“Sanjaya said, ‘Then Karna, O king, piercing Bhima with three arrows,
poured countless beautiful arrows upon him. The mighty-armed Bhimasena,
the son of Pandu, though thus struck by the Suta’s son, showed no signs
of pain but stood immovable like a hill pierced (with arrows). In return,
O sire, in that battle, he deeply pierced Karna in the ear with a barbed
arrow, rubbed with oil, of great keenness, and of excellent temper. (With
that arrow) he felled on the earth the large and beautiful ear-ring of
Karna. And it felled down, O monarch, like a blazing luminary of great
effulgence from the firmament. Excited with wrath, Vrikodara, then,
smiling the while, deeply pierced the Suta’s son in the centre of the
chest with another broad-headed arrow. And once again, O Bharata, the
mighty-armed Bhima quickly shot in that battle ten long shafts that
looked like snakes of virulent poison just freed from their sloughs. Shot
by Bhima, those shafts, O sire, striking Karna’s forehead, entered it
like snakes entering an ant-hill. With those shafts sticking to his
forehead, the Suta’s son looked beautiful, as he did before, while his
brow had been encircled with a chaplet of blue lotuses. Deeply pierced by
the active son of Pandu, Karna, supporting himself on the Kuxara of his
car, closed his eyes. Soon, however, regaining consciousness, Karna, that
scorcher of foes, with his body bathed in blood, became mad with
rage.[163] Infuriated with rage in consequence of his being thus
afflicted by that firm bowman, Karna, endued with great impetuosity,
rushed fiercely towards Bhimasena’s car. Then, O king, the mighty and
wrathful Karna, maddened with rage, shot at Bhimasena, O Bharata, a
hundred shafts winged with vulturine feathers. The son of Pandu, however,
disregarding his foe and setting at nought his energy, began to shoot
showers of fierce arrows at him. Then Karna, O king, excited with rage, O
scorcher of foes, struck the son of Pandu, that embodiment of wrath with
nine arrows in the chest. Then both those tigers among men (armed with
arrows and, therefore), resembling a couple of tigers with fierce teeth,
poured upon each other, in that battle, their arrowy showers, like two
mighty masses of clouds. They sought to frighten each other in that
battle, with sounds of their palms and with showers of arrows of diverse
kinds. Excited with rage, each sought in that battle to counteract the
other’s feat. Then that slayer of hostile heroes, viz., the mighty-armed
Bhima, O Bharata, cutting off, with a razor-faced arrow, the bow of the
Suta’s son, uttered a loud shout. Casting off that broken bow, the Suta’s
son, that mighty car-warrior, took up another bow that was stronger and
tougher. Beholding that slaughter of the Kuru, the Sauvira, and the
Sindhu heroes, and marking that the earth was covered with coats of mail
and standards and weapons lying about, and also seeing the lifeless forms
of elephants, foot-soldiers and horsemen and car-warriors on all sides,
the body of the Suta’s son, from wrath, blazed up with effulgence.
Stretching his formidable bow, decked with gold, Radha’s son, O king,
eyed Bhima with wrathful glances. Infuriated with rage, the Suta’s son,
while shooting his arrows, looked resplendent, like the autumnal sun of
dazzling rays at mid-day. While employed with his hands in taking up an
arrow, fixing it on the bow-string, stretching the string and letting it
off, none could notice any interval between those acts. And while Karna
was thus engaged in shooting his arrows right and left, his bow
incessantly drawn to a circle, like a terrible circle of fire. The keen
pointed arrows, equipped with wings of gold, shot from Karna’s bow,
covered, O king, all the points of the compass, darkening the very light
of the sun. Countless flights were seen, in the welkin, of those shafts
equipped with wings of gold, shot from Karna’s bow. Indeed, the shafts
shot from the bow of Adhiratha’s son, looked like rows of cranes in the
sky. The arrows that Adhiratha’s son shot were all equipped with
vulturine feathers, whetted on stone, decked with gold, endued with great
impetuosity, and furnished with blazing points. Impelled by the force of
his bow, those arrows urged by Karna, while coursing in thousands through
the welkin looked beautiful like successive flights of locusts. The
arrows shot from the bow of Adhiratha’s son, as they coursed through the
welkin, looked like one long continuously drawn arrow in the sky. Like a
cloud covering a mountain with torrents of rain, Karna in rage, covered
Bhima with showers of arrows. Then thy sons, O Bharata, with their
troops, beheld the might, energy, prowess and perseverance of Bhima, for
the latter, disregarding that arrowy downpour, resembling the raging sea,
rushed in wrath against Karna, Bhima, O monarch, was armed with a
formidable bow, the back of whose staff was decked with gold. He
stretched it so quickly that it seemed, like a second bow of Indra,
incessantly drawn to a circle. Shafts issued continuously from it seemed
to fill the welkin. With those straight arrows, equipped with wings of
gold, shot by Bhima, a continuous line was made in the sky that looked
effulgent like a garland of gold. Then those showers of (Karna’s) arrows
spread in the welkin, struck by Bhimasena with his shafts, were scattered
in portions and fell down on the earth. Then the sky was covered with
those showers of gold-winged and swiftly-coursing arrows, of both Karna
and Bhimasena, that produced sparks of fire as they clashed against each
other. The very sun was then shrouded, and the very wind ceased to blow.
