dispersed in all directions like congregated masses of
clouds dispersed by the wind. While thy army, slaughtered on all sides,
was thus flying away, only Drona's son singly rushed with speed against
the mighty Bhimasena. All at once a fierce encounter ensued between them
like to what had taken place between Vritra and Vasava in the battle
between the gods and the Asuras (of old).'"

15

"Sanjaya said, 'Endued with the greatest activity, Drona's son, O king,
displaying the lightness of his arms, pierced Bhima with an arrow. Aiming
at all his vital points--for he had a knowledge of all the vital points
of the body--the quick-handed Ashvatthama again struck him with ninety
shafts. Pierced all over with keen arrows by the son of Drona, Bhimasena
looked resplendent in that battle like the Sun himself with his rays. The
son of Pandu then, covering the son of Drona with a 1,000 well-directed
shafts, uttered a leonine roar. Baffling with his own shafts the shafts
of his foe in that battle, the son of Drona, O king, as if smiling, then
struck the Pandava on the forehead with a cloth-yard shaft. The son of
Pandu bore that arrow on his forehead even as the proud rhinoceros, O
king, in the forest bears its horn. The valiant Bhima, then, in that
battle as if smiling all the while, struck the struggling son of Drona on
the forehead with three cloth-yard shafts. With those three arrows
sticking on his forehead, that Brahmana looked beautiful like a
three-peaked mountain washed with water in the season of rains. The son
of Drona then afflicted the Pandava with hundreds of arrows, but failed
to shake him like the wind failing to shake the mountain. Similarly the
son of Pandu, filled with joy, could not in that battle shake the son of
Drona with his hundreds of keen shafts like torrents of rain failing to
shake a mountain. Shrouding each other with showers of terrible shafts
those two great car-warriors, those two heroes, endued with fierce might,
shone resplendent on those two foremost of cars of theirs. Then they
looked like two blazing Suns risen for the destruction of the world, and
engaged themselves in scorching each other with their rays representing
excellent arrows. Endeavouring with great care to counteract each other's
feats in the great battle, and actually engaged in matching deed by deed
with showers of arrows most fearlessly, those two foremost of men
careered in that combat like a couple of tigers. Both invincible an