that
battle, some amongst thy troops were seen slain by means of their lofty
standards. Beholding, however, the heroic Pandavas, the brave warriors of
thy army, O Bharata, though forbidden by thy son, still rushed against
them. Duryodhana, speaking softly, sought to prevent those warriors from
fighting with the foe. No great car-warrior, however, amongst them obeyed
his behest. Then Shakuni, the son of the Gandhara king, possessed of
eloquence, O monarch, said unto Duryodhana these words, "How is this that
we are standing here, while the Madraka host is being slaughtered before
our eyes? When thou, O Bharata, art here, this does not look well! The
understanding made was that all of us should fight unitedly! Why then, O
king, dost thou tolerate our foes when they are thus slaying our troops?"

"'Duryodhana said, "Though forbidden by me before, they did not obey my
behest. Unitedly have these men penetrated in the Pandava host!"

"'Shakuni said, "Brave warriors, when excited with rage in battle, do not
obey the command of their leaders. It does not behove thee to be angry
with those men. This is not the time to stand indifferently. We shall,
therefore, all of us, united together with our cars and horses and
elephants, proceed, for rescuing those great bowmen, the followers of the
Madra king! With great care, O king, we shall protect one another."
Thinking after the manner of Shakuni, all the Kauravas then proceeded to
that place where the Madras were. Duryodhana also, thus addressed (by his
maternal uncle) proceeded, encompassed by a large force, against the foe,
uttering leonine shouts and causing the Earth to resound with that noise.
"Slay, pierce, seize, strike, cut off!" These were the loud sounds that
were heard then, O Bharata, among those troops. Meanwhile the Pandavas,
beholding in that battle the followers of the Madra king assailing them
unitedly, proceeded against them, arraying themselves in the form called
Madhyama. Fighting hand to hand, O monarch, for a short while those
heroic warriors, the followers of the Madra king, were seen to perish.
Then, whilst we were proceeding, the Pandavas, united together and endued
with great activity, completed the slaughter of the Madrakas, and, filled
with delight, uttered joyous shouts. Then headless forms were seen to
arise all around. Large meteors seemed to fall down from the sun's disc.
The Earth became covered with cars and broken yokes and axles and slain
car-warrio