Chapter 3

“Sanjaya said, ‘Beholding the grandsire, viz., the venerable Bhishma,that destroyer of all the Kshatriyas, that hero of righteous soul andimmeasurable energy, that great bowman thrown down (from his car) bySavyasachin with his celestial weapons, lying on a bed of arrows, andlooking like the vast ocean dried up by mighty winds, the hope of thysons for victory had disappeared along with their coats of mail and peaceof mind. Beholding him who was always an island unto persons sinking inthe fathomless ocean in their endeavours to cross it, beholding that herocovered with arrows that had coursed in a stream as continuous as that ofYamuna, that hero who looked like Mainaka of unbearable energy throwndown on the earth by the great Indra, that warrior lying prostrate on theearth like the Sun dropped down from the firmament, that one who lookedlike the inconceivable Indra himself after his defeat of old by Vritra,that depriver of all warriors of their senses, that foremost of allcombatants, that signal of all bowmen, beholding that hero and bull amongmen, viz., thy sire Bhishma of high vows, that grandsire of the Bharatasthrown down in battle and lying covered with Arjuna’s shafts, on a hero’sbed. Adhiratha’s son (Karna) alighted from his car, in great affliction,filled with grief, and almost senseless. Afflicted (with sorrow), andwith eyes troubled with tears, he proceeded on foot. Saluting him withjoined palms, and addressing him reverentially, he said, ‘I am Karna!Blessed be thou! Speak to me, O Bharata, in sacred and auspicious words,and look at me, opening thy eyes. No man certainly enjoyeth in this worldthe fruits of his pious deeds, since thou, reverend in years and devotedto virtue, liest slain on the ground. O thou that art the foremost oneamongst the Kurus, I do not see that there is any one else among them,who is competent (like thee) in filling the treasury, in counsels, in thematter of disposing the troops in battle array, and in the use ofweapons, Alas, he that was endued with a righteous understanding, he thatalways protected the Kurus from every danger, alas, he, having slainnumberless warriors, proceedeth to the region of the Pitris. From thisday, O chief of the Bharatas, the Pandavas, excited with wrath, willslaughter the Kurus like tigers slaying deer. Today the Kauravas,acquainted with the force of Gandiva’s twang, will regard Savyasachin,like the Asuras regarding the wielder of the thunder-bolt, with terror.Today the noise, resembling that of heaven’s thunder, of the arrows shotfrom Gandiva, will inspire the Kurus and other kings with great terror.Today, O hero, like a raging conflagration of fierce flames consuming aforest, the shafts of Kiritin will consume the Dhartarashtras. In thoseparts of the forest through which fire and wind march together, they burnall plants and creepers and trees. Without doubt, Partha is even like asurging fire, and, without doubt, O tiger among men, Krishna is like thewind. Hearing the blare of Panchajanya and the twang of Gandiva all theKaurava troops, O Bharata, will be filled with fear. O hero, withoutthee, the kings will never be able to bear the rattle of the ape-banneredcar belonging to that grinder of foes, when he will advance (upon them).Who amongst the kings, save thyself, is competent to battle with thatArjuna whose feats, as described by the wise, are all superhuman?Superhuman was the battle that he fought with the high-souled (Mahadeva)of three eyes. From him he obtained a boon that is unattainable bypersons of unsanctified souls. Delighted in battle, that son of Pandu isprotected by Madhava. Who is there that is competent to vanquish him whocould not be vanquished by thee before, although thou, endued with greatenergy, hadst vanquished Rama himself in battle, that fierce destroyer ofthe Kshatriya race, worshipped, besides, by the gods and the Danavas?Incapable of putting up with that son of Pandu, that foremost of heroesin battle, even I, with thy permission, am competent to slay, with theforce of my weapons, that brave and fierce warrior who resembleth a snakeof virulent poison and who slayeth his foes with his glances alone!'”