with the mightiest of weapons, will consume us all like a raging conflagration consuming a heap of straw in the season of spring?  There is none competent to even look at him in battle.  Conversant with the ways of morality, Arjuna (who alone is a match for him) will not fight with him.’  Beholding the sons of Kunti afflicted with the shafts of Drona and inspired with fear, Kesava, endued with great intelligence and, devoted to their welfare, addressed Arjuna and said, ’This foremost of all bowmen is incapable of being ever vanquished by force in battle, by the very gods with Vasava at their head.  When, however, he lays aside his weapons, he becomes capable of being slain on the field even by human beings.  Casting aside virtue, ye sons of Pandu, adopt now some contrivance for gaining the victory, so that Drona of the golden car may not slay us all in battle.  Upon the full of (his son) Aswatthaman he will cease to fight, I think.  Let sonic man, therefore, tell him that Aswatthaman, hath been slain in battle.’  This advice, however, O kin was not approved by Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya.  Others approved of it.  But Yudhishthira accepted it with great difficulty.  Then the mighty-armed Bhima, O king, slew with a mace a foe-crushing, terrible and huge elephant named Aswatthaman, of his own army, belonging to Indravarman, the chief of the Malavas.  Approaching Drona then in that battle with some bashfulness Bhimasena began to exclaim aloud, ’Aswatthaman hath been slain.’  That elephant named Aswatthaman having been thus slain, Bhima spoke of Aswatthaman’s slaughter.  Keeping the true fact within his mind, he said what was untrue, Hearing those highly disagreeable words of Bhima and reflecting upon them, Drona’s limbs seemed to dissolve like sands in water.  Recollecting however, the prowess of his son, he soon came to regard that intelligence as false.  Hearing, therefore, of his slaughter, Drona did not become unmanned.  Indeed, soon recovering his senses, he became comforted, remembering that his son was incapable of being resisted by foes.  Rushing towards the son of Prishata and desirous of slaying that hero who had been ordained as his slayer, he covered him with a thousand keen shafts, equipped with kanka feathers.  Then twenty thousand Panchala car-warriors of great energy covered him, while he was thus careering in battle, with their shafts.  Completely shrouded with those shafts, we could not any longer see that great car-warrior who then resembled, O monarch, the sun, covered with clouds in the season of rains.  Filled with wrath and desirous of compassing the destruction of those brave Panchalas, that mighty car-warrior, that scorcher of foes, viz., Drona, dispelling all those shafts of the Panchalas, then invoked into existence the Brahma weapon.  At that time, Drona looked resplendent like a smokeless, blazing fire.  Once more filled with rage the valiant son of Bharadwaja slaughtering all the Somakas, seemed to be invested with great