d with the Kurus and
fighting wrathfully for Duryodhana's sake were incapable of being
vanquished in battle by anybody else save thee, O scorcher of foes! What
man, unprotected by thee, could advance, beholding the mighty and
swelling host of the Dhartarashtras arrayed in order of battle? Protected
by thee, O puissant one, the Pandavas, filled with wrath, and penetrating
into its midst, have destroyed that host shrouded with dust and
resembling a swollen sea. Seven days have elapsed since the mighty
Jayatsena, the ruler of the Magadhas, was slain in battle by Abhimanyu.
After that, 10,000 elephants, of fierce feats, that used to follow that
king, were slain by Bhimasena with his mace. After that, other elephants,
and car-warriors, by hundreds, have been destroyed by Bhima in that
exercise of his might. Even thus, O Partha, during the progress of this
awful battle, the Kauravas, with their steeds and car-warriors and
elephants, encountering Bhimasena and thee, O son of Pandu, have from
hence repaired to the region of Death. The van of the Kaurava army, O
Partha, having been struck down by the Pandavas, Bhishma shot showers of
fierce shafts, O sire! Conversant with the highest weapons, he shrouded
the Cedis, the Pancalas, the Karushas, the Matsyas, and the Kaikayas with
the shafts, and deprived them of life! The welkin became filled with
gold-winged and straight coursing shafts, capable of piercing the bodies
of all foes, that issued out of his bow. He slew thousands of
car-warriors, shooting showers of shafts at a time. In all, he slew a
100,000 men and elephants of great might. Abandoning the diverse motions,
each of a new kind, in which they careered, those wicked kings and
elephants, while perishing, destroyed many steeds and cars and elephants.
Indeed, numberless were the shafts that Bhishma shot in battle.
Slaughtering the Pandava host for ten days together, Bhishma made the
terraces of numberless cars empty and deprived innumerable elephants and
steeds of life. Having assumed the form of Rudra or of Upendra in battle,
he afflicted the Pandava divisions and caused a great carnage amongst
them. Desirous of rescuing the wicked Suyodhana who was sinking in a
raftless sea, he slaughtered many lords of Earth among the Cedis, the
Pancalas, and the Kaikayas, and caused a great massacre of the Pandava
army teeming with cars and steeds and elephants. Innumerable
foot-soldiers among the Srinjayas, all well-armed, and other lord