them on celestial cars, they repaired on those vehicles (towards the region of Indra). Witnessing with their own eyes those wonderful sights, and actuated by the desire of going to heaven, heroes with cheerful hearts speedily slew one another. Car-warriors fought beautifully with car-warriors in that battle, and foot-soldiers with foot-soldiers, and elephants with elephants, and steeds with steeds. Indeed, when that battle, destructive of elephants and steeds and men, raged in this way, the field became covered with the dust raised by the troops. Then enemies slew enemies and friends slew friends. The combatants dragged one another by their locks, bit one another with their teeth, tore one another with their nails, and struck one another with clenched fists, and fought one another with bare arms in that fierce battle destructive of both life and sins. Indeed, as that battle, fraught with carnage of elephants and steeds and men, raged on so fiercely, a river of blood ran from the bodies of (slain) human beings and steeds and elephants. And that current carried away a large number of dead bodies of elephants and steeds and men. Indeed, in that vast host teeming with men, steeds, and elephants, that river formed by the blood of men and steeds and elephants and horsemen and elephant-men, became miry with flesh and exceedingly terrible. And on that current, inspiring the timid with terror, floated the bodies of men and steeds and elephants. Impelled by the desire of victory, some combatants forded it and some remained on the other side. And some plunged into its depths, and some sank in it and some rose above its surface as they swam through it. Smeared all over with blood, their armour and weapons and robes--all became bloody. Some bathed in it and some drank the liquid and some became strengthless, O bull of Bharata's race. Cars and steeds, and men and elephants and weapons and ornaments, and robes and armour, and combatants that were slain or about to be slain, and the Earth, the welkin, the firmament, and all the points of the compass, became red. With the odour, the touch, the taste, and the exceedingly red sight of that blood and its rushing sound, almost all the combatants, O Bharata, became very cheerless. The Pandava heroes then, headed by Bhimasena and Satyaki, once more rushed impetuously against that army already beaten. Beholding the impetuosity of that rush of the Pandava heroes to be irresistible, the vast force of thy sons, O king, turned its back on the field. Indeed, that host of thine, teeming with cars and steeds and elephants and men no longer in compact array, with armour and coats of mail displaced and weapons and bows loosened from their grasp, fled away in all directions, whilst being agitated by the enemy, even like a herd of elephants in the forest afflicted by lions.'" 50