in battle, cased himself in mail, and mounting on his
prince of elephants, came out. That mighty car-warrior
had a white umbrella held over his head, and was fanned
with a milk-white yak-tail. Impelled by childishness
and folly, he challenged Partha, the mighty car-warrior
of the Pandavas, famed for terrible deeds in battle,
to an encounter with him. The enraged prince
then urged towards Arjuna that elephant of his, which
resembled a veritable mountain, and from whose temples
and mouth issued streams of juice indicative of excitement.
Indeed, that elephant showered its secretions like
a mighty mass of clouds pouring rain. Capable
of resisting hostile feats of its own species, it had
been equipped agreeably to the ordinances of the treatises
(on war-elephants). Irresistible in battle, it
had become so infuriate as to be beyond control.
Urged on by the prince with the iron-hook, that mighty
elephant then seemed (as it advanced) as if it would
cut through the welkin (like a flying hill).
Beholding it advance towards him, O king, Dhananjaya,
filled with rage and standing on the earth, O Bharata,
encountered the prince on its back. Filled with
wrath, Vajradatta quickly sped at Arjuna a number
of broad-headed shafts endued with the energy of fire
and resembling (as they coursed through the air) a
cloud of speedily-moving locusts. Arjuna, however,
with shafts sped from Gandiva, cut off those arrows,
some into two and some into three pieces. He cut
them off in the welkin itself with those shafts of
his coursing through the welkin. The son of Bhagadatta,
beholding his broad-headed shafts thus cut off, quickly
sped at Arjuna a number of other arrows in a continuous
line. Filled with rage at this, Arjuna, more
quickly than before, shot at Bhagadatta’s son
a number of straightly coursing arrows equipt with
golden wings. Vajradatta of mighty energy, struck
with great force and pierced with these arrows in
that fierce encounter, fell down on the Earth.
Consciousness, however, did not desert him. Mounting
on his prince of elephants again in the midst of that
battle the son of Bhagadatta, desirous of victory,
very coolly sped a number of shafts at Arjuna.
Filled with wrath, Jishnu then sped at the prince a
number of arrows that looked like blazing flames of
fire and that seemed to be so many snakes of virulent
poison. Pierced therewith, the mighty elephant,
emitting a large quantity of blood, looked like a
mountain of many springs discharging rills of water
coloured with red chalk.’”
SECTION LXXVI
“Vaisampayana said, ’Thus waged that battle, O chief of the Bharatas, for three days between Arjuna and that prince like the encounter between him of a hundred sacrifices and Vritra. On the fourth day, Vajradatta of great might laughed loudly and, addressing Arjuna, said these words: ’Wait, wait, O Arjuna. Thou shalt not escape me with life. Slaying thee I shall duly discharge the