SECTION XXIII
(Jarasandhta-badha Parva Continued)
Vaisampayana said,--'then that foremost of all
speakers, Krishna of the Yadava race, addressing king Jarasandha who was
resolved upon fighting, said,--'O king, with whom amongst us three dost thou
desire to fight? Who amongst us shall prepare himself for battle (with thee)?'
Thus addressed, the ruler of Magadha, king Jarasandha of great splendour,
expressed his desire for fighting with Bhima. The priest then, bringing with
him the yellow pigment obtained from the cow and garlands of flowers and other
auspicious articles, as also various excellent medicines for restoring lost
consciousness and alleviating pain, approached Jarasandha, panting for battle.
The king Jarasandha, on whose behalf propitiatory ceremonies with benedictions
were performed by a renowned Brahmana, remembering the duty of a Kshatriya
dressed himself for battle. Taking off his crown and binding his hair properly,
Jarasandha stood up like an ocean bursting its continents. Then the monarch
possessed of terrible prowess, addressing Bhima. said, 'I will fight with thee.
It is better to be vanquished by a superior person.' And saying this,
Jarasandha, that represser of all foes endued, rushed with great energy at
Bhimasena like the Asura Vala or old who rushed at the chief of the celestials.
And the mighty Bhimasena, on whose behalf the gods had been invoked by Krishna,
that cousin of his, having consulted with advanced towards Jarasandha, impelled
by the desire of fight. Then those tigers among men, those heroes of great
prowess, with their bare arms as their only weapons, cheerfully engaged
themselves in the encounter, each desirous of vanquishing the other. And
seizing each other's arms and twining each other's legs, (at times) they
slapped their arm-pits, causing the enclosure to tremble at the sound. And
frequently seizing each other's necks with their hands and dragging and pushing
it with violence, and each pressing every limb of his body against every limb
of the other, they continued, O exalted one, to slap their arm-pits (at time).
And sometimes stretching their arms and sometimes drawing them close, and now
raising them up and now dropping them down, they began to seize each other. And
striking neck against neck and forehead against forehead, they caused fiery
sparks to come out like flashes of lightning. And grasping each other in
various ways by means of their arms, and kicking each other with such violence
as to affect the innermost nerves, they struck at each other's breasts with
clenched fists. With bare arms as their only weapons roaring like clouds they
grasped and struck each other like two mad elephants encountering each other
with their trunks. Incensed at each other's blow, they fought on dragging and
pushing each other and fiercely looking at each other like two wrathful lions.
And each striking every limb of the other with his own and using his arms also
against the other, and catching hold of each other's waist, they hurled each
other to a distance. Accomplished in wrestling, the two heroes clasping each
other with their arms and each dragging the other unto himself, began to press
each other with great violence. The heroes then performed those grandest of all
feats in wrestling called Prishtabhanga, which consisted in throwing each other
down with face towards the earth and maintaining the one knocked down in that
position as long as possible. And employing his arms, each also performed the
feats called Sampurna-murchcha and Purna-kumbha. At times they twisted each
other's arms and other limbs as if these were vegetable fibres that were to be
twisted into chords. And with clenched fists they struck each other at times,
pretending to aim at particular limbs while the blows descended upon other
parts of the body. It was thus that those heroes fought with each other. The citizens
consisting of thousands, of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and Sudras, and
even women and the aged, O tiger among men, came out and gathered there to
behold the fight. And the crowd became so great that it was one solid mass of
humanity with no space between body and body. The sound the wrestlers made by
the slapping of their arms, the seizing of each other's necks for bringing each
other down, and the grasping of each other's legs for dashing each other to the
ground, became so loud that it resembled the roar of thunder or of falling
cliffs. Both of them were foremost of mighty men, and both took great delight
in such encounter. Desirous of vanquishing the other, each was on the alert for
taking advantage of the slightest lapse of the other. And, O monarch, the
mighty Bhima and Jarasandha fought terribly on in those lists, driving the
crowd at times by the motions of their hands like Vritra and Vasava of old.
Thus two heroes, dragging each other forward and pressing each other backward
and with sudden jerks throwing each other face downward and sideways, mangled
each other dreadfully. And at times they struck each other with their
knee-joints. And addressing each other loudly in stinging speeches, they struck
each other with clenched fists, the blows descending like a mass of stone upon
each other. With broad shoulders and long arms and both well-skilled in
wrestling encounters, they struck each other with those long arms of theirs
that were like maces of iron. That encounter of the heroes commenced on the
first (lunar) day of the month of Kartic (October) and the illustrious heroes
fought on without intermission and food, day and night, till the thirteenth
lunar day. It was on the night of the fourteenth of the lunar fortnight that
the monarch of Magadha desisted from fatigue. And O king, Janardana beholding
the monarch tired, addressed Bhima of terrible deeds, and as if to stimulate
him said,--'O son of Kunti, a foe that is fatigued cannot be pressed for if
pressed at such a time he may even die. Therefore, O son of Kunti, this king
should not be oppressed by thee. On the other hand, O bull of the Bharata race,
fight with him With thy arms, putting forth as much strength only as thy
antagonist hath now left!' Then that slayer of hostile heroes, the son of
Pandu, thus addressed by Krishna, understood the plight of Jarasandha and
forthwith resolved upon taking his life. And that foremost of all men endued
with strength, that prince of the Kuru race, desirous of vanquishing the
hitherto unvanquished Jarasandha, mustered all his strength and courage."
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