“Sanjaya said, ‘Beholding thy sons lying (on the field), Karna of great
prowess filled with great wrath, became hopeless about his life. And
Adhiratha’s son regarded himself guilty, seeing thy sons slain before his
eyes in battle by Bhima. Then Bhimasena, recollecting the wrongs formerly
inflicted by Karna, became filled with rage and began with deliberate
care to pierce Karna with many keen arrows. Then Karna, piercing Bhima
with five arrows, smiling the while, once more pierced him with seventy
arrows, equipped with golden wings and whetted on stone. Disregarding
these shafts shot by Karna, Vrikodara pierced the son of Radha in that
battle with a hundred straight shafts. And once more, piercing him in his
vitals with five keen arrows, Bhima, O sire, cut off with a broad-headed
arrow the bow of the Suta’s son. The cheerless Karna then, O Bharata,
taking up another bow shrouded Bhimasena on all sides with his arrows.
Then Bhima, slaying Karna’s steeds and charioteer, laughed a laugh,
having thus counteracted Karna’s feats. Then that bull amongst men, viz.,
Bhima, cut off with his arrows the bow of Karna. That bow, O king, of
loud twang, and the back of whose staff was decked with gold, fell down
(from his hand). Then the mighty car-warrior Karna alighted from his car
and taking up a mace in that battle wrathfully hurled it at Bhima.
Beholding that mace, O king, impetuously coursing towards him, Vrikodara
resisted it with his arrows in the sight of all thy troops. Then the son
of Pandu, gifted with great prowess and exerting himself with great
activity, shot a thousand arrows at the Suta’s son, desirous of taking
the latter’s life. Karna, however, in the dreadful battle, resisting all
those shafts with his own, cut off Bhima’s armour also with his arrows.
And then he pierced Bhima with five and twenty small shafts in the sight
of all the troops. All this seemed exceedingly wonderful. Then, O
monarch, Bhima, excited with rage, sped nine straight shafts at the
Suta’s son. Those keen shafts, piercing through Karna’s coat of mail and
right arm, entered the earth like snakes into an ant-hill. Shrouded with
showers of shafts shot from Bhimasena’s bow, Karna once more turned his
back upon Bhimasena. Beholding the Suta’s son turn back and flying away
on foot, covered all over with the arrows of Kunti’s son, Duryodhana
said, “Go ye quickly from all sides towards the car of Radha’s son.”
Then, O king, thy sons, hearing these words of their brother that were
to them a surprise, rushed towards the son of Pandu for battle, shooting
showers of shafts. They were Chitra, and Upachitra, and Charuchitra, and
Sarasan, and Chitrayudha, and Chitravarman. All of them were well-versed
in every mode of warfare. The mighty car-warrior, Bhimasena, however,
felled each of those sons of thine thus rushing against him, with a
single arrow. Deprived of life, they fell down on the earth like trees
uprooted by a tempest. Beholding those sons of thine, all mighty
car-warriors, O king, thus slain, Karna, with tearful face, recollected
the word of Vidura. Mounting upon another car that was duly equipped,
Karna, endued with great prowess, quickly proceeded against the son of
Pandu in battle. Piercing each other with whetted arrows, equipped with
wings of gold, the two warriors looked resplendent like two masses of
clouds penetrated by the rays of the sun. Then the son of Pandu, excited
with rage, cut off the armour of Suta’s son with six and thirty
broad-headed arrows of great sharpness and fierce energy. The
mighty-armed Suta’s son also, O bull of Bharata’s race, pierced the son
of Kunti with fifty straight arrows. The two warriors then, smeared with
red sandal-paste with many a wound caused by each other’s arrows, and
covered also with gore, looked resplendent like the risen sun and the
moon. Their coats of mail cut off by means of arrows, and their bodies
covered with blood, Karna and Bhima then looked like a couple of snakes
just freed from their sloughs. Indeed, those two tigers among men mangled
each other with their arrows, like two tigers mangling each other with
their teeth. The two heroes incessantly showered their shafts, like two
masses of clouds pouring torrents of rain. Those two chastisers of foes
tore each other’s body with their arrows, like two elephants tearing each
other with the points of their tusks. Roaring at each other and showering
their arrows upon each other, causing their cars to trace beautiful
circles, they resembled a couple of mighty bulls roaring at each other in
the presence of a cow in her season. Indeed, those two lions among men
then looked like a couple of mighty lions endued with eyes red in wrath,
these two warriors endued with great energy fought on like Sakra and
Virochana’s son (Prahlada). Then, O king, the mighty-armed Bhima, as he
stretched his bow with his two hands, looked like a cloud charged with
lightning. Then mighty Bhima-cloud, having the twang of the bow for its
thunder and incessant showers of arrows for its rainy downpour, covered,
O king, the Karna-mountain. And once more Pandu’s son, Bhima of terrible
prowess, O Bharata, shrouded Karna with a thousand shafts shot from his
bow. And as he shrouded Karna with his winged shafts, equipped with Kanka
feathers, thy sons witnessed his extra-ordinary prowess. Gladdening
Partha himself and the illustrious Kesava, Satyaki and the two protectors
of (two) wheels (of Arjuna’s car), Bhima fought even thus with Karna.
Beholding the perseverance of Bhima who knew his own self, thy sons, O
monarch, all became cheerless.’”