ws, he
pierced Shalya with four and Karna himself with three. With ten other
well-shot shafts he then struck the Kaurava warrior Sabhapati, clad in
golden mail. Thereupon that prince, deprived of head and arms and steeds
and driver and bow and standard, fell down, wounded and dead, from his
foremost of cars, like a Sala tree cut down with an axe. Once more
piercing Karna with three, eight, twelve, four, and ten arrows, Partha
slew 400 elephants equipped with many weapons, and 8,000 car-warriors, and
1,000 steeds with riders, and 8,000 brave foot-soldiers. And soon Partha
made Karna with his driver and car and steeds and standard invisible with
straightly coursing shafts. Then the Kauravas, thus slaughtered by
Dhananjaya, loudly addressed Adhitratha's son, saying, "Shoot thy arrows
and slay the son of Pandu. Already, he has begun to exterminate the Kurus
with his shafts!" Thus urged, Karna, with his best endeavours,
incessantly shot many arrows. Capable of cutting the very vitals, those
blood-drinking shafts, well sped by Karna, slew large numbers of the
Pandavas and the Pancalas. Thus those two foremost of all bowmen, those
two warriors of great strength that were capable of bearing all foes,
those two heroes acquainted with weapons, struck the warriors opposed to
them, as also each other, with mighty weapons. Then Yudhishthira, clad in
golden mail, his arrows having been extracted and himself made sound with
mantras and drugs by foremost of surgeons well-disposed towards him,
quickly came to that spot for witnessing (the encounter between Arjuna
and Karna). Beholding king Yudhishthira the just arrived there like the
resplendent full Moon freed from the jaws of Rahu and risen in the
firmament, all creatures became filled with delight. Beholding those two
foremost of warriors, those two first of heroes and slayers of foes,
viz., Karna and Partha, engaged in fight, the spectators, both celestial
and terrestrial, restraining the animals they rode or that were yoked
unto their vehicles, stood motionless. As the two heroes, O king, struck
each other with many foremost of arrows, O king, the sounds caused by the
bows, bow-strings, and palms, of both Dhananjaya and Adhiratha's son,
became tremendous and their well-sped arrows also caused a deafening
whizz. Then the bow-string of the son of Pandu, stretched with force,
broke with a loud noise. During the interval thus offered, the Suta's son
pierced Partha with a hundred small ar