When he beholds that the arrows shot by the enemy have been stopped, or turned back, struck by my arrows, or cut to pieces, pierced crosswise by my arrows, then the foolish son of Dhritarashtra will repent of this war. When broad-headed arrows loosed by my hands strike off the heads of the young warriors, like birds plucking fruit from treetops, then the son of Dhritarashtra will repent of this war. When he beholds his finest warriors falling from their chariots, and elephants and horses, bereft of life by my arrows, rolling across the field, then the son of Dhritarashtra will repent of this war. When he beholds his brothers, before they have even come properly within range of the enemy's weapons, perishing all around, having accomplished nothing whatever in battle, then the son of Dhritarashtra will repent of this war. Pouring forth without ceasing my blazing arrows, I, like Death itself with wide-open jaws, destroy on every side a multitude of chariots and foot-soldiers — then this scoundrel will repent. When he beholds his own troops, covered with the dust raised by my chariot, wandering in every direction, torn apart by Gandiva and bereft of their senses, then this scoundrel will repent. When he beholds his whole army fleeing in terror in every direction, its limbs mangled and its senses gone; when he beholds his horses, elephants, and finest heroes slain; when he beholds his troops thirsting, seized by panic, wailing aloud, dying and dead, their animals exhausted; and hair, bones, and skulls lying in heaps all around, like the unfinished creations of the Creator, then this scoundrel will repent. When he beholds upon my chariot Gandiva, Vasudeva, and the celestial conch Panchajanya, myself, my pair of inexhaustible quivers, and my conch named Devadatta, as well as my white horses, then the son of Dhritarashtra will repent of this war. When I consume the Kauravas, like Agni devouring countless wicked souls gathered together at the advent of a new age at the end of the last, then Dhritarashtra and all his sons will repent. When the wicked and enraged son of Dhritarashtra is stripped of his prosperity together with his brothers, army, and followers, then, having lost his pride, lost heart, and trembling in every limb, this fool will repent. One morning, when I had finished my water rites and prayers, a brahmin spoke these welcome words to me: 'O Partha, you will have to accomplish a very difficult task.'