Indeed, when the welkin was thus covered with those arrowy showers,
nothing could be seen. Then the Suta’s son, disregarding the energy of
the high-souled Bhima, completely shrouded Bhima with other arrows and
endeavoured to prevail over him. Then, O sire, those arrowy showers shot
by both of them, seemed to clash against each other like two opposite
currents of wind. And in consequence of that clash of the arrowy showers
of those two lions among men, a conflagration, O chief of the Bharatas,
seemed to be generated in the sky. Then Karna, desirous of slaying Bhima,
shot at him in rage many whetted arrows equipped with wings of gold and
polished by the hands of the smith. Bhima, however, cut off with his own
shafts every one of those arrows into three fragments, and prevailing
over the Suta’s son, he cried out, “Wait, Wait.” And the wrathful and
mighty son of Pandu, like an all-consuming conflagration, once more shot
in rage showers of fierce shafts. And then in consequence of their
leathern fences striking against their bow-strings, loud sounds were
generated. And loud also became the sound of their palms, and terrible
their leonine shouts, and fierce the rattle of their car-wheels and the
twang of their bow-strings. And all the combatants, O king, ceased to
fight, desirous of beholding the prowess of Karna and of the son of
Pandu, each of whom was desirous of slaying the other. And the celestial
Rishis and Siddhas and Gandharvas, applauded them, saying, “Excellent,
Excellent!” And the tribes of Vidyadharas rained flowery showers upon
them. Then the wrathful and mighty-armed Bhima of fierce prowess,
baffling with his own weapons the weapons of his foe, pierced the Suta’s
son with many shafts. Karna also, endued with great might, baffling the
shafts of Bhimasena, sped at him nine long shafts in that battle. Bhima,
however, with as many arrows, cut off those shafts of Suta’s son in the
welkin and addressed him, saying, “Wait, Wait!” Then the mighty-armed and
heroic Bhima, excited with rage, shot at Adhiratha’s son an arrow
resembling the rod of Yama or Death himself. Radha’s son, however,
smiling, cut off that arrow, O king, of Pandu’s son, however, of great
Prowess, with three arrows of his, as it coursed towards him through the
welkin. The son of Pandu then once more shot showers of fierce shafts.
Karna, however, fearlessly received all those arrows of Bhima. Then
excited with rage, the Suta’s son, Karna, by the power of his weapons,
with his straight arrows, cut off in that encounter the couple of quivers
and the bow-string of fighting Bhima, as also the traces of his steeds.
And then slaying his steeds also, Karna pierced Bhima’s charioteer with
five shafts. The charioteer, quickly running away, proceeded to
Yudhamanyu’s car. Excited with rage, the son of Radha then, whose
splendour resembled that of the Yuga-fire, smiling the while, cut off the
flag-staff of Bhima and felled his banner. Deprived of his bow, the
mighty-armed Bhima then seized a dart, such as car-warriors may use.
