n celestial weapon baffled by the Rakshasa illusion,
Karna, without losing his senses, turned his mind inwards and began to
reflect on what he should next do. At that time all the Kauravas,
beholding Karna and that terrible illusion (of the Rakshasa) cried out
saying, "O Karna, slay the Rakshasa soon with thy dart. These Kauravas
and the Dhartarashtras are on the point of being annihilated. What will
Bhima and Arjuna do to us? Slay this wretched Rakshasa at dead of night,
who is consuming us all. They that will escape from this dreadful
encounter to-day will fight with the Parthas in battle. Therefore, slay
this terrible Rakshas now with that dart given thee by Vasava. O Karna,
let not these great warriors, the Kauravas, these princes that resemble
Indra himself, be all destroyed in this nocturnal battle." Then Karna,
seeing the Rakshasa alive at dead of night, and the Kuru army struck with
fear, and hearing also the loud wails of the latter set his heart upon
hurling his dart. Inflamed with rage like a wrathful lion and unable to
brook the assaults of the Rakshasa, Karna took up that foremost of
victory-giving and invincible darts, desirous of compassing the
destruction of Ghatotkacha. Indeed, that dart, O king, which he had kept
and adored for years for (achieving) the slaughter of Pandu's son in
battle, that foremost of darts which Sakra himself had given to the
Suta's son in exchange for the latter's ear-rings, that blazing and
terrible missile twined with strings and which seemed to thirst for
blood, that fierce weapon which looked like the very tongue of the
Destroyer or the sister of Death himself, that terrible and effulgent
dart, Naikartana, was now hurled at the Rakshasa. Beholding that
excellent and blazing weapon capable of piercing the body of every foe,
in the hands of the Suta's son, the Rakshasa began to fly away in fear
assuming a body gigantic as the foot of the Vindhya mountains. Indeed,
seeing that dart in Karna's hand, all creatures in the sky, O king,
uttered loud cries. Fierce winds began to blow, and thunders with loud
report began to fall on the earth. Destroying that blazing illusion of
Ghatotkacha and piercing right through his breast that resplendent dart
soared aloft in the night and entered a starry constellation in the
firmament. Having fought, using diverse beautiful weapons, with many
heroic Rakshasa and human warriors, Ghatotkacha, then uttering diverse
terrible roars, fell, deprived of l