Chapter 176

“Sanjaya said, ‘Seeing Bhima in that battle assailed by the cannibal,Vasudeva, approaching Ghatotkacha, said unto him these words, ‘Behold, Omighty-armed one, Bhima is violently assailed by the Rakshasa in battle,in the very sight of all the troops and of thyself, O thou of greatsplendour! Abandoning Karna for the present, quickly slay Alayudha, Omighty armed one! Thou can afterwards slay Karna.’ Hearing these words ofhim of Vrishni’s race, the valiant Ghatotkacha, abandoning Karna,encountered Alayudha, that prince of cannibals and brother of Vaka. Thebattle 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-lookingand heroic Rakshasas, armed with bows. The diadem-decked Vibhatsu, Oking, in that battle, shooting his arrows on all sides, began tooverthrow many foremost of Kshatriyas. Meanwhile, Karna, O king, in thatbattle agitated many kings and many mighty car-warriors amongst thePanchalas headed by Dhrishtadyumna and Sikhandin and others. Beholdingthem slaughtered (by Karna), Bhima, of terrible prowess, rushed speedilytowards Karna, shooting his shafts in that battle. Then those warriorsalso, viz., Nakula and Sahadeva and the mighty car-warrior,

Satyaki, having slain the Rakshasas, proceeded to that place where theSuta’s son was. All of them, then, began to fight with Karna, while thePanchalas encountered Drona. Then Alayudha, excited with rage, struckGhatotkacha, that chastiser of foes, on the head, with a giganticParigha. With the stroke of that Parigha, the mighty son of Bhimasena,endued with great prowess, seemed to be in a state of partial swoon andsat down motionless. Recovering consciousness, the latter, then, in thatencounter, hurled at his foe a gold-decked mace adorned with a hundredbells and looking like a blazing fire. Hurled forcibly by that achieverof fierce feats, that mace crushed into pieces the steeds, the driver,and the loud-rattling car of Alayudha. Having recourse to illusion, thelatter, then, jumped down from that car of his, whose steeds and wheelsand Akshas and standard and Kuvara had all been crushed into pieces.Relying on his illusion, he poured a copious shower of blood. The skythen seemed to be overspread with a mass of black clouds adorned withflashes of lightning. A thunder-storm was then heard, accompanied withloud reports and loud roars of clouds. Loud sounds also of chat, chat,were heard in that dreadful battle. Beholding that illusion created bythe Rakshasa Alayudha, the Rakshasa Ghatotkacha, soaring aloft, destroyedit by means of his own illusion. Alayudha, beholding his own illusiondestroyed by that of his foe, began to pour a heavy shower of stones onGhatotkacha. That terrible shower of stones, the valiant Ghatotkachadispelled by means of a shower of arrows. They then rained on each otherdiverse weapons, such as iron Parighas and spears and maces and shortclubs and mallets, and Pinakas and swords and lances and long spears andKampanas, and keen shafts, both long and broad-headed, and arrows anddiscs and battle-axes, and Ayogudas and short-arrows, and weapons withheads like those of kine, and Ulukhalas. And they struck each other,tearing up many kinds of large-branched trees such as Sami and Pilu andKarira and Champaka, O Bharata, and Inguidi and Vadari and floweringKovidara and Arimeda and Plaksha and banian and peepul, and also withdiverse mountain-summits and diverse kinds of metals. The clash of thosetrees and mountain-summits became very loud like the roar of drivingthunder. Indeed, the battle that took place between Bhima’s son andAlayudha, 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 fierceweapons, as also with sharp scimitars. Then the mighty Rakshasas, rushingagainst each other, seized each other by the hair. And, O king, those twogigantic warriors, with many wounds on their bodies and blood and sweattrickling down, looked like two mighty masses of clouds pouring rain.Then rushing with speed and whirling the Rakshasas on high and dashinghim down, Hidimva’s son cut off his large head. Then taking that headdecked with a pair of ear-rings, the mighty Ghatotkacha uttered a loudroar. 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 thousandsof drums and ten thousands of conchs. That night then clearly indicatedthe victory of the Pandavas. Illumined with torches all around, andresounding with the noise of musical instruments, the night lookedexceedingly resplendent. Then the mighty son of Bhimasena threw down thehead of the slain Alayudha before Duryodhana. Duryodhana, beholding theheroic Alayudha slain, became, O Bharata, filled with anxiety, for allhis troops. Alayudha, having come to Duryodhana of his own accord.remembering his former quarrel, had said unto him that he would slayBhima in battle. The Kuru king had regarded Bhima’s slaughter to becertain, and had believed that his brothers would all be long-lived.Beholding that Alayudha slain by Bhimasena’s son, the king regardedBhima’s vow (about the slaughter of himself and his brothers) alreadyfulfilled.'”