ar-warriors, that first of all bowmen.
Then Karna, O monarch, burnt the hostile army like a mighty and blazing
conflagration consuming a heap of dry grass in the summer season. Thus
slaughtered by Karna, the Pandava troops, struck with fear, fled in all
directions, at the very sight of Karna. Loud wails arose there among the
Pancalas in that great battle, while they were thus struck with the keen
shafts sped from Karna's bow. Struck with fear at the noise, the vast
host of the Pandavas, those enemies of Karna, regarded him as the one
warrior in that battle. Then that crusher of foes, viz., the son of
Radha, once more achieved an exceedingly wonderful feat, inasmuch as all
the Pandavas, united together, were unable to even gaze at him. Like a
swelling mass of water breaking when it comes in contact with a mountain,
the Pandava army broke when it came in contact with Karna. Indeed, O
king, the mighty-armed Karna in that battle, burning the vast host of the
Pandavas, stood there like a blazing fire without smoke. With great
activity that hero, with his shafts, cut off the arms and the heads of
his brave foes, O king, and their ears decked with earrings. Swords with
hilts of ivory, and standards, and darts, and steeds, and elephants, and
cars of diverse kind, O king, and banners, and axles, and yokes, and
wheels of many kinds, were cut off in various ways by Karna, observant of
a warrior's vow. There, O Bharata, with elephants and steeds slain by
Karna, the earth became impassable and miry with flesh and blood. The
uneven and even spots also of the field, in consequence of slain horse
and foot and broken cars and dead elephants, could no longer be
distinguished. The combatants could not distinguish friends from foes in
that thick darkness caused by shafts when Karna's (celestial) weapon was
displayed. The mighty car-warriors of the Pandavas, O monarch, were
completely shrouded with shafts, decked with gold, that were sped from
Karna's bow. Those mighty car-warriors of the Pandavas, O king, in that
battle, though struggling vigorously, were repeatedly broken by the son
of Radha, even as a herd of deer in the forest is routed by an angry
lion. Routing the foremost of Pancala car-warriors and (other) foes,
Karna of great fame, in that battle, slew the Pandava warriors like a
wolf slaying smaller animals. Beholding the Pandava army turn away from
battle, the Dhartarashtra bowmen of great might rushed against the
retreating host u