The gold-decked arrows, O king, shot by them, speedily
filled the terrace of Arjuna’s car. Beholding
those two great bowmen, those two foremost of all
warriors, the two Krishnas, covered with arrows, those
invincible (Kaurava) combatants became filled with
delight. Indeed, at that time, the Kuvara, the
wheels, the shaft, the traces, the yoke, and the Anukarsha,
O lord, of Arjuna’s car, became entirely enveloped
with arrows. The like of what thy warriors then
did unto Partha had never before, O king, been either
seen or heard. That car looked resplendent with
those keen arrows of beautiful wings like a celestial
vehicle blazing with hundreds of torches dropped on
the Earth. Then Arjuna, O monarch, covered that
hostile division with showers of straight shafts like
a cloud pouring torrents of rain on a mountain.
Struck in that battle with arrows inscribed with Partha’s
name, those warriors, beholding that state of things,
regarded the field of battle to be full of Parthas.
Then the Partha-fire, having for its wonderful flames
and the loud twang of Gandiva for the wind that fanned
it, began to consume the fuel constituted by thy troops.
Then, O Bharata, heaps of fallen wheels and yokes,
of quivers, of banners and standards, with the vehicles
themselves that bore them, of shafts and Anukarshas
and Trivenus, of axles and traces and goads, of heads
of warriors decked with earrings and headgears, of
arms, O monarch, and thighs in thousands of umbrellas
along with fans, and of diadems and crowns, were seen
along the tracks of Partha’s car. Indeed,
along the track of the angry Partha’s car, O
monarch, the ground, miry with blood, became impassable,
O chief of the Bharatas, like the sporting ground
of Rudra. The scene inspired the timid with fear
and the brave with delight. Having destroyed 2,000
cars with their fences, that scorcher of foes, Partha,
looked like a smokeless fire with blazing flames.
Indeed, even as the illustrious Agni when he blazes
forth (at the end of the Yuga) for destroying the mobile
and the immobile universe, even so looked, O king,
the mighty car-warrior Partha. Beholding the
prowess of Pandu’s son in that battle, the son
of Drona, on his car equipped with many banners, endeavoured
to check him. Those two tigers among men, both
having white steeds yoked unto their vehicles and
both regarded as the foremost of car-warriors, quickly
encountered each other, each desirous of slaying the
other. The arrowy showers shot by both became
exceedingly terrible and were as dense, O bull of Bharata’s
race, as the torrents of rain poured by two masses
of clouds at the close of summer. Each challenging
the other, those two warriors mangled each other with
straight shafts in that battle, like a couple of bulls
tearing each other with their horns. The battle
between them, O king, was fought equally for a long
while. The clash of weapons became terrific.
The son of Drona then, O Bharata, pierced Arjuna with
a dozen gold-winged arrows of great energy and Vasudeva


