th
been taken by the Trigartas. Do thou, O mighty-armed one, rescue him, so
that he may not fall under the power of the enemy. As we have lived
happily in Virata's city, having every desire of ours gratified, it
behoveth thee, O Bhimasena, to discharge that debt (by liberating the
king).' Thereat Bhimasena replied, 'I will liberate him, O king, at thy
command. Mark the feat I achieve (today) in battling with the foe,
relying solely on the might of my arms. Do thou, O king, stay aside,
along with our brothers and witness my prowess today. Uprooting this
mighty tree of huge trunk looking like a mace, I will rout the enemy.'"

[31] The word in the original is Muhurta equal to 48 minutes.
Nilakantha points out very ingeniously that the night being the
seventh of the dark fortnight, the moon would not rise till
after 14 Dandas from the hour of sunset, a Danda being equal to
24 minutes. A Muhurta, therefore implies not 48 minutes exactly,
but some time.

Vaisampayana continued, "Beholding Bhima casting his eyes on that tree
like a mad elephant, the heroic king Yudhishthira the just spake unto
his brother, saying, 'Do not, O Bhima, commit such a rash act. Let the
tree stand there. Thou must not achieve such feats in a super-human
manner by means of that tree, for if thou dost, the people, O Bharata,
will recognise thee and say, _This is Bhima_. Take thou, therefore, some
human weapon such as a bow (and arrows), or a dart, or a sword, or a
battle-axe. And taking therefore, O Bhima, some weapon that is human,
liberate thou the king without giving anybody the means of knowing thee
truly. The twins endued with great strength will defend thy wheels.
Fighting together, O child, liberate the king of the Matsyas!'"

Vaisampayana continued, "Thus addressed, the mighty Bhimasena endued
with great speed, quickly took up an excellent bow and impetuously shot
from it a shower of arrows, thick as the downpour of a rain-charged
cloud. And Bhima then rushed furiously towards Susarman of terrible
deeds, and assuring Virata with the words--_O good king!_[32] said unto
the lord of the Trigartas,--_Stay! Stay!_ Seeing Bhima like unto Yama
himself in his rear, saying, _Stay! Stay! Do thou witness this mighty
feat,--this combat that is at hand!_--the bull among warriors, Susarman,
seriously considered (the situation), and taking up his bow turned back,
along with his brothers. Within the twinkling of an eye, Bhima destroye