dice, thy foolish and wicked son, with Karna (on his side), said unto the princes of Panchala causing her to be brought into the assembly, all the harsh words, again, that Karna said unto Krishna, in the same place, before thyself, O king, and the sons of Pandu, in thy hearing and that of all the Kurus, viz., O Krishna, the Pandavas are lost and have sunk into eternal hell, therefore, choose thou other husbands,—­alas, the fruit of all that is now manifesting itself.  Then, again, O thou of Kuru’s race, diverse harsh speeches, such as sesamum seeds without kernel, etc., were applied by the wrathful sons to those high-souled ones, viz., the sons of Pandu.  Bhimasena, vomiting forth the fire of wrath (which these enraged) and which he had restrained for thirteen years, is now compassing the destruction of thy sons.  Indulging in copious lamentations, Viduara failed to persuade thee towards peace.  O chief of the Bharatas, suffer the fruit of all that with thy sons.  Thou art old, patient, and capable of foreseeing the consequences of all acts.  Being so, when thou didst yet refuse to follow the counsels of thy well-wishers, it seems that all this is the result of destiny.  Do not grieve, O tiger among men!  All this is thy great fault.  In my opinion, thou art thyself the cause of the destruction of thy sons.  O monarch, Vikarna hath fallen, and Chitrasena also of great prowess.  Many other mighty car-warriors and foremost ones among thy sons have also fallen.  Others, again, among thy sons whom Bhima saw come within the range of his vision, O mighty-armed one, he slew in a trice.  It is for thee only that I had to see our array scorched in thousands by means of the arrows shot by Pandu’s son, Bhima and Vrisha (Karna)!’”

 Section CXXXVII

“Dhritarashtra said, ’O Suta, O Sanjaya, this grievous result that has now overtaken us is, I think, certainly due to my evil policy.  I had hitherto thought that what is past.  But, O Sanjaya, what measures should I now adopt?  I am now once more calm, O Sanjaya, therefore, tell me how this slaughter of heroes is going on, having my evil policy for its cause.’

“Sanjaya said, ’Indeed, O king, Karna and Bhima, both endued with great prowess, continued in that battle to pour their arrowy showers like two rain-charged clouds.  The arrows, winged with gold and whetted on stone and marked with Bhima’s name, approaching Karna, penetrated into his body, as if piercing into his very life.  Similarly, Bhima also, in that battle was shrouded with the shafts of Karna in hundreds and thousands, resembling snakes of virulent poison.  With their arrows, O king, failing on all sides, an agitation was produced among the troops resembling that of the very ocean.  Many were the combatants, O chastiser of foes, in thy host that were deprived of life by arrows, resembling snakes of virulent poison shot from Bhima’s bow.  Strewn with fallen elephants and steeds mixed with the bodies of men, the field of battle looked