I had no hope of success, O Sanjaya, when I heard that, after reducing the Somakas to a few, the old hero Bhishma had been overcome with innumerable wounds and was lying on the bed of arrows.
यदाश्रौष शरतल्पे शयानं वृद्धं वीरं सादितं चित्रपुंखैः। स्तदा नाशंसे विजयाय संजय॥