in battle, with my steeds and car, by that hero who never retreated from battle, alive I was let off by him!  What use have I of life or of kingdom either, since Karna, that ornament of battle, today cried fie on me?  That which I had never before met with at the hands of Bhishma or Kripa or Drona in battle, that I met with today at the hands of the Suta’s son, that mighty car-warrior!  It is for this, O son of Kunti, that I ask thee today about thy welfare!  Tell me in detail how thou hast slain Karna today!  In battle Karna was equal unto Sakra himself.  In prowess he was equal unto Yama.  In weapons he was equal unto Rama.  How then hath he been slain?  He was regarded as a mighty car-warrior, conversant with all modes of warfare.  He was the foremost of all bowmen, and the one man amongst all men!  O prince, the son of Radha was always worshipped by Dhritarashtra and his son, for thy sake!  How then hath he been slain by thee?  In all engagements, Dhritarashtra’s son, O Arjuna, used to regard Karna as thy death, O bull among men!  How then, O tiger among men, hath that Karna been slain by thee in battle?  Tell me, O son of Kunti, how that Karna hath been slain by thee!  How, while he was engaged in battle, didst thou, O tiger among men, strike off his head in the very sight of all his friends like a tiger tearing off the head of a ruru deer?  That Suta’s son who in battle searched all the points of the compass for finding thee, that Karna who had promised to give a car with six bulls of elephantine proportions unto him that would point thee out, I ask:  doth that Karna of wicked soul lie today on the bare ground, slain with thy keen arrows equipped with kanka feathers?  Having slain the Suta’s son in battle, thou hast accomplished a deed highly agreeable to me!  Encountering him in battle, hast thou really slain that Suta’s son, who, filled with arrogance and pride and bragging of his heroism, used to search everywhere on the field of battle for thee?  Hast thou, O sire, really slain in battle that sinful wretch who used to always challenge thee and who was desirous for thy sake of giving unto others a magnificent car, made of gold along with a number of elephants and bulls and steeds?  Hast thou really slain today that sinful wight who was exceedingly dear to Suyodhana, and who, intoxicated with pride of heroism, used always to brag in the assembly of the Kurus?  Encountered in battle, doth that wretch lie today on the field, his limbs exceedingly mangled with sky-ranging shafts sped by thee from thy bow and all steeped in blood?  Have the two arms of Dhritarashtra’s son been (at last) broken?  Have those words been unfulfilled, uttered from folly by him who, filled with pride, used to always boast in the midst of the kings for gladdening Duryodhana, saying, ‘I will slay Phalguna’?  O son of Indra, hath that Karna of little understanding been slain by thee today, that Suta’s son who made the vow that he would not wash his feet as long as Partha lived?  That Karna