Chapter 75

“Vaisampayana said, ‘That foremost of steeds then proceeded to the realmof Pragjyotisha and began to wander there. At this, Bhagadatta’s son, whowas exceedingly valorous in battle, came out (for encountering Arjuna).King Vajradatta, O chief of the Bharatas, finding the (sacrificial) steedarrived within his realm, fought (for detaining it). The royal son ofBhagadatta, issuing out of his city, afflicted the steed that was coming(and seizing it), marched back towards his own place. Marking this, themighty-armed chief of the Kuru race, speedily stretched his Gandiva, andsuddenly rushed towards his foe. Stupefied by the shafts sped fromGandiva, the heroic son of Bhagadatta, letting off loose the steed, fledfrom Partha.[191] Once more entering his capital, that foremost of kings,irresistible in battle, cased himself in mail, and mounting on his princeof elephants, came out. That mighty car-warrior had a white umbrella heldover his head, and was fanned with a milk-white yak-tail. Impelled bychildishness and folly, he challenged Partha, the mighty car-warrior ofthe Pandavas, famed for terrible deeds in battle, to an encounter withhim. The enraged prince then urged towards Arjuna that elephant of his,which resembled a veritable mountain, and from whose temples and mouthissued streams of juice indicative of excitement. Indeed, that elephantshowered its secretions like a mighty mass of clouds pouring rain.Capable of resisting hostile feats of its own species, it had beenequipped agreeably to the ordinances of the treatises (on war-elephants).Irresistible in battle, it had become so infuriate as to be beyondcontrol. Urged on by the prince with the iron-hook, that mighty elephantthen seemed (as it advanced) as if it would cut through the welkin (likea flying hill). Beholding it advance towards him, O king, Dhananjaya,filled with rage and standing on the earth, O Bharata, encountered theprince on its back. Filled with wrath, Vajradatta quickly sped at Arjunaa number of broad-headed shafts endued with the energy of fire andresembling (as they coursed through the air) a cloud of speedily-movinglocusts. Arjuna, however, with shafts sped from Gandiva, cut off thosearrows, some into two and some into three pieces. He cut them off in thewelkin itself with those shafts of his coursing through the welkin. Theson of Bhagadatta, beholding his broad-headed shafts thus cut off,quickly sped at Arjuna a number of other arrows in a continuous line.Filled with rage at this, Arjuna, more quickly than before, shot atBhagadatta’s son a number of straightly coursing arrows equipt withgolden wings. Vajradatta of mighty energy, struck with great force andpierced with these arrows in that fierce encounter, fell down on theEarth. Consciousness, however, did not desert him. Mounting on his princeof elephants again in the midst of that battle the son of Bhagadatta,desirous of victory, very coolly sped a number of shafts at Arjuna.Filled with wrath, Jishnu then sped at the prince a number of arrows thatlooked like blazing flames of fire and that seemed to be so many snakesof virulent poison. Pierced therewith, the mighty elephant, emitting alarge quantity of blood, looked like a mountain of many springsdischarging rills of water coloured with red chalk.'”