Excited with wrath, he whirled it in his hand and then hurled it with
great force at Karna’s car. The son of Adhiratha then, with ten shafts,
cut off, as it coursed towards him with the effulgence of a large meteor,
the gold-decked dart thus hurled (by Bhima).[164] Thereupon, that dart
fell down, cut off into ten fragments by those sharp shafts of the Suta’s
son, Karna, that warrior conversant with every mode of warfare, then
battling for the sake of his friends. Then, the son of Kunti took up a
shield decked with gold and a sword, desirous of obtaining either death
or victory. Karna, however, O Bharata, smiling the while, cut off that
bright shield of Bhima with many fierce shafts. Then, car-less, Bhima, O
king, deprived of his shield, became mad with rage. Quickly, then, he
hurled his formidable sword at Karna’s car. That large sword, cutting off
the stringed bow of the Suta’s son, fell down on the earth, O king, like
an angry snake from the sky. Then Adhiratha’s son, excited with rage in
that battle, smilingly took up another bow destructive of foes, having a
stronger string, and tougher than the one he had lost. Desirous of
slaying the son of Kunti, Karna then began to shoot thousands of arrows,
O king, equipped with wings of gold and endued with great energy. Struck
by those shafts shot from Karna’s bow, the mighty Bhima leaped into the
sky, filling Karna’s heart with anguish. Beholding the conduct of Bhima,
in battle desirous of victory, the son of Radha beguiled him by
concealing himself in his car. Seeing Karna concealing himself with an
agitated heart on the terrace of his car, Bhima catching hold of Karna’s
flagstaff, waited on the earth. All the Kurus and the Charanas highly
applauded that attempt of Bhima of snatching Karna away from his car,
like Garuda snatching away a snake. His bow cut off, himself deprived of
his car, Bhima, observant of the duties of his order, stood still for
battle, keeping his (broken) car behind him. The son of Radha, then, from
rage, in that encounter, proceeded against the son of Pandu who was
waiting for battle. Then those two mighty warriors, O king, challenging
as they approached each other, those two bulls among men, roared at each
other, like clouds at the close of summer. And the passage-at-arms that
then took place between those two enraged lions among men that could not
brook each other in battle resembled that of old between the gods and the
Danavas. The son of Kunti, however, whose stock of weapons was exhausted,
was (obliged to turn back) pursued by Karna. Beholding the elephants,
huge as hills that had been slain by Arjuna, lying (near), unarmed
Bhimasena entered into their midst, for impeding the progress of Karna’s
car. Approaching that multitude of elephants and getting into the midst
of that fastness which was inaccessible to a car, the son of Pandu,
desirous of saving his life, refrained from striking the son of Radha.
Desirous of shelter, that subjugator of hostile cities viz., the son of
Pritha, uplifting an elephant that had been slain by Dhananjaya with his
shafts, waited there, like Hanumat uplifting the peak of
Gandhamadana.[165] Karna, however, with his shafts, cut off that elephant
held by Bhima. The son of Pandu, thereupon, hurled at Karna the fragments
of that elephant’s body as also car-wheels and steeds. In fact, all
objects that he saw lying there on the field, the son of Pandu, excited
with rage, took up and hurled at Karna. Karna, however, with his sharp
arrows, cut off every one of those objects thus thrown at him. Bhima
also, raising his fierce fists that were endued with the force of the
thunder, desired to slay the Suta’s son. Soon, however, he recollected
Arjuna’s vow. The son of Pandu, therefore, though competent, spared the
life of Karna, from desire of not falsifying the vow that Savyasachin had
made. The Suta’s son, however, with his sharp shafts, repeatedly caused
the distressed Bhima, to lose the sense. But Karna, recollecting the
words of Kunti, took not the life of the unarmed Bhima. Approaching
quickly Karna touched him with the horn of his bow. As soon, however, as
Bhimasena was touched with the bow, excited with rage and sighing like a
snake, he snatched the bow from Karna and struck him with it on the head.
Struck by Bhimasena, the son of Radha, with eyes red in wrath, smiling
the while, said unto him repeatedly these words, viz., “Beardless eunuch,
ignorant fool and glutton.” And Karna said, “Without skill in weapons, do
not fight with me. Thou art but a child, a laggard in battle! There, son
of Pandu, where occurs a profusion of eatables and drink, there, O
wretch, shouldst thou be but never in battle. Subsisting on roots,
flowers, and observant of vows and austerities, thou, O Bhima, shouldst
pass thy days in the woods for thou art unskilled in battle. Great is the
difference between battle and the austere mode of a Muni’s life.
