SECTION CLXXVI
"Sanjaya said, 'Seeing Bhima in that battle assailed by the cannibal,
Vasudeva, approaching Ghatotkacha, said unto him these words, 'Behold, O
mighty-armed one, Bhima is violently assailed by the Rakshasa in battle,
in the very sight of all the troops and of thyself, O you of great
splendour! Abandoning Karna for the present, quickly slay Alayudha, O
mighty armed one! Thou can afterwards slay Karna.' Hearing these words of
him of Vrishni's race, the valiant Ghatotkacha, abandoning Karna,
encountered Alayudha, that prince of cannibals and brother of Vaka. The
battle then that took place at night between those two cannibals, viz.,
Alayudha and the son of Hidimva became fierce and dreadful, O Bharata.
Meanwhile, the mighty car-warrior Yuyudhana, and Nakula, and Sahadeva,
pierced with keen shafts the warriors of Alayudha, those terrible-looking
and heroic Rakshasas, armed with bows. The diadem-decked Vibhatsu, O
king, in that battle, shooting his arrows on all sides, began to
overthrow many foremost of Kshatriyas. Meanwhile, Karna, O king, in that
battle agitated many kings and many mighty car-warriors amongst the
Panchalas headed by Dhrishtadyumna and Sikhandin and others. Beholding
them slaughtered (by Karna), Bhima, of terrible prowess, rushed speedily
towards Karna, shooting his shafts in that battle. Then those warriors
also, viz., Nakula and Sahadeva and the mighty car-warrior,
Satyaki, having slain the Rakshasas, proceeded to that place where the
Suta's son was. All of them, then, began to fight with Karna, while the
Panchalas encountered Drona. Then Alayudha, excited with rage, struck
Ghatotkacha, that chastiser of foes, on the head, with a gigantic
Parigha. With the stroke of that Parigha, the mighty son of Bhimasena,
endued with great prowess, seemed to be in a state of partial swoon and
sat down motionless. Recovering consciousness, the latter, then, in that
encounter, hurled at his foe a gold-decked mace adorned with a hundred
bells and looking like a blazing fire. Hurled forcibly by that achiever
of fierce feats, that mace crushed into pieces the steeds, the driver,
and the loud-rattling car of Alayudha. Having recourse to illusion, the
latter, then, jumped down from that car of his, whose steeds and wheels
and Akshas and standard and Kuvara had all been crushed into pieces.
Relying on his illusion, he poured a copious shower of blood. The sky
then seemed to be overspread with a mass of black clouds adorned with
flashes of lightning. A thunder-storm was then heard, accompanied with
loud reports and loud roars of clouds. Loud sounds also of chat, chat,
were heard in that dreadful battle. Beholding that illusion created by
the Rakshasa Alayudha, the Rakshasa Ghatotkacha, soaring aloft, destroyed
it by means of his own illusion. Alayudha, beholding his own illusion
destroyed by that of his foe, began to pour a heavy shower of stones on
Ghatotkacha. That terrible shower of stones, the valiant Ghatotkacha
dispelled by means of a shower of arrows. They then rained on each other
diverse weapons, such as iron Parighas and spears and maces and short
clubs and mallets, and Pinakas and swords and lances and long spears and
Kampanas, and keen shafts, both long and broad-headed, and arrows and
discs and battle-axes, and Ayogudas and short-arrows, and weapons with
heads like those of kine, and Ulukhalas. And they struck each other,
tearing up many kinds of large-branched trees such as Sami and Pilu and
Karira and Champaka, O Bharata, and Inguidi and Vadari and flowering
Kovidara and Arimeda and Plaksha and banian and peepul, and also with
diverse mountain-summits and diverse kinds of metals. The clash of those
trees and mountain-summits became very loud like the roar of driving
thunder. Indeed, the battle that took place between Bhima's son and
Alayudha, was, O king, dreadful in the extreme, like that in days of old,
O monarch, between Vali and Sugriva, those two princes among the monkeys.
They struck each other with shafts and diverse other kinds of fierce
weapons, as also with sharp scimitars. Then the mighty Rakshasas, rushing
against each other, seized each other by the hair. And, O king, those two
gigantic warriors, with many wounds on their bodies and blood and sweat
trickling down, looked like two mighty masses of clouds pouring rain.
Then rushing with speed and whirling the Rakshasas on high and dashing
him down, Hidimva's son cut off his large head. Then taking that head
decked with a pair of ear-rings, the mighty Ghatotkacha uttered a loud
roar. Beholding the gigantic brother of Vaka, that chastiser of foes,
thus slain, the Panchalas and the Pandavas began to utter leonine shouts.
Then, upon the fall of the Rakshasa, the Pandavas beat and blew thousands
of drums and ten thousands of conchs. That night then clearly indicated
the victory of the Pandavas. Illumined with torches all around, and
resounding with the noise of musical instruments, the night looked
exceedingly resplendent. Then the mighty son of Bhimasena threw down the
head of the slain Alayudha before Duryodhana. Duryodhana, beholding the
heroic Alayudha slain, became, O Bharata, filled with anxiety, for all
his troops. Alayudha, having come to Duryodhana of his own accord.
remembering his former quarrel, had said unto him that he would slay
Bhima in battle. The Kuru king had regarded Bhima's slaughter to be
certain, and had believed that his brothers would all be long-lived.
Beholding that Alayudha slain by Bhimasena's son, the king regarded
Bhima's vow (about the slaughter of himself and his brothers) already
fulfilled.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 7 : UPA-PARVA 176 ---------------------
