Unto them, also unto those that stood (idle) spectators, the king said,—­Either Sweta will die (today), or Bhishma the son of Santanu.  I say this truly.  Hearing the words of the king, the mighty car-warriors speedily with four kinds of forces, advanced protecting the son of Ganga.  And Valhika and Kritavarman, and Kripa, and Salya also, O Bharata, and the son of Jarasandha, and Vikarna, and Chitrasena, and Vivinsati, with great speed, when speed was so necessary, surrounding him on all sides, poured on Sweta ceaseless showers of arrows.  That mighty warrior then, of immeasurable soul, quickly checked those angry warriors by means of sharp arrows, displaying his own lightness of hand.  And checking them all like a lion and a multitude of elephants, Sweta then cut off Bhishma’s bow with thick shower of arrows.  Then Bhishma the son of Santanu, taking up another bow in that battle, pierced Sweta, O king, with arrows furnished with feathers of Kanka bird.  Then the commander (of the Pandava army), with wrath excited, pierced Bhishma in that encounter O king, with a great many shafts in the very sight of all.  Beholding Bhishma, that foremost of heroes in all the world, checked in battle by Sweta, the king (Duryodhana) became greatly troubled, and great also became the distress of thy whole army.  And beholding the heroic Bhishma checked and mangled by Sweta with his arrows, all thought that Bhishma, having succumbed to Sweta, was slain by him.  Then thy sire Devavrata, yielding to anger, and beholding his (own) standard overthrown and the (Dhartarashtra) army checked, shot a great many arrows, O king, at Sweta.  Sweta, however, that foremost of car-warriors, baffling all those arrows of Bhishma, once more cut off, with a broad-headed shaft, thy sire’s bow.  Throwing aside that bow, O king, Ganga’s son, senseless with anger, taking up another bow larger and stronger, and aiming seven large broad-headed arrows whetted on stone, slew with four arrows the four steeds of the generalissimo Sweta, cut off his standard with two and with the seventh shaft that warrior of great prowess, exceedingly provoked, cut off his charioteer’s head.  Thereupon, that mighty car-warrior, jumping down from his car whose steeds and charioteer had been slain[345], and yielding to the influence of wrath, became exceedingly troubled.  The grandsire, beholding Sweta that foremost of car-warriors, deprived of car, began to smite him on all sides with showers of arrows.  And smitten in that combat with arrows shot from Bhishma’s bow, Sweta, leaving his bow on his (abandoned) car took up a dart decked with gold and taking up that terrible and fierce dart[346] which resembled the fatal rod of Death and was capable of slaying Death’s self.  Sweta then, in great wrath, addressed Bhishma the son of Santanu in that combat, saying,—­Wait a little, and behold me, O best of men,—­And having said this unto Bhishma in battle, that great bowman of exceeding prowess and immeasurable soul, hurled the dart resembling