r, O monarch, of
either thee, or Vrikodara, the son of Pritha, or Phalguna, or Vasudeva,
or all the Pancalas, or the twins, or Yuyudhana, or all the other troops
thou hast! Standing in battle, alone as I am, I shall resist all of you!
The fame, O king, of all righteous men hath righteousness for its basis!
I say all this to you, observant of both righteousness and fame! Rising
(from this lake), I shall fight all of you in battle! Like the year that
gradually meets all the seasons, I shall meet all of you in fight! Wait,
ye Pandavas! Like the sun destroying by his energy the light of all stars
at dawn, I shall today, though weaponless and carless, destroy all of you
possessed of cars and steeds! Today I shall free myself from the debt I
owe to the many illustrious Kshatriyas (that have fallen for me), to
Bahlika and Drona and Bhishma and the high-souled Karna, to the heroic
Jayadratha and Bhagadatta, to Shalya the ruler of the Madras and
Bhurishrava, to my sons, O chief of Bharata's race, and Shakuni the son
of Subala, to all my friends and well-wishers and kinsmen! Today I shall
free myself from that debt by slaying thee with thy brothers!" With these
words, the (Kuru) king ceased speaking.

"'Yudhishthira said, "By good luck, O Suyodhana, thou knowest the duties
of a Kshatriya! By good luck, O thou of mighty arms, thy heart inclineth
to battle! By good luck, thou art a hero, O thou of Kuru's race, and, by
good luck, thou art conversant with battle, since, single-handed, thou
wishest to meet all of us in battle! Fight any one of us, taking whatever
weapon thou likest! All of us will stand as spectators here! I grant thee
also, O hero, this (other) wish of thy heart, that if thou slayest any of
us, thou shalt then become king! Otherwise, slain by us, go to heaven!"

"'Duryodhana said, "A brave man as thou art, if thou grantest me the
option of fighting only one of you, this mace that I hold in my hand is
the weapon that I select! Let any one amongst you who thinks that he will
be my match come forward and fight with me on foot, armed with mace! Many
wonderful single combats have occurred on cars! Let this one great and
wonderful combat with the mace happen today! Men (while fighting) desire
to change weapons. Let the manner of the fight be changed today, with thy
permission! O thou of mighty arms, I shall, with my mace, vanquish thee
today with all thy younger brothers, as also all the Pancalas and the
Srinjayas and all