, 'Thy sister, O wretch, shall today behold thee dragged by me to
the ground, like a mighty elephant, huge as a mountain, dragged to the
ground by a lion. Thyself slain _Sairindhri_ will live in peace, and we,
her husbands, will also live in peace.' Saying this, the mighty Bhima
seized Kichaka by the hairs of his head, which were adorned with
garlands. And thus seized with force by the hair, that foremost of
mighty persons, Kichaka, quickly freed his hair and grasped the arms of
Bhima. And then between those lions among men, fired with wrath, between
that chief of the Kichaka clan, and that best of men, there ensued a
hand-to-hand encounter, like that between two powerful elephants for a
female elephant in the season of spring, or like that which happened in
days of yore between those lions among monkeys, the brothers Vali and
Sugriva. And both equally infuriate and both eager for victory, both
those combatants raised their arms resembling snakes furnished with five
hoods, and attacked each other with their nails and teeth, wrought up to
frenzy of wrath. Impetuously assailed by the powerful Kichaka in that
encounter, the resolute Bhima did not waver a single step. And locked in
each other's embraces and dragging each other, they fought on like two
mighty bulls. And having nails and teeth for their weapons, the
encounter between them was fierce and terrible like that of two furious
tigers. And felling each other in fury, they encountered each other like
a couple of elephants with rent temples. And the mighty Bhima then
seized Kichaka, and Kichaka, that foremost of strong persons threw Bhima
down with violence. And as those mighty combatants fought on, the crash
of their arms produced a loud noise that resembled the clatter of
splitting bamboos. Then Vrikodara throwing Kichaka down by main force
within the room, began to toss him about furiously even as a hurricane
tosseth a tree. And attacked thus in battle by the powerful Bhima,
Kichaka grew weak and began to tremble. For all that, however, he tugged
at the Pandava to the best of his power. And attacking Bhima, and making
him wave a little, the mighty Kichaka struck him with his knees and
brought him down to the ground. And overthrown by the powerful Kichaka,
Bhima quickly rose up like Yama himself with mace in hand. And thus that
powerful _Suta_ and the Pandava, intoxicated with strength and
challenging each other, grappled with each other at midnight in that
solitary pl