Chapter 13

“Janamejaya said, ‘While living thus disguised in the city of theMatsyas, what did those descendants of the Kuru race endued with greatprowess, do, O regenerate one!’

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Hear, O king, what those descendants of Kuru didwhile they dwelt thus in disguise in the city of the Matsyas, worshippingthe king thereof. By the grace of the sage Trinavindu and of thehigh-souled lord of justice, the Pandavas continued to live unrecognisedby others in the city of Virata. O lord of men, Yudhishthira, as courtiermade himself agreeable to Virata and his sons as also to all the Matsyas.An adept in the mysteries of dice, the son of Pandu caused them to playat dice according to his pleasure and made them sit together in thedice-hall like a row of birds bound in a string. And that tiger amongmen, king Yudhishthira the Just, unknown to the monarch, distributedamong his brothers, in due proportion, the wealth he won from Virata. AndBhimasena on his part, sold to Yudhishthira for price, meat and viands ofvarious kinds which he obtained from the king. And Arjuna distributedamong all his brothers the proceeds of worn-out cloths which he earned inthe inner apartments of the palace. And Sahadeva, too, who was disguisedas a cowherd gave milk, curds and clarified butter to his brothers. AndNakula also shared with his brothers the wealth the king gave him,satisfied with his management of the horses. And Draupadi, herself in apitiable condition, looked after all those brothers and behaved in such away as to remain unrecognized. And thus ministering unto one another’swants, those mighty warriors lived in the capital of Virata as hiddenfrom view, as if they were once more in their mother’s womb. And thoselords of men, the sons of Pandu, apprehensive of danger from the son ofDhritarashtra, continued to dwell there in concealment, watching overtheir wife Draupadi. And after three months had passed away, in thefourth, the grand festival in honour of the divine Brahma which wascelebrated with pomp in the country of the Matsyas, came off. And therecame athletes from all quarters by thousands, like hosts of celestials tothe abode of Brahma or of Siva to witness that festival. And they wereendued with huge bodies and great prowess, like the demons calledKalakhanjas. And elated with their prowess and proud of their strength,they were highly honoured by the king. And their shoulders and waists andnecks were like those of lions, and their bodies were very clean, andtheir hearts were quite at ease. And they had many a time won success inthe lists in the presence of kings. And amongst them there was one whotowered above the rest and challenged them all to a combat. And there wasnone that dared to approach him as he proudly stalked in the arena. Andwhen all the athletes stood sad and dispirited, the king of the Matsyasmade him fight with his cook. And urged by the king, Bhima made up hismind reluctantly, for he could not openly disobey the royal behest. Andthat tiger among men then having worshipped the king, entered thespacious arena, pacing with the careless steps of a tiger. And the son ofKunti then girded up his loins to the great delight of the spectators.And Bhima then summoned to the combat that athlete known by the name ofJimuta who was like unto the Asura Vritra whose prowess was widely known.And both of them were possessed of great courage, and both were enduedwith terrible prowess. And they were like a couple of infuriate andhuge-bodied elephants, each sixty years old. And those brave tigers amongmen then cheerfully engaged in a wrestling combat, desirous ofvanquishing each other. And terrible was the encounter that took placebetween them, like the clash of the thunderbolt against the stonymountain-breast. And both of them were exceedingly powerful and extremelydelighted at each other’s strength. And desirous of vanquishing eachother, each stood eager to take advantage of his adversary’s lapse. Andboth were greatly delighted and both looked like infuriate elephants ofprodigious size. And various were the modes of attack and defence thatthey exhibited with their clenched fists.[12] And each dashed against theother and flung his adversary to a distance. And each cast the other downand pressed him close to the ground. And each got up again and squeezedthe other in his arms. And each threw the other violently off his placeby boxing him on the breast. And each caught the other by the legs andwhirling him round threw him down on the ground. And they slapped eachother with their palms that struck as hard as the thunderbolt. And theyalso struck each other with their outstretched fingers, and stretchingthem out like spears thrust the nails into each other’s body. And theygave each other violent kicks. And they struck knee and head againsthead, producing the crash of one stone against another. And in thismanner that furious combat between those warriors raged on withoutweapons, sustained mainly by the power of their arms and their physicaland mental energy, to the infinite delight of the concourse ofspectators. And all people, O king, took deep interest in that encounterof those powerful wrestlers who fought like Indra and the Asura Vritra.And they cheered both of them with loud acclamations of applause. And thebroad-chested and long-armed experts in wrestling then pulled and pressedand whirled and hurled down each other and struck each other with theirknees, expressing all the while their scorn for each other in loudvoices. And they began to fight with their bare arms in this way, whichwere like spiked maces of iron. And at last the powerful and mighty-armedBhima, the slayer of his foes, shouting aloud seized the vociferousathlete by the arms even as the lion seizes the elephant, and taking himup from the ground and holding him aloft, began to whirl him round, tothe great astonishment of the assembled athletes and the people ofMatsya. And having whirled him round and round a hundred times till hewas insensible, the strong-armed Vrikodara dashed him to death on theground. And when the brave and renowned Jimuta was thus killed, Virataand his friends were filled with great delight. And in the exuberance ofhis joy, the noble-minded king rewarded Vallava then and there with theliberality of Kuvera. And killing numerous athletes and many other menpossessed of great bodily strength, he pleased the king very much. Andwhen no one could be found there to encounter him in the lists, the kingmade him fight with tigers and lions and elephants. And the king alsomade him battle with furious and powerful lions in the harem for thepleasure of the ladies. And Arjuna, too, pleased the king and all theladies of the inner apartments by singing and dancing. And Nakula pleasedVirata, that best of kings, by showing him fleet and well-trained steedsthat followed him wherever he went. And the king, gratified with him,rewarded him with ample presents. And beholding around Sahadeva a herd ofwell-trained bullocks, Virata that bull among men, bestowed upon him alsowealth of diverse kinds. And, O king, Draupadi distressed to see allthose warriors suffer pain, sighed incessantly. And it was in this waythat those eminent persons lived there in disguise, rendering servicesunto king Virata.'”