of battle. The son of Pandu, then, baffling with his weapons
those of the hostile heroes, and engaged in achieving fierce feats, gave
all to understand that he was a warrior of fierce feats. Then Arjuna
transgressed all those foremost of car-warriors, like the midday sun of
scorching rays in the firmament, no one amongst the creatures there could
even look at him. The shafts issuing out of the bow Gandiva of that
illustrious hero in that battle, seemed to us to resemble a row of cranes
in the welkin. Baffling with his own the weapons of all those heroes, and
showing by the terrible achievements in which he was engaged that he was
a warrior of fierce feats, Arjuna, desirous of slaying Jayadratha,
transgressed all those foremost of car-warriors, stupefying them all by
means of his shafts. Shooting his shafts on all sides, Dhananjaya, having
Krishna for his charioteer, presented a beautiful sight by careering with
great speed on the field of battle. The shafts in the welkin, by hundreds
and thousands, of that illustrious hero, seemed to course incessantly
through the sky. We never could notice when that mighty bowman took out
his shafts, when indeed, that son of Pandu aimed them, and when he let
them off. Then, O king, filling all the points of the compass with his
shafts and afflicting all the car-warriors in battle, the son of Kunti
proceeded towards Jayadratha and pierced him with four and sixty straight
arrows. Then the Kuru warriors, beholding the son of Pandu proceeded
towards Jayadratha, all abstained from battle. In fact, those heroes
became hopeless of Jayadratha's life. Every one amongst thy warriors that
rushed in that fierce battle against the son of Pandu, had his body
deeply pierced, O lord, with a shaft of Arjuna. The mighty car-warrior
Arjuna, that foremost of victorious persons, with his shafts blazing as
fire made thy army teem with headless trunks.[175] Indeed, O king, thus
creating a perfect confusion in thy host consisting of four kinds of
forces, the son of Kunti proceeded towards Jayadratha, And he pierced the
son of Drona with fifty shafts and Vrishasena with three. And the son of
Kunti mildly struck Kripa with nine arrows, and he struck Salya with
sixteen arrows and Karna with two and thirty. And piercing the ruler of
the Sindhus then with four and sixty arrows, he uttered a leonine shout.
The ruler of the Sindhus, however, thus pierced by the wielder of Gandiva
with his arrows, became filled with ra