Once more addressing him, he said, “O thou of
wicked soul, I shall today drink thy blood on the field
of battle.” Thus addressed, thy son sped
at Bhima with great force a fierce dart resembling
Death itself. Bhima also, his form filled with
wrath, whirled his terrible mace and hurled it at
his antagonist. That mace, precipitately breaking
Duhshasana’s dart, struck thy son on his head.
Indeed, perspiring like an elephant with juicy secretions
trickling down his body, Bhima, in that dreadful battle,
hurled his mace at the prince. With that weapon,
Bhimasena forcibly threw Duhshasana down from his car
at a distance measured by the length of ten bows.
Struck with the impetuous mace, Duhshasana, thrown
down on the ground, began to tremble. All his
steeds also, O king, were slain, and his car too was
reduced to atoms by that falling weapon. As regards
Duhshasana himself, his armour and ornaments and attire
and garlands were all displaced, and he began to writhe,
afflicted with agony. Endued with great activity,
Bhimasena then recollected, in the midst of that terrible
battle and standing as he did amid many foremost warriors
of the Kuru army, all the acts of hostility (done
towards the Pandavas) by thy sons. The mighty-armed
Bhima of inconceivable feats, O king, beholding Duhshasana
(in that plight), and recollecting the seizure of
Draupadi’s tresses and her disrobing while she
was ill,—indeed, the innocent Bhima, reflecting
also upon the diverse other wrongs inflicted on that
princess while her husbands sat with faces turned
away from the scene, blazed up in wrath like fire fed
with libations of clarified butter. Addressing
Karna and Suyodhana and Kripa and Drona’s son
and Kritavarma, he said, “Today I shall slay
the wretched Duhshasana. Let all the warriors
protect him (if they can).” Having said
this, Bhima of exceeding strength and great activity
suddenly rushed, from desire of slaying Duhshasana.
Like a lion of fierce impetuosity rushing towards
a mighty elephant, Vrikodara, that foremost of heroes,
rushed towards Duhshasana in that battle and attacked
him in the very sight of Suyodhana and Karna.
Jumping down from his car, he alighted on the ground,
and fixed his eyes steadfastly on his fallen foe.
Drawing then his whetted sword of keen edge, and trembling
with rage, he placed his foot upon the throat of Duhshasana,
and ripping open the breast of his enemy stretched
on the ground, quaffed his warm life-blood. Then
throwing him down and cutting off, O king, with that
sword the head of thy son, Bhima of great intelligence,
desirous of accomplishing his vow, again quaffed his
enemy’s blood little by little, as if for enjoying
its taste. Then looking at him with wrathful eyes,
he said these words, “I regard the taste of
this blood of my enemy to be superior to that of my
mother’s milk, or honey, or clarified butter,
or good wine that is prepared from honey, or excellent
water, or milk, or curds, or skimmed milk, or all
other kinds of drinks there are on earth that are sweet