And the son of Kunti then girded up his loins to the
great delight of the spectators. And Bhima then
summoned to the combat that athlete known by the name
of Jimuta who was like unto the Asura Vritra whose
prowess was widely known. And both of them were
possessed of great courage, and both were endued with
terrible prowess. And they were like a couple
of infuriate and huge-bodied elephants, each sixty
years old. And those brave tigers among men then
cheerfully engaged in a wrestling combat, desirous
of vanquishing each other. And terrible was the
encounter that took place between them, like the clash
of the thunderbolt against the stony mountain-breast.
And both of them were exceedingly powerful and extremely
delighted at each other’s strength. And
desirous of vanquishing each other, each stood eager
to take advantage of his adversary’s lapse.
And both were greatly delighted and both looked like
infuriate elephants of prodigious size. And various
were the modes of attack and defence that they exhibited
with their clenched fists.[12] And each dashed against
the other and flung his adversary to a distance.
And each cast the other down and pressed him close
to the ground. And each got up again and squeezed
the other in his arms. And each threw the other
violently off his place by boxing him on the breast.
And each caught the other by the legs and whirling
him round threw him down on the ground. And they
slapped each other with their palms that struck as
hard as the thunderbolt. And they also struck
each other with their outstretched fingers, and stretching
them out like spears thrust the nails into each other’s
body. And they gave each other violent kicks.
And they struck knee and head against head, producing
the crash of one stone against another. And in
this manner that furious combat between those warriors
raged on without weapons, sustained mainly by the
power of their arms and their physical and mental
energy, to the infinite delight of the concourse of
spectators. And all people, O king, took deep
interest in that encounter of those powerful wrestlers
who fought like Indra and the Asura Vritra. And
they cheered both of them with loud acclamations of
applause. And the broad-chested and long-armed
experts in wrestling then pulled and pressed and whirled
and hurled down each other and struck each other with
their knees, expressing all the while their scorn
for each other in loud voices. And they began
to fight with their bare arms in this way, which were
like spiked maces of iron. And at last the powerful
and mighty-armed Bhima, the slayer of his foes, shouting
aloud seized the vociferous athlete by the arms even
as the lion seizes the elephant, and taking him up
from the ground and holding him aloft, began to whirl
him round, to the great astonishment of the assembled
athletes and the people of Matsya. And having
whirled him round and round a hundred times till he
was insensible, the strong-armed Vrikodara dashed him
to death on the ground. And when the brave and