na and kalikaya
forests, interspersed with yellow sandal trees. And he of mighty
strength, in the pursuit of the chase, roamed in the level and desert
tracts of the mountain, piercing his game with unpoisoned arrows. In that
forest the famous and mighty Bhimasena, possessing the strength of a
hundred elephants, killed (many) large wild boars, with the force (of his
arms). And endowed with terrible prowess and mighty strength, and
powerful as the lion or the tiger, and capable of resisting a hundred
men, and having long arms, and possessing the strength of a hundred
elephants, he killed many antelopes and wild boars and buffaloes. And
here and there, in that forest he pulled out trees by the roots, with
great violence and broke them too, causing the earth and the woods and
the (surrounding) places to resound. And then shouting and trampling on
the tops of mountains, and causing the earth to resound with his roars,
and striking his arms, and uttering his war-cry, and slapping and
clapping his hands, Bhimasena, exempt from decay, and ever-proud and
without fear, again and again leaped about in those woods. And on hearing
the shouts of Bhimasena, powerful lions and elephants of huge strength,
left their lairs in fright. And in that same forest, he fearlessly
strolled about in search of game; and like the denizens of the woods,
that most valiant of men, the mighty Bhimasena, wandered on foot in that
forest. And he penetrated the vast forest, shouting strange whoopos, and
terrifying all creatures, endowed with strength and prowess. And then
being terrified, the snakes hid (themselves) in caves, but he, overtaking
them with promptitude, pursued them slowly. Then the mighty Bhimasena,
like unto the Lord of the Celestials, saw a serpent of colossal
proportions, living in one of the mountain fastnesses and covering the
(entire) cave with its body and causing one's hair to stand on end (from
fright). It had its huge body stretched like a hillock, and it possessed
gigantic strength, and its body was speckled with spots and it had a
turmeric-like (yellow) colour and a deep copper-coloured mouth of the
form of a cave supplied with four teeth; and with glaring eyes, it was
constantly licking the corners of its mouth. And it was the terror of all
animated beings and it looked like the very image of the Destroyer Yama;
and with the hissing noise of its breath it lay as if rebuking (an
in-comer). And seeing Bhima draw so near to him, the s