(Sambhava Parva continued)
" said, 'When everyone had failed, smilingly called and said unto to him, 'By thee you the aim must be shot; therefore, turn thy your eyes to it. Thou you must let fly the arrow as soon as I give the order. Therefore, O son, stand here with bow and arrow for an instant.' Thus addressed, stood aiming at the bird as desired by his preceptor, with his bow bent. An instant after asked him as in the case of others, 'Seest see thou you, O , the bird there, the tree, and myself?' replied, 'I see the bird only, but nor the tree, or thyself.' Then the irrepressible , well-pleased with , the instant after, again said unto to that mighty car-warrior amongst the Pandavas, 'If thou you seest see the vulture, then describe it to me.' said, I see only the head of the vulture, not its body.' At these words of , the hair (on 's body) stood on end from delight. He then said to , 'Shoot.' And the latter instantly let fly (his arrow) and with his sharp shaft speedily struck off the head of the vulture on the tree and brought it down to the ground. No sooner was the deed done than clasped to his bosom and thought with his friends had already been vanquished in fight.
"Some time after, O bull of Bharata's race, , accompanied by all of his pupils, went to the bank of the to bathe in that sacred stream. And when had plunged into the stream, a strong alligator, sent as it were, by Death himself seized him by the thigh. And though himself quite capable, in a seeming hurry asked his pupil to rescue him. And he said, 'O, kill this monster and rescue me.' Contemporaneously with this speech, () struck the monster within the water with five sharp arrows irresistible in their course, while the other pupils stood confounded, each at his place. Beholding 's readiness, considered him to be the foremost of all his pupils, and became highly pleased. The monster, in the meantime cut into pieces by the arrows of , released the thigh of illustrious and gave up the ghost. The son of then addressed the illustrious and mighty car-warrior and said, 'Accept, O thou you of mighty arms, this very superior and irresistible weapon called Brahmasira with the methods of hurling and recalling it. Thou you must not, however, ever use it against any human foe, for if hurled at any foe endued with inferior energy, it might burn the whole universe. It is said, O child, that this weapon hath has not a peer in the three worlds. Keep it, therefore, with great care, and listen to what I say. If ever, O hero, any foe, not human, contendeth contends against thee you thou you mayst may then employ it against him for compassing his death in battle.' Pledging himself to do what he was bid, then, with joined hands, received that great weapon.
then, addressing him again, said, 'None else in this world will ever become a superior bowman to thee you. Vanquished thou you shall never be by any foe, and thy your achievements will be great.'"
(Sambhava Parva continued)
" said, 'O thou you of Bharata's race, beholding the sons of and accomplished in arms, , O monarch, addressed king , in the presence of , , , the wise (), , and , and said, 'O best of Kuru kings, thy your children have completed their education. With thy your permission, O king, let them now show their proficiency.' Hearing him, the king said with a gladdened heart, 'O best of Brahmanas, thou you hast have, indeed, accomplished a great deed. Command me thyself as to the place and the time where and when and the manner also in which the trial may be held. Grief arising from my own blindness maketh makes me envy those who, blessed with sight, will behold my children's prowess in arm. O Kshatri (), do all that sayeth says. O thou you devoted to virtue, I think there is nothing that can be more agreeable to me.' Then , giving the necessary assurance to the king, went out to do what he was bid. And endued with great wisdom, then measured out a piece of land that was void of trees and thickets and furnished with wells and springs. And upon the spot of land so measured out, , that first of eloquent men, selecting a lunar day when the star ascendant was auspicious, offered up sacrifice unto to the gods in the presence of the citizens assembled by proclamation to witness the same. And then, O bull among men, the artificers of the king built thereon a large and elegant stage according to the rules laid down in the scriptures, and it was furnished with all kinds of weapons. They also built another elegant hall for the lady-spectators. And the citizens constructed many platforms while the wealthier of them pitched many spacious and high tents all around.
"When the day fixed for the Tournament came, the king accompanied by his ministers, with and , the foremost of preceptors, walking ahead, came unto to that theatre of almost celestial beauty constructed of pure gold, and decked with strings of pearls and stones of lapis lazuli. And, O first of victorious men, blessed with great good fortune and , and the other ladies of the royal house-hold, in gorgeous attire and accompanied by their waiting women, joyfully ascended the platforms, like celestial ladies ascending the Sumeru mountain. And the four orders including the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, desirous of beholding the princes' skill in arms, left the city and came running to the spot. And so impatient was every one to behold the spectacle, that the vast crowd assembled there in almost an instant. And with the sounds of trumpets and drums and the noise of many voices, that vast concourse appeared like an agitated ocean.
