Janamejaya said, "How long did my great grandsires, the highsouled sons
of Pandu of matchless prowess, dwell in the Gandhamadana mountain? And
what did those exceedingly powerful ones, gifted with manliness, do? And
what was the food of those high-souled ones, when those heroes of the
worlds dwelt (there)? O excellent one, do thou relate all about this. Do
thou describe the prowess of Bhimasena, and what that mighty-armed one
did in the mountain Himalayan. Surely, O best of Brahmanas, he did not
fight again with the Yakshas. And did they meet with Vaisravana? Surely,
as Arshtishena said, the lord of wealth cometh thither. All this, O thou
of ascetic wealth, I desire to hear in detail. Surely, I have not yet
been fully satisfied by hearing about their acts."
Vaisampayana continued, "Having heard from that one of incomparable
energy, (Arshtishena), that advice conducive to their welfare, those
foremost of the Bharatas, began to behave always accordingly. Those best
of men, the Pandavas, dwelt upon the Himavan, partaking of the food
eaten by the Munis, and luscious fruit, and the flesh of deer killed
with unpoisoned shafts and various kinds of pure honey. Living thus,
they passed the fifth year, hearing various stories told by Lomasa. O
lord, saying, 'I shall be present when occasion ariseth,' Ghatotkacha,
together with all the Rakshasas, had ere this already gone away. Those
magnanimous ones passed many months in the hermitage of Arshtishena,
witnessing many marvels. And as the Pandavas were sporting there
pleasantly, there came to see them some complacent vow-observing Munis
and Charanas of high fortune, and pure souls. And those foremost of the
Bharata race conversed with them on earthly topics. And it came to pass
that when several days has passed, Suparna all of a sudden carried off
an exceedingly powerful and mighty Naga, living in the large lake. And
thereupon that mighty mountain began to tremble, and the gigantic trees,
break. And all the creatures and the Pandavas witnessed the wonder. Then
from the brow of that excellent mountain, the wind brought before the
Pandavas various fragrant and fair blossoms. And the Pandavas, and the
illustrious Krishna, together with their friends, saw those unearthly
blossoms of five hues. And as the mighty-armed Bhimasena was seated at
ease upon the mountain, Krishna addressed him, saying, 'O best of the
Bharata race, in the presence of all the creatures, these flowers of
five hues, carried by the force of the wind raised by Suparna, are
falling in amain on the river Aswaratha. In Khandava thy high-souled
brother, firm in promise, had baffled Gandharvas and Nagas and Vasava
himself, and slain fierce Rakshasas, and also obtained the bow Gandiva.
Thou also art of exceeding prowess and the might of thy arms is great,
and irrepressible, and unbearable like unto the might of Sakra. O
Bhimasena, terrified with the force of thy arms, let all the Rakshasas
betake themselves to the ten cardinal points, leaving the mountain. Then
will thy friends be freed from fear and affliction, and behold the
auspicious summit of this excellent mountain furnished with variegated
flowers. O Bhima, I have for long cherished this thought in my
mind,--that protected by the might of thy arms, I shall see that
summit.'
"Thereupon, like a high-mettled bull that hath been struck, Bhimasena,
considering himself as censured by Draupadi, could not bear (that). And
that Pandava of the gait of a lion or a bull, and graceful, and
generous, and having the splendour of gold, and intelligent, and strong,
and proud, and sensitive, and heroic, and having red eyes, and broad
shoulders, and gifted with the strength of mad elephants, and having
leonine teeth and a broad neck, and tall like a young sala tree, and
highsouled, and graceful in every limb, and of neck having the whorls of
a shell and mighty-armed, took up his bow plaited at the back with gold,
and also his sword. And haughty like unto a lion, and resembling a
maddened elephant, that strong one rushed towards that cliff, free from
fear or affliction. And all the creatures saw him equipped with bows and
arrows, approaching like a lion or a maddened elephant. And free from
fear or affliction, the Pandava taking his mace, proceeded to that
monarch of mountains causing the delight of Draupadi. And neither
exhaustion, nor fatigue, nor lassitude, nor the malice (of others),
affected that son of Pritha and the Wind-god. And having arrived at a
rugged path affording passage to one individual only, that one of great
strength ascended that terrible summit high as several palmyra palms
(placed one upon another). And having ascended that summit, and thereby
gladdened Kinnaras, and great Nagas, and Munis, and Gandharvas, and
Rakshasas, that foremost of the Bharata line, gifted with exceeding
strength described the abode of Vaisravana, adorned with golden crystal
palaces surrounded on all sides by golden walls having the splendour of
all gems, furnished with gardens all around, higher than a mountain
peak, beautiful with ramparts and towers, and adorned with door-ways and
gates and rows of pennons. And the abode was graced with dallying
damsels dancing around, and also with pennons waved by the breeze. And
with bent arms, supporting himself on the end of his bow, he stood
beholding with eagerness the city of the lord of treasures. And
gladdening all creatures, there was blowing a breeze, carrying all
perfumes, and of a balmy feel. And there were various beautiful and
wonderful trees of diverse hues resounding with diverse dulcet notes.
