“’The battle then commenced, awful and terrible, between the Kurus and the Pandavas, both of whom were inspired with the desire of winning great fame.  A perfect Babel of voices of the shouting warriors was incessantly heard there, O royal Bharata, as they addressed one another by name.  He who had anything, by his father’s or mother’s side or in respect of his acts or conduct, that could furnish matter for ridicule, was in that battle made to hear it by his antagonist.  Beholding those brave warriors loudly rebuking one another in that battle, I thought, O king, that their periods of life had been run out.  Beholding the bodies of those angry heroes of immeasurable energy a great fear entered my heart, respecting the dire consequences that would ensue.  Then the Pandavas, O king, and the Kauravas also, mighty car-warriors all, striking one another, began to mangle one another with their keen shafts.’”

52

“Sanjaya said, ’Those Kshatriyas, O monarch, harbouring feelings of animosity against one another and longing to take one another’s life, began to slay one another in that battle.  Throngs of cars, and large bodies of horses, and teeming divisions of infantry and elephants in large numbers mingled with one another, O king, for battle.  We beheld the falling of maces and spiked bludgeons and Kunapas and lances and short arrows and rockets hurled at one another in that dreadful engagement.  Arrowy showers terrible to look at coursed like flights of locusts.  Elephants approaching elephants routed one another.  Horsemen encountering horsemen in that battle, and car-warriors encountering car-warriors, and foot-soldiers encountering foot-soldiers, and foot-soldiers meeting with horsemen, and foot-soldiers meeting with cars and elephants, and cars meeting with elephants and horsemen, and elephants of great speed meeting with the three other kinds of forces, began, O king, to crush and grind one another.  In consequence of those brave combatants striking one another and shouting at the top of their voices, the field of battle became awful, resembling the slaughter-ground of creatures (of Rudra himself).  The Earth, O Bharata, covered with blood, looked beautiful like a vast plain in the season of rains covered with the red coccinella.  Indeed, the Earth assumed the aspect of a youthful maiden of great beauty, attired in white robes dyed with deep red.  Variegated with flesh and blood, the field of battle looked as if decked all over with gold.  Large numbers of heads severed from trunks and arms and thighs and earrings and other ornaments displaced from the bodies of warriors, O Bharata, and collars and cuirasses and bodies of brave bowmen, and coats of mail, and banners, lay scattered on the ground.  Elephants coming against elephants tore one another with their tusks, O king.  Struck with the tusks of hostile compeers, elephants looked exceedingly beautiful.  Bathed in blood, those huge creatures looked resplendent like moving hills decked with metals, down whose breasts