"At last, accompanied by his son, dressed in white (attire), with a white sacred thread, white locks, white beard, white garlands, and white sandal-paste rubbed over his body, entered the lists. It seemed as if the Moon himself accompanied by the planet Mars appeared in an unclouded sky. On entering performed timely worship and caused Brahmanas versed in mantras to celebrate the auspicious rites. And after auspicious and sweet-sounding musical instruments had been struck up as a propitiatory ceremony, some persons entered, equipped with various arms. And then having girded up their loins, those mighty warriors, those foremost ones of Bharata's race (the princes) entered, furnished with finger-protectors (gauntlet), and bows, and quivers. And with at their head, the valiant princes entered in order of age and began to show wonderful skill with their weapons. Some of the spectators lowered their heads, apprehending fall of arrows while others fearlessly gazed on with wonder. And riding swiftly on horses and managing them 'dexterously' the princes began to hit marks with shafts engraved with their respective names. And seeing the prowess of the princes armed with bows and arrows, the spectators thought that they were beholding the city of the Gandharvas, became filled with amazement. And, O Bharata, all on a sudden, some hundreds and thousands, with eyes wide open in wonder, exclaimed, 'Well done! Well done!' And having repeatedly displayed their skill and dexterity in the use of bows and arrows and in the management of cars, the mighty warriors took up their swords and bucklers, and began to range the lists, playing their weapons. The spectators saw (with wonder) their agility, the symmetry of their bodies, their grace, their calmness, the firmness of their grasp and their deftness in the use of sword and buckler. Then and , internally delighted (at the prospect of fight), entered the arena, mace in hand, like two single-peaked mountains. And those mighty-armed warriors braced their loins, and summoning all their energy, roared like two infuriate elephants contending for a cow-elephant; and like two infuriated elephants those mighty heroes faultlessly (in consonance with the dictates of the science of arm) careered right and left, circling the lists. And described to and the mother of the Pandavas () and , all the feats of the princes.'"
(Sambhava Parva continued)
" continued, 'Upon the Kuru king and , the foremost of all endued with strength, having entered the arena, the spectators were divided into two parties in consequence of the partiality swaying their affections. Some cried, 'Behold the heroic king of the Kurus!'--some--'Behold !'--And on account of these cries, there was, all on a sudden, a loud uproar. And seeing the place become like a troubled ocean, the intelligent said unto to his dear son, , 'Restrain both these mighty warriors so proficient in arms. Let not the ire of the assembly be provoked by this combat of and .'
" continued, 'Then the son of of the princes restrained those combatants with their maces uplifted and resembling two swollen oceans agitated by the winds that blow at the universal dissolution. And himself entering the yard of the arena commanded the musicians to stop, and with a voice deep as that of the clouds addressed these words, 'Behold ye you now that who is dearer to me than my own son, the master of all arms, the son of himself, and like unto to the younger brother of , ()! And having performed the propitiatory rites, the youthful , equipped with the finger protector (gauntlet) and his quiver full of shafts and bow in hand, donning his golden mail, appeared in the lists even like an evening cloud reflecting the rays of the setting sun and illumined by the hues of the rainbow and flashes of lightning.
"On seeing , the whole assembly were delighted and conchs began to be blown all around with other musical instruments. And there arose a great uproar in consequence of the spectators' exclaiming,--'This is the graceful son of !'--'This is the middle (third) Pandava!'--'This is the son of the mighty !'--'This is the protector of the Kurus'--'This is the foremost of those versed in arms!'--'This is the foremost of all cherishers of virtue!'--'This is the foremost of the persons of correct behaviour, the great repository of the knowledge of manners!' At those exclamations, the tears of , mixing with the milk of her breast, wetted her bosom. And his ears being filled with that uproar, that first of men, , asked in delight, 'O Kshatri, what is this great uproar for, like unto to that of the troubled ocean, arising all on a sudden and rending the very heavens?' replied, 'O mighty monarch, the son of and , , clad in mail hath has entered the lists. And hence this uproar!' said, 'O thou you of soul so great, by the three fires sprung from who is even like the sacred fuel, I have, indeed, been blessed, favoured and protected!'
" continued, 'When the spectators, excited with delight, had somewhat regained their equanimity, began to display his lightness in the use of weapons. By the Agneya weapon, he created fire, and by the weapon he created water, by the Vayavya weapon, he created air, and by the Parjanya weapon he created clouds. And by the Bhauma weapon, he created land, and by the Parvatya weapon, he brought mountains into being. By the Antardhana weapon all these were made to disappear. Now the beloved one of his preceptor () appeared tall and now short; now he was seen on the yoke of his car, and now on the car itself; and the next moment he was on the ground. And the hero favoured by his practised dexterity, hit with his various butts--some tender, some fine and some of thick composition. And like one shaft, he let fly at a time into the mouth of a moving iron-boar five shafts together from his bow-string. And that hero of mighty energy discharged one and twenty arrows into the hollow of a cow's horn hung up on a rope swaying to and fro. In this manner, O sinless one, showed his profound skill in the use of sword, bow, and mace, walking over the lists in circles.
"And, O Bharata, when the exhibition had well-nigh ended, the excitement of the spectators had cooled, and the sounds of instruments had died out there was heard proceeding from the gate, the slapping of arms, betokening might and strength, and even like unto to the roar of the thunder. And, O king, as soon as this sound was heard, the assembled multitude instantly thought, 'Are the mountains splitting or is the earth itself rending asunder, or is the welkin resounding with the roar of gathering clouds? And then all the spectators turned their eyes towards the gate. And stood, surrounded by the five brothers, the sons of , and looked like the moon in conjunction with the five-starred constellation Hasta. And , that slayer of foes, stood up in haste and was surrounded by his century of haughty brothers with amongst them. And that prince, mace in hand, thus surrounded by his hundred brothers with uplifted weapons appeared like in days of yore, encircled by the celestial host on the occasion of the battle with the Danavas.'"