he Earth became strewn over with hundreds and
thousands of combatants bathed in blood, deprived of limbs, and divested
of hair. In consequence of the surface of the Earth being covered with
elephant-riders and horsemen and slain steeds and combatants with
blood-stained armour and others armed with weapons and others who had
sought to slay one another with diverse kinds of terrible weapons, all
lying closely huddled together in that battle fraught with fearful
carnage, no warrior could proceed far on his horse. Having fought for a
little while, Shakuni, the son of Subala, O monarch, went away from that
spot with the remnant of his cavalry numbering 6,000. Similarly, the
Pandava force, covered with blood, and its animals fatigued, moved away
from that spot with its remnant consisting of 6,000 horses. The
blood-stained horsemen of the Pandava army then, with hearts intent on
battle and prepared to lay down their lives, said, "It is no longer
possible to fight here on cars; how much more difficult then to fight
here on elephants! Let cars proceed against cars, and elephants against
elephants! Having retreated, Shakuni is now within his own division. The
royal son of Subala will not again come to battle." Then the sons of
Draupadi and those infuriate elephants proceeded to the place where the
Pancala prince Dhrishtadyumna, that great car-warrior, was. Sahadeva
also, when that dusty cloud arose, proceeded alone to where king
Yudhishthira was. After all those had gone away, Shakuni, the son of
Subala, excited with wrath, once more fell upon Dhrishtadyumna's division
and began to strike it. Once more a dreadful battle took place, in which
the combatants were all regardless of their lives, between thy soldiers
and those of the foe, all of whom were desirous of slaying one another.
In that encounter of heroes, the combatants first eyed one another
steadfastly, and then rushed, O king, and fell upon one another in
hundreds and thousands. In that destructive carnage, heads severed with
swords fell down with a noise like that of falling palmyra fruits. Loud
also became the noise, making the very hair to stand on end, of bodies
falling down on the ground, divested of armour and mangled with weapons
and of falling weapons also, O king, and of arms and thighs severed from
the trunk. Striking brothers and sons and even sires with keen weapons,
the combatants were seen to fight like birds, for pieces of meat. Excited
with rage, thousands o