shall in battle today exert myself to my utmost for the sake
of the ruler of the Sindhus, and for achieving thy good. O king, victory,
however, is dependent on destiny. Relying on my manliness, I shall fight
with Arjuna today for thy sake, O tiger among men! Victory, however, is
dependent on destiny. O chief of the Kurus, let all the troops behold
today the fierce battle, making the very hair stand on end, that takes
place between myself and Arjuna." While Karna and the Kuru king were thus
talking to each other in battle, Arjuna began, with his keen arrows, to
slaughter thy host. With his broad-headed arrows of great sharpness he
began to cut off in that battle the arms, looking like spiked clubs or
the trunks of elephants, of unreturning heroes. And the mighty-armed hero
also cut off their heads with whetted shafts. And Vibhatsu also cut off
the trunks of elephants and the necks of steeds and the Akshas of cars
all around, as also blood-dyed horsemen, armed with spears and lances,
with razor-faced arrows into two or three fragments. And steeds and
foremost of elephants and standards and umbrellas and bows and Yak-tails
and heads fell fast on all sides. Consuming thy host like a blazing fire
consuming a heap of dry grass, Partha soon caused the earth to be covered
with blood. And the mighty and invincible Partha, of prowess incapable of
being baffled, causing an immense slaughter in that army of thine, soon
reached the ruler of the Sindhus. Protected by Bhimasena and by Satwata,
Vibhatsu, O chief of the Bharatas, looked resplendent like a blazing
fire. Beholding Phalguna in that state, the mighty bowmen of thy army,
those bulls among men, endued with wealth of energy, could not brook him.
Then Duryodhana and Karna and Vrishasena and the ruler of the Madras, and
Aswatthaman and Kripa and the ruler of the Sindhus himself, excited with
wrath and fighting for the sake of the Sindhu king, encompassed the
diadem-decked Arjuna on all sides. All those warriors, skilled in battle,
placing the ruler of the Sindhus at