unds of drums and other instruments and
with leonine roars, at which those two bulls among men looked beautiful
like the sun and the moon greeted by roaring clouds gathered around. Each
armed with a formidable bow drawn to a complete circle and looking like a
(solar or lunar) corona, those two heroes of great splendour, shooting,
in that battle thousands of arrows that constituted their rays, resembled
two unbearable suns risen at the end of the yuga for burning the entire
universe with its mobile and immobile creatures. Both invincible, both
capable of exterminating foes, each desirous of slaying the other; and
each displaying his skill upon the other, those two warriors, Karna and
the son of Pandu, closed fearlessly with each other in that dreadful
battle, like Indra and the asura Jambha. Invoking the mightiest of
weapons then, those two formidable bowmen began, with their terrible
shafts, to slay innumerable men and steeds and elephants as also to
strike each other, O king! Afflicted once more by those two foremost of
men, the troops of both the Kurus and the Pandavas, consisting of
elephants and foot-soldiers and horsemen and car-warriors, fled away on
all sides like other animals in the forest when assailed by the lion.
Then Duryodhana, and the chief of the Bhojas, and Subala's son, and
Kripa, and the son of Sharadvata's daughter, these five great
car-warriors, assailed Dhananjaya and Keshava with shafts capable of
producing great pain. Dhananjaya, however, with his shafts, cut off at
the same time the bows, the quivers, the steeds, the elephants, and the
cars with their drivers, of those warriors, and mangling every one of
them with excellent shafts, pierced the Suta's son with a dozen arrows.
Then a hundred cars, a hundred elephants, and a number of Saka and
Tukhara and Yavana horsemen, accompanied by some of the foremost
combatants among the Kambojas, quickly rushed against Arjuna from desire
of slaying him. Speedily cutting off with the shafts and razor-headed
arrows in his hands the excellent weapons of his foes, as also their
heads, and steeds, and elephants, and cars, Dhananjaya felled his
contending enemies on the field. Then in the welkin blasts of celestial
trumpets were blown by the excellent gods. These were mingled with the
praises of Arjuna. Blown by gentle breezes, excellent floral showers,
fragrant and auspicious, fell (upon Arjuna's head). Beholding that
incident, which was witnessed by gods and men,