And at that place the foremost of the Bharatas surveyed the palace of
the Lord of the Rakshasas scattered with heaps of gems, and adorned with
variegated garlands. And renouncing all care of life the mighty-armed
Bhimasena stood motionless like a rock, with his mace and sword and bow
in his hands. Then he blew his shell making the down of his adversaries
stand erect; and twanging his bow-string, and striking his arms with the
hands he unnerved all the creatures. Thereat with their hairs standing
erect, the Yakshas and Rakshasas began to rush towards the Pandavas, in
the direction of those sounds. And taken by the arms of the Yakshas and
Rakshasas the flamed maces and clubs and swords and spears and javelins
and axes, and when, O Bharata, the fight ensued between the Rakshasas
and Bhima, the latter by arrows cut off the darts, javelins and axes of
those possessing great powers of illusion, and he of exceeding strength
with arrows pierced the bodies of the roaring Rakshasas, both of those
that were in the sky, and of those that remained on the earth. And Bhima
of exceeding strength was deluged with the mighty sanguine rain sprung
from the bodies of the Rakshasas with maces and clubs in their hands and
flowing on all sides from their persons. And the bodies and hands of the
Yakshas and Rakshasas were seen to be struck off by the weapon
discharged by the might of Bhima's arms. And then all the creatures saw
the graceful Pandava densely surrounded by the Rakshasas, like unto the
Sun enveloped by clouds. And even as the Sun surrounds everything with
his rays, that mighty-armed and strong one of unfailing prowess, covered
all with arrows destroying foes. And although menacing and uttering
yells, the Rakshasas did not see Bhima embarrassed. Thereupon, with
their bodies mangled, the Yakshas afflicted by fear of Bhimasena began to
utter frightful sounds of distress, throwing their mighty weapons. And
terrified at the wielder of a strong bow, they fled towards the southern
quarter, forsaking their maces and spears and swords and clubs and axes.
And then there stood, holding in his hands darts and maces, the
broad-chested and mighty-armed friend of Vaisravana, the Rakshasa named
Maniman. And that one of great strength began to display his mastery and
manliness. And seeing them forsake the fight, he addressed them with a
smile, 'Going to Vaisravana's abode, how will ye say unto that lord of
wealth, that numbers have been defeated by a single mortal in battle?'
Having said this unto them that Rakshasa, taking in his hands clubs and
javelins and maces, set out and rushed towards the Pandava. And he
rushed in amain like a maddened elephant. Bhimasena pierced his sides
with three choice arrows. And the mighty Maniman, on his part, in wrath
taking and flourishing a tremendous mace hurled it at Bhimasena.
Thereupon Bhimasena beset with innumerable shafts sharpened on stones,
hurled that mighty mace in the sky, dreadful, and like unto the
lightning flash. But on reaching the mace those shafts were baffled; and
although discharged with force by that adept at hurling the mace, still
they could not stay its career. Then the mighty Bhima of dreadful
prowess, baffled his (the Rakshasa's) discharge by resorting to his
skill in mace-fighting. In the meanwhile, the intelligent Rakshasa had
discharged a terrible iron club, furnished with a golden shaft. And that
club, belching forth flames and emitting tremendous roars, all of a
sudden pierced Bhima's right arm and then fell to the ground. On being
severely wounded by that club, that bowman, Kunti's son, of immeasurable
prowess, with eyes rolling in ire, took up his mace. And having taken
that iron mace, inlaid with golden plates, which caused the fear of foes
and brought on their defeat, he darted it with speed towards the mighty
Maniman, menacing (him) and uttering shouts. Then Maniman on his part,
taking his huge and blazing dart, with great force discharged it at
Bhima, uttering loud shouts. Thereat breaking the dart with the end of
his mace, that mighty-armed one skilled in mace-fighting, speedily
rushed to slay him, as Garuda (rushed) to slay a serpent. Then all of a
sudden, advancing ahead in the field, that mighty-armed one sprang into
the sky and brandishing his mace hurled it with shouts. And like unto
the thunder-bolt hurled by Indra, that mace like a pest, with the speed
of the wind destroyed the Rakshasa and then fell to the ground. Then all
the creatures saw that Rakshasa of terrible strength slaughtered by
Bhima, even like a bull slain by a lion. And the surviving Rakshasas
seeing him slain on the ground went towards the east, uttering frightful
sounds of distress."