When he accepted the drivership of Karnas car in battle, he sought to
damp the energy of Karna for giving victory to the sons of Pandu! Alas,
alas, behold the smooth face of Shalya, beautiful as the moon, and
adorned with eyes resembling the petals of the lotus, eaten away by
crows! There, the tongue of that king, of the complexion of heated gold,
rolling out of his mouth, is, O Krishna, being eaten away by carnivorous
birds! The ladies of the royal house of Madra, uttering loud wails of
woe, are sitting around the body of that king, that ornament of
assemblies, deprived of life by Yudhishthira! Those ladies are sitting
around that fallen hero like a herd of she-elephants in their season
around their leader sunk in a slough. Behold the brave Shalya, that giver
of protection, that foremost of car-warriors, stretched on the bed of
heroes, his body mangled with shafts. There, king Bhagadatta of great
prowess, the ruler of a mountainous kingdom, the foremost of all wielders
of the elephant-hook, lieth on the ground, deprived of life. Behold the
garland of gold that he still wears on his head, looketh resplendent.
Though the body is being eaten away by beasts of prey, that garland still
adorns the fair locks on his head. Fierce was the battle that took place
between this king and Partha, making the very hair stand on end, like
that between Shakra and the Asura Vritra. This mighty-armed one, having
fought Dhananjaya, the son of Pritha, and having reduced him to great
straits, was at last slain by his antagonist.
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