While
engaged in slaughtering those elephants, Vrikodara, in that battle,
covered the welkin with his shafts like myriads of insects covering a
fire. Like the wind scattering masses of clouds, Bhima quickly scattered
and destroyed crowds of elephants united together in thousands. Covered
all over with networks of gold, as also with many gems, the elephants
looked exceedingly beautiful in that battle like clouds charged with
lightning. Slaughtered by Bhima, those elephants, O king, began to fly
away. Some amongst them, with their hearts pierced, fell down on the
Earth. With those fallen and failing elephants adorned with gold, the
Earth looked beautiful there, as if strewn with broken mountains. With
the fallen elephant-warriors of blazing resplendence and adorned with
gems, the Earth looked beautiful as if strewn with planets of exhausted
merit. Then elephants, with their temples, frontal globes, and trunks
deeply pierced, fled in hundreds in that battle, afflicted with the
shafts of Bhimasena. Some amongst them, huge as hills, afflicted with
fear and vomiting blood, ran away, their limbs mangled with arrows, and
looked on that account, like mountains with liquid metals running down
their sides. People then beheld the two arms of Bhima, resembling two
mighty snakes, smeared with sandal-paste and other pounded unguents,
continually employed in drawing the bow. Hearing the sound of his
bow-string and palms that resembled the peal of thunder, those elephants,
ejecting urine and excreta, ran away in fear.
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