Vaisampayana said, "Then, O thou of the Bharata race, all the great
car-warriors of the Kurus, united together, began to assail Arjuna to
the best of their might from all sides. But that hero of immeasurable
soul completely covered all those mighty car-warriors with clouds of
arrows, even as the mist covereth the mountains. And the roars of huge
elephants and conchs, mingling together, produced a loud up roar. And
penetrating through the bodies of elephants and horses as also through
steel coats of mail, the arrows shot by Partha fell by thousands. And
shooting shafts with the utmost celerity, the son of Pandu seemed in
that contest to resemble the blazing sun of an autumnal midday. And
afflicted with fear, the car-warriors began to leap down from their cars
and the horse-soldiers from horse-back, while the foot-soldiers began to
fly in all directions. And loud was the clatter made by Arjuna's shafts
as they cleft the coats of mail belonging to mighty warriors, made of
steel, silver, and copper. And the field was soon covered with the
corpses of warriors mounted on elephants and horses, all mangled by the
shafts of Partha of great impetuosity like unto sighing snakes. And then
it seemed as if Dhananjaya, bow in hand, was dancing on the field of
battle. And sorely affrighted at the twang of the _Gandiva_ resembling
the noise of the thunder, many were the combatants that fled from that
terrible conflict. And the field of battle was bestrewn with severed
heads decked with turbans, ear-rings and necklaces of gold, and the
earth looked beautiful by being scattered all over with human trunks
mangled by shafts, and arms having bows in their grasp and hands decked
with ornaments. And, O bull of the Bharata race, in consequence of heads
cut off by whetted shafts ceaselessly falling on the ground, it seemed
as if a shower of stones fell from the sky. And that Partha of
formidable prowess, displaying his fierceness, now ranged the field of
battle, pouring the terrible fire of his wrath upon the sons of
Dhritarashtra. And beholding the fierce prowess of Arjuna who thus
scorched the hostile host, the Kuru warriors, in the very presence of
Duryodhana, became dispirited and ceased to fight. And, O Bharata,
having struck terror into that host and routed those mighty
car-warriors, that fore-most of victors, ranged on the field. And the
son of Pandu then created on the field of battle a dreadful river of
blood, with waving billows, like unto the river of death that is created
by Time at the end of the _Yuga_, having the dishevelled hair of the
dead and the dying for its floating moss and straw, with bows and arrows
for its boats, fierce in the extreme and having flesh and animal juices
for its mire. And coats of mail and turbans floated thick on its
surface. And elephants constituted its alligators and the cars its
rafts. And marrow and fat and blood constituted its currents. And it was
calculated to strike terror into the hearts of the spectators. And
dreadful to behold, and fearful in the extreme, and resounding with the
yells of ferocious beasts, keen edged weapons constituted its
crocodiles. And _Rakshasas_ and other cannibals haunted it from one end
to the other. And strings of pearls constituted its ripples, and various
excellent ornaments, its bubbles. And having swarms of arrows for its
fierce eddies and steeds for its tortoises, it was incapable of being
crossed. And the mighty car warrior constituted its large island, and it
resounded with the blare of conchs and the sound of drums. And the river
of blood that Partha created was incapable of being crossed. Indeed, so
swift-handed was Arjuna that the spectators could not perceive any
interval between his taking up an arrow, and fixing it on the
bow-string, and letting it off by a stretch of the _Gandiva_."