una, the Kurus with all their warriors began to applaud it highly.
And having reached the very heavens, that sound coming back was heard
even like the crash of the thunderbolt hurled by Maghavat on the
mountain breast. Thereupon that heroic and intrepid and mighty
car-warrior, Saradwat's son Kripa, endued with strength and prowess,
waxing wroth at Arjuna, and unable to bear that sound and eager for
fight, took up his own sea-begotten conch and blew it vehemently. And
filling the three worlds with that sound, that foremost of car-warriors
took up a large bow and twanged the bow-string powerfully. And those
mighty car-warriors, equal unto two suns, standing opposed to each
other, shone like two masses of autumnal clouds. Then Saradwat's son
quickly pierced Partha, that slayer of hostile heroes, with ten swift
and whetted arrows capable of entering into the very vitals. And
Pritha's son also, on his part, drawing that foremost of weapons, the
_Gandiva_, celebrated over the world, shot innumerable iron-arrows, all
capable of penetrating into the very core of the body. Thereupon Kripa,
by means of whetted shafts, cut into hundreds and thousands of
fragments, those blood-drinking arrows of Partha before they could come
up. Then that mighty car-warrior, Partha also, in wrath displaying
various manoeuvres, covered all sides with a shower of arrows. And
covering the entire welkin with his shafts, that mighty warrior of
immeasurable soul, the son of Pritha, enveloped Kripa with hundreds of
shafts. And sorely afflicted by those whetted arrows resembling flames
of fire, Kripa waxed wroth and quickly afflicting the high-souled Partha
of immeasurable prowess with ten thousand shafts, set up on the field of
battle a loud roar. Then the heroic Arjuna quickly pierced the four
steeds of his adversary with four fatal arrows shot from the _Gandiva_,
sharp and straight, and furnished with golden wings. And pierced by
means of those whetted arrows resembling flames of fire those steeds
suddenly reared themselves, and in consequence Kripa reeled off his
place. And seeing Gautama thrown off his place, the slayer of hostile
heroes, the descendant of the Kuru race, out of regard for his
opponent's dignity, ceased to discharge his shafts at him. Then
regaining his proper place, Gautama quickly pierced Savyasachin with ten
arrows furnished with feathers of the _Kanka_ bird. Then with a
crescent-shaped arrow of keen edge, Partha cut off Kripa's bow a