e on the ground, and covered with
blood, Virata is encompassed by screaming vultures and howling jackals
and crowing ravens. Those black-eyed ladies, approaching the prostrate
form of the Matsya king over which carnivorous birds are uttering cries
of joy, are endeavouring to turn the body. Weakened by grief and
exceedingly afflicted, they are unable to do what they intend. Scorched
by the Sun, and worn out with exertion and toil, their faces have become
colourless and pale. Behold also, O Madhava, those other children besides
Abhimanyu--Uttara, Sudakshina the prince of the Kambhojas, and the
handsome Lakshmana--all lying on the field of battle!'"

21

"Gandhari said, 'There the mighty Karna, that great bowman, lieth on the
ground! In battle he was like a blazing fire! That fire, however, hath
now been extinguished by the energy of Partha. Behold, Vikartana's son
Karna, after having slain many atirathas, has been prostrated on the bare
ground, and is drenched with blood. Wrathful and possessed of great
energy, he was a great bowman and a mighty car-warrior. Slain in battle
by the wielder of Gandiva, that hero now sleepeth on the ground. My sons,
those mighty car-warriors, from fear of the Pandavas, fought, placing
Karna at their head, like a herd of elephants with its leader to the
fore. Alas, like a tiger slain by a lion, or an elephant by an infuriated
elephant, that warrior hath been slain in battle by Savyasaci. Assembled
together, O tiger among men, the wives of that warrior, with dishevelled
tresses and loud wails of grief, are sitting around that fallen hero!
Filled with anxiety caused by the thoughts of that warrior, king
Yudhishthira the just could not, for thirteen years, obtain a wink of
sleep! Incapable of being checked by foes in battle like Maghavat himself
who is invincible by enemies, Karna was like the all-destroying fire of
fierce flames at the end of the yuga, and immovable like Himavat himself!
That hero became the protector of Dhritarashtra's son, O Madhava! Alas,
deprived of life, he now lieth on the bare ground, like a tree prostrated
by the wind! Behold, the wife of Karna and mother of Vrishasena, is
indulging in piteous lamentations and crying and weeping and falling upon
the ground! Even now she exclaims, "Without doubt, thy preceptor's curse
hath pursued thee! When the wheel of thy car was swallowed up by the
Earth, the cruel Dhananjaya cut off thy head with an arrow! Alas, fie (on
the her