others beat their drums. Some sported and jumped
about, while some amongst thy foes laughed aloud.
Many heroes repeatedly said these words unto Bhimasena,
“Exceedingly difficult and great hath been the
fears that thou hast achieved today in battle, by
having struck down the Kuru king, himself a great warrior,
with thy mace! All these men regard this slaughter
of the foe by thee to be like that of Vritra by Indra
himself! Who else, save thyself, O Vrikodara,
could slay the heroic Duryodhana while careering in
diverse kinds of motion and performing all the wheeling
manoeuvres (characteristic of such encounters)?
Thou hast now reached the other shore of these hostilities,
that other shore which none else could reach.
This feat that thou hast achieved is incapable of
being achieved by any other warriors. By good
luck, thou hast, O hero, like an infuriated elephant,
crushed with thy foot the head of Duryodhana on the
field of battle! Having fought a wonderful battle,
by good luck, O sinless one, thou hast quaffed the
blood of Duhshasana, like a lion quaffing the blood
of a buffalo! By good luck, thou hast, by thy
own energy, placed thy foot on the head of all those
that had injured the righteous-souled king Yudhishthira!
In consequence of having vanquished thy foes and of
thy having slain Duryodhana, by good luck, O Bhima,
thy fame hath spread over the whole world! Bards
and eulogists applauded Shakra after the fall of Vritra,
even as we are now applauding thee, O Bharata, after
the fall of thy foes! Know, O Bharata, that the
joy we felt upon the fall of Duryodhana hath not yet
abated in the least!” Even these were the words
addressed to Bhimasena by the assembled eulogists
on that occasion! Whilst those tigers among men,
the Pancalas and the Pandavas, all filled with delight
were indulging in such language, the slayer of Madhu
addressed them, saying, “You rulers of men,
it is not proper to slay a slain foe with such cruel
speeches repeatedly uttered. This wight of wicked
understanding hath already been slain. This sinful,
shameless, and covetous wretch, surrounded by sinful
counsellors and ever regardless of the advice of wise
friends, met with his death even when he refused,
though repeatedly urged to contrary by Vidura and Drona
and Kripa and Sanjaya, to give unto the sons of Pandu
their paternal share in the kingdom which they had
solicited at his hands! This wretch is not now
fit to be regarded either as a friend or a foe!
What use in spending bitter breath upon one who hath
now become a piece of wood! Mount your cars quickly,
ye kings, for we should leave this place! By good
luck, this sinful wretch hath been slain with his
counsellors and kinsmen and friends!” Hearing
these rebukes from Krishna, king Duryodhana, O monarch,
gave way to wrath and endeavoured to rise. Sitting
on his haunches and supporting himself on his two
arms, he contracted his eyebrows and cast angry glances
at Vasudeva. The form then of Duryodhana whose
body was half raised looked like that of a poisonous