SECTION XXIII
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 you 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 your 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."
--------------------END OF PARVA 2 : UPA-PARVA 23 ---------------------
