stretch. And each made the greatest endeavours to compass the destruction
of the other. And each of them desired to make the other carless in that
battle. Then that car-warrior, viz., the son of Drona, invoked many
mighty weapons. The son of Pandu, however, in that battle, with his own
weapons, counteracted all those weapons of his foe. Then, O monarch,
there took place an awful encounter of weapons, like to the terrible
encounter of planets at the time of the universal dissolution. Those
shafts, O Bharata, let off by them, coming in collision, illuminated all
the points of the compass and thy troops also all around. Covered with
flights of arrows, the welkin assumed a terrible sight, like to what
happens, O king, at the time of the universal dissolution, when it is
covered with falling meteors. From the clash of shafts, O Bharata, fire
was generated there with sparks and blazing flames. That fire began to
consume both armies. Siddhas, moving there, O monarch, said these words,
"O lord, this battle is the foremost of all battles. Any battle (fought
before) does not come up to even a sixteenth part of this. A battle like
this will never occur again. Both these persons, viz., this brahmana and
this kshatriya, are endued with knowledge. Both are possessed of courage,
and both are fierce in prowess. Dreadful is the might of Bhima, and
wonderful is the skill of the other in weapons. How great is their energy
and how wonderful the skill possessed by both! Both of them stand in this
battle like two universe-destroying Yamas at the end of the Yuga. They
are born like two Rudras or like two Suns. These two tigers among men,
both endued with terrible forms, are like two Yamas in this battle." Such
were the words of the Siddhas heard there every moment. And among the
assembled denizens of heaven there arose a leonine roar. Beholding the
amazing and inconceivable feats of the two warriors in that battle, the
dense throngs of Siddhas, and Charanas were filled with wonder. And the
gods, the Siddhas, and the great Rishis applauded them both saying,
"Excellent, O mighty-armed son of Drona. Excellent, O Bhima." Meanwhile