Mahabharata VOL I2 - HolyBooks.com

144 MAHABHABATAgreat force and pierced with these arrows in that fierce encounter, felldown on the Earth. Consciousness, however, did not desert him.Mounting on his prince of elephants again in the midst of that battlethe son of Bhagadatta, desirous of victory,very cooly sped a number ofshafts at Arjuna. Filled with wrath, Jishnu then sped at the prince anumber of arrows that looked like blazing flames of fire and that seemedto be so many snakes of virulent poison.Pierced therewith, the mightyelephant, emitting a large quantity of blood, looked like a mountain ofmany springs discharging rills of water coloured with red chalk."SECTION LXXVIVaisampayana said, "Thus waged that battle, O chief of theBharatas, for three days between Arjuna and that prince like the encounterbetween him of a hundred sacrifices and Vritra. On the fourthday, Vajradatta of great might laughed loudly and, addressing Arjuna,said these words : 'Wait, wait, O Arjuna. Thou shalt not escape mewith life.Slaying thee I shall duly discharge the water-rite of my sire.My aged sire, Bhagadatta, who was the friend of thy sire, was slain bythee in consequence of his weight of years. Do thou, however, fight methat am but a boy I' 1 Having said these words, O thou of Kuru's race,king Vajradatta, filled with rage, urged his elephant towards the son ofPandu. Urged on by Vajradatta of great intelligence, that prince ofelephants, as if desirous of cutting through the welkin, rushed towardsDhananjaya. That prince of elephants drenched Arjuna with a showerof juice emitted from the end of his trunk, like a mass of blue cloudsdrenching a hill with its downpour. Indeed, urged on by the king,elephant, repeatedly roaring like a cloud, rushed towards Phalguna,with that deep noise emitted from its mouth. Verily, urged on byVajradatta, that prince of elephants quickly moved towards the mightycar-warrior of the Kurus, with the tread of one that seemed to dance inexcitement. Beholding that beast of Vajradatta advance towards him,that slayer of foes, viz., the mighty Dhananjaya, relying on Gandiva,stood his ground without shaking with fear. Recollecting what an obstacleVajradatta was proving to the accomplishment of his task,and rememberingthe old enmity of the house (of Pragjyotisha towards thePandavas), the son of Pandu became exceedingly inflamed with wrathagainst the king. Filled with rage, Dhananjaya impeded the course ofthat beast [with a shower of arrows like the shore resisting the surgingsea. That prince of elephants possessed of beauty (of form), thusimpeded by Arjuna, stopped in its course, with body pierced with manyan arrow, like a porcupine with its quills erect. Seeing his elephantimpeded in its course,the royal son of Bhagadatta, deprived of sense by1 Bhagadatta was the friend of Indra, the father of Arjuna. T.