Pandava in the hand at which the latter’s hold of the bow was loosened.  And then the mighty-armed Partha cut off Karna’s bow into fragments.  And Karna replied by hurling a dart at his adversary, but Arjuna cut it off by means of his arrows.  And then the warriors that followed the son of Radha rushed in crowds at Arjuna, but Partha sent them all to the abode of Yama by means of arrows shot from the Gandiva.  And Vibhatsu slew the steeds of Karna by means of sharp and tough arrows shot from the bow-string drawn to the ear, and deprived of life they dropped down on the ground.  And taking another sharp and blazing arrow endued with great energy, the mighty son of Kunti pierced the breast of Karna.  And that arrow, cleaving through his mail, penetrated into his body.  And at this, Karna’s vision was obscured and his senses left him.  And regaining consciousness, he felt a great pain, and leaving the combat fled in a northernly direction.  And at this, the mighty car-warrior Arjuna and Uttara, both began to address him contumely.”

SECTION LXI

Vaisampayana said, “Having defeated Vikartana’s son, Arjuna said unto the son of Virata, ’Take me towards that division where yonder device of a golden palmyra is seen.  There our grandfather, Santanu’s son, like unto a celestial, waiteth, desirous of an encounter with me.’  Thereupon, beholding that mighty host thronged with cars and horses and elephants, Uttara, sorely pierced with arrows, said, ’O hero, I am no longer able to guide thy excellent steeds.  My spirits droop and my mind is exceedingly bewildered.  All the directions seem to be whirling before my eyes in consequence of the energy of the celestial weapons used by thee and the Kurus.  I have been deprived of my senses by the stench of fat and blood and flesh.  Beholding all this, from terror my mind is, as it were, cleft in twain.  Never before had I beheld such a muster of horses in battle.  And at the flapping of fences, and the blare of conchs, the leonine roars made by the warriors and the shrieks of elephants, and the twang of the Gandiva resembling the thunder, I have, O hero, been so stupefied that I have been deprived of both hearing and memory.  And, O hero, beholding thee incessantly drawing to a circle, in course of the conflict, the Gandiva which resembleth a circle of fire, my sight faileth me and my heart is rent asunder.  And seeing thy fierce form in battle, like that of the wielder of the Pinaka while inflamed with wrath, and looking also at the terrible arrows shot by thee, I am filled with fear.  I fail to see when thou takest up thy excellent arrows, when thou fixest them on the bow-string, and when thou lettest them off.  And though all this is done before my eyes, yet, deprived of my senses, I do not see it.  My spirits are drooping and earth itself seems to be swimming before me.  I have no strength to hold the whip and the reins.’