Therefore, O Vrikodara, retire into the woods. O child, thou art not fit
for being engaged in battle. Thou hast an aptitude for a life in the
woods. Urging cooks and servants and slaves in the house to speed, thou
art fit only for reproving them in wrath for the sake of thy dinner, O
Vrikodara! O Bhima, O thou of a foolish understanding, betaking thyself
to a Muni’s mode of life, gather thou fruits (for thy food). Go to the
woods, O son of Kunti, for thou art not skilled in battle. Employed in
cutting fruits and roots or in waiting upon guests, thou art unfit, I
think, to take a part, O Vrikodara, in any passage-at-arms.” And, O
monarch, all the wrongs done to him in his younger years, were also
reminded by Karna in harsh words. And as he stood there in weakness,
Karna once more touched him with the bow. And laughing loudly, Vrisha
once more told Bhima those words, “Thou shouldst fight with others, O
sire, but never with one like me. They that fight with persons like us
have to undergo this and else! Go thither where the two Krishnas are!
They will protect thee in battle. Or, O son of Kunti, go home, for, a
child as thou art, what business hast thou with battle?” Hearing those
harsh words of Karna, Bhimasena laughed aloud and addressing Karna said
unto him these words in the hearing of all, “O wicked wight, repeatedly
hast thou been vanquished by me. How canst thou indulge, then, in such
idle boast? In this world the ancients witnessed the victory and defeat
of the great Indra himself. O thou of ignoble parentage, engage thyself
with me in an athletic encounter with bare arms. Even as I slew the
mighty Kichaka of gigantic frame, I would then slay thee in the very
sight of all kings.” Understanding the motives of Bhima, Karna, that
foremost of intelligent men, abstained from that combat in the very sight
of all the bowmen. Indeed, having made Bhima carless, Karna, O king,
reproved him in such boastful language in the sight of that lion among
the Vrishnis (viz., Krishna) and of the high-souled Partha. Then the
ape-bannered (Arjuna), urged by Kesava, shot at the Suta’s son, O king,
many shafts whetted on stone. Those arrows adorned with gold, shot by
Partha’s arms and issuing out of Gandiva, entered Karna’s body, like
cranes into the Krauncha mountains. With those arrows shot from Gandiva
which entered Karna’s body like so many snakes, Dhananjaya drove the
Suta’s son from Bhimasena’s vicinity. His bow cut off by Bhima, and
himself afflicted with the arrows of Dhananjaya, Karna quickly fled away
from Bhima on his great car. Bhimasena also, O bull among men, mounting
upon Satyaki’s car, proceeded in that battle in the wake of his brother
Savyasachin, the son of Pandu. Then Dhananjaya, with eyes red in wrath,
aiming at Karna, quickly sped a shaft like the Destroyer urging forward
Death’s self. That shaft shot from Gandiva, like Garuda in the welkin in
quest of a mighty snake, quickly coursed towards Karna. The son of Drona,
however, that mighty car-warrior, with a winged arrow of his, cut it off
in mid-air, desirous of rescuing Karna from fear of Dhananjaya. Then
Arjuna, excited with wrath, pierced the son of Drona with four and sixty
arrows, O king, and addressing him, said, “Do not fly away, O Aswatthaman,
but wait a moment.” Drona’s son, however, afflicted with the shafts of
Dhananjaya, quickly entered a division of the Kaurava army that abounded
with infuriated elephants and teemed with cars. The mighty son of Kunti,
then, with the twang of Gandiva, drowned the noise made in that battle by
all other twangings of bows, of shafts decked with gold. Then, the mighty
Dhananjaya followed from behind the son of Drona who had not retreated to
a great distance, frightening him all the way with his shafts. Piercing
with his shafts, winged with the feathers of Kankas and peacocks, the
bodies of men and elephants and steeds, Arjuna began to grind that force.
Indeed, O chief of the Bharatas, Partha, the son of Indra, began to
exterminate that host teeming with steeds and elephants and men.’”