desirous of slaying each other.  Then Karna, O king, drawing the bow with great force and stretching the string to his very ear, pierced Bhimasena with three arrows.  Deeply pierced by Karna, that great bowman and foremost of all persons endued with might then took up a terrible shaft capable of piercing through the body of his antagonist.  That shaft, cutting through Karna’s armour and piercing through his body, passed out and entered the Earth like a snake into ant-hill.  In consequence of the violence of that stroke, Karna felt great pain and became exceedingly agitated.  Indeed, he trembled on his car like a mountain during an earthquake.  Then Karna, O king, filled with rage and the desire to retaliate, struck Bhima with five and twenty shafts, and then with many more.  With one arrow he then cut off Bhimasena’s standard, and with another broad-headed arrow he despatched Bhima’s driver to the presence of Yama.  Next quickly cutting off the bow of Pandu’s son with another winged arrow, Karna deprived Bhima of terrible feats of his car.  Deprived of his car, O chief of Bharata’s race, the mighty-armed Bhima, who resembled the Wind-god (in prowess) took up a mace and jumped down from his excellent vehicle.  Indeed, jumping down from his car with great fury, Bhima began to slay thy troops, O king, like the wind destroying the clouds of autumn.  Suddenly the son of Pandu, that scorcher of foes, filled with wrath, routed seven hundred elephants, O king, endued with tusks as large as plough-shafts, and all skilled in smiting hostile troops.  Possessed of great strength and a knowledge of what the vital parts of an elephant are, he struck them on their temples and frontal globes and eyes and the parts above their gums.  Thereupon those animals, inspired with fear, ran away.  But urged again by their drivers they surrounded Bhimasena once more, like the clouds covering the Sun.  Like Indra felling mountains with thunder, Bhima with his mace prostrated those seven hundred elephants with their riders and weapons and standards.  That chastiser of foes, the son of Kunti, next pressed down two and fifty elephants of great strength belonging to the son of Subala.  Scorching thy army, the son of Pandu then destroyed a century of foremost cars and several hundreds of foot-soldiers in that battle.  Scorched by the Sun as also by the high-souled Bhima, thy army began to shrink like a piece of leather spread over a fire.  Those troops of thine, O bull of Bharata’s race, filled with anxiety through fear of Bhimasena, avoided Bhima in that battle and fled away in all directions.  Then five hundred car-warriors, cased in excellent mail, rushed towards Bhima with loud shouts, shooting thick showers of arrows on all sides.  Like Vishnu destroying the Asuras, Bhima destroyed with his mace all those brave warriors with their drivers and cars and banners and standards and weapons.  Then 3,000 horsemen, despatched by Shakuni, respected by all brave men and armed with darts and swords and lances, rushed towards Bhima.