water-rite of my sire. My aged sire, Bhagadatta,
who was the friend of thy sire, was slain by thee in
consequence of his weight of years. Do thou,
however, fight me that am but a boy!’[192] Having
said these words, O thou of Kuru’s race, king
Vajradatta, filled with rage, urged his elephant towards
the son of Pandu. Urged on by Vajradatta of great
intelligence, that prince of elephants, as if desirous
of cutting through the welkin, rushed towards Dhananjaya.
That prince of elephants drenched Arjuna with a shower
of juice emitted from the end of his trunk, like a
mass of blue clouds drenching a hill with its downpour.
Indeed, urged on by the king, elephant, repeatedly
roaring like a cloud, rushed towards Phalguna, with
that deep noise emitted from its mouth. Verily,
urged on by Vajradatta, that prince of elephants quickly
moved towards the mighty car-warrior of the Kurus,
with the tread of one that seemed to dance in excitement.
Beholding that beast of Vajradatta advance towards
him, that slayer of foes, viz., the mighty Dhananjaya,
relying on Gandiva, stood his ground without shaking
with fear. Recollecting what an obstacle Vajradatta
was proving to the accomplishment of his task, and
remembering the old enmity of the house (of Pragjyotisha
towards the Pandavas), the son of Pandu became exceedingly
inflamed with wrath against the king. Filled with
rage, Dhananjaya impeded the course of that beast
with a shower of arrows like the shore resisting the
surging sea. That prince of elephants possessed
of beauty (of form), thus impeded by Arjuna, stopped
in its course, with body pierced with many an arrow,
like a porcupine with its quills erect. Seeing
his elephant impeded in its course, the royal son of
Bhagadatta, deprived of sense by rage, shot many whetted
arrows at Arjuna. The mighty-armed Arjuna baffled
all those arrows with many foe-slaying shafts of his.
The feat seemed to be exceedingly wonderful. Once
more the king of the Pragjyotishas, inflamed with
ire, forcibly urged his elephant, which resembled
a mountain, at Arjuna. Beholding the beast once
more advancing towards him, Arjuna shot with great
strength a shaft at it that resembled a veritable
flame of fire. Struck deeply in the very vitals,
O king, by the son of Pandu, the beast suddenly fell
down on the Earth like a mountain summit loosened
by a thunder-bolt. Struck with Dhartanjaya’s
shaft, the elephant, as it lay on the Earth, looked
like a huge mountain cliff lying on the ground, loosened
by the bolt of Indra. When the elephant of Vajradatta
was prostrated on the ground, the son of Pandu, addressing
the king who had fallen down with his beast, said,—’Do
not fear. Indeed, Yudhishthira of mighty energy
said unto me while commissioning me for this task
even these words,—’Thou shouldst not,
O Dhananjaya, slay those kings (who may encounter
thee in battle). O tiger among men, thou shouldst
regard thy task as accomplished if only thou disablest
those hostile kings. Thou shouldst not also, O