Duryodhana was highly pleased to see Balarama at the time of his crucial fight against Bhima. He bowed before his teacher and enquired about his journey. Balarama was also happy to be in the company of his two disciples.
Samantapancakam
The Yadava prince called Yudhishthira and said. “Let us all go to Samantapancaka. It is a very sacred place. If any of these two die fighting against the other, he is sure to go heaven there”. All agreed to the proposal.
Sage ParaSuraama had annihilated all the kings on earth to revenge the death of his father. He, then, washed his axe at the same Samantapancakam. He offered the blood that flowed from his axe as sacrificial water (TarpaNam) to his ancestors. That was how the place got its fame.
Both Bhima and Duryodhana walked towards the chosen place holding their huge maces in the company of other Pandavas and Kauravas. Others blew on conch shells and played trumpets.
The venue
They chose a firm ground to the south of river Saraswati for the battle. A large gathering soon assembled there to witness the fight. The royals sat on appropriate chairs. Notable among them was Balarama looking intently for the fight to start. Others stood with their eyes wide open, reluctant to miss even the slightest of the moves made by the fighting heroes. It is said that even the gods gathered above, intent on watching the battle between two who were the best with their maces. Those assembled remembered the famous battle between
The challenges
As usual there were the routine challenges thrown by both the opponents against the other. Bhima proclaimed that he would smash the head of his enemy into a hundred pieces and thereby take revenge for all the cruelties done against the Pandavas. To that Duryodhana simply said. “Why do you prattle like a primitive ape? I am not moved by mere words. If you have the skills, better show them with your mace”. The onlookers widely applauded the words of the Kaurava.
The fight
Then, they the fight started. It is said that several bad omens appeared on the sky at that time indicating that a great tragedy was in store.
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The two rushed against one another with battle cries, swinging their mammoth maces in the air. They moved around one another looking for a chance to strike. Each of them hissed in extreme anger and swung his mace against the other with all force. The other, then, would avoid the hit by jumping aside. It would be the turn of the other to try and make a hit.
Often, the mace found the target and soon, both Bhima and Duryodhana started bleeding profusely. Duryodhana once hit Bhima with all his might and the Pandava fell down losing his senses temporarily. The next moment Bhima got up and continued his attack against his enemy with renewed vigour. Later, Bhima managed to give such a powerful blow on Duryodhana that the Kaurava prince was knocked down unconscious. It took a while for the Kaurava to regain his senses. This way the two fought for a long while, neither finding easy victory against the equal enemy.
(We get back to the pilgrimage of Balarama in www.kunjunny.blogspot.com and return here after a few episodes)
