shaft aimed by the Suta's son, O sire, the
Pandavas, with cheerless hearts, gave themselves up to great sorrow. That
shaft of keen point and endued with the effulgence of Sakra's thunder,
sped from Karna's arms, fell upon Dhananjaya's chest and penetrated it
like a mighty snake penetrating an ant-hill. That grinder of foes, viz.,
the high-souled Vibhatsu, thus deeply pierced in that encounter, began to
reel. His grasp became loosened, at which his bow Gandiva dropped from
his hand. He trembled like the prince of mountains in an earthquake.
Availing himself of that opportunity, the mighty car-warrior Vrisha,
desirous of extricating his car-wheel that had been swallowed up by the
earth, jumped down from his vehicle. Seizing the wheel with his two arms
he endeavoured to drag it up, but though possessed of great strength, he
failed in his efforts, as destiny would have it. Meanwhile the
diadem-decked and high-souled Arjuna, recovering his senses, took up a
shaft, fatal as the rod of Death, and called anjalika. Then Vasudeva,
addressing Partha, said, "Cut off with thy arrow the head of this enemy
of thine, viz., Vrisha, before he succeeds in getting upon his car."
Applauding those words of the lord Vasudeva, and while the wheel of his
enemy was still sunk, the mighty car-warrior Arjuna took up a
razor-headed arrow of blazing effulgence and struck the standard (of
Karna) bearing the elephant's rope and bright as the spotless sun. That
standard bearing the device of the costly elephant's rope, was adorned
with gold and pearls and gems and diamonds, and forged with care by
foremost of artists excelling in knowledge, and possessed of great
beauty, and variegated with pure gold. That standard always used to fill
thy troops with high courage and the enemy with fear. Its form commanded
applause. Celebrated over the whole world, it resembled the sun in
splendour. Indeed, its effulgence was like that of fire or the sun or the
moon. The diadem-decked Arjuna, with that razor-headed shaft, exceedingly
sharp, equipped with wings of gold, possessed of the splendour of fire
when fed with libations of clarified butter, and blazing with beauty, cut
off that standard of Adhiratha's son, that great car-warrior. With that
standard, as it fell, the fame, pride, hope of victory, and everything
dear, as also the hearts of the Kurus, fell, and loud wails of "Oh!" and
"Alas!" arose (from the Kuru army). Beholding that standard cut off and
thrown down