Mahabharata Shalya Parva Chapter 32:2

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Mahabharata Shalya Parva (Gada Yuddha Parva) Chapter 32:2

"'Yudhishthira said, "By good luck, O Suyodhana, thou knowest the duties of a Kshatriya! By good luck, O thou of mighty arms, thy heart inclineth to battle! By good luck, thou art a hero, O thou of Kuru's race, and, by good luck, thou art conversant with battle, since, single-handed, thou wishest to meet all of us in battle! Fight any one of us, taking whatever weapon thou likest! All of us will stand as spectators here! I grant thee also, O hero, this (other) wish of thy heart, that if thou slayest any of us, thou shalt then become king! Otherwise, slain by us, go to heaven!" "'Duryodhana said, "A brave man as thou art, if thou grantest me the option of fighting only one of you, this mace that I hold in my hand is the weapon that I select! Let any one amongst you who thinks that he will be my match come forward and fight with me on foot, armed with mace! Many wonderful single combats have occurred on cars! Let this one great and wonderful combat with the mace happen today! Men (while fighting) desire to change weapons. Let the manner of the fight be changed today, with thy permission! O thou of mighty arms, I shall, with my mace, vanquish thee today with all thy younger brothers, as also all the Pancalas and the Srinjayas and all the other troops thou still hast! I do not cherish the least fear, O Yudhishthira, of even Shakra himself!" "'Yudhishthira said, "Rise, rise, O son of Gandhari, and fight me, Suyodhana! Alone as thou art, fight us, encountering one at a time, thou of great might, armed with thy mace! Be a man, O son of Gandhari, and fight with good care! Today thou shalt have to lay down thy life even if Indra becomes thy ally!"' "Sanjaya continued, 'That tiger among men, thy son, could not bear these words of Yudhishthira. He breathed long and heavy sighs from within the water like a mighty snake from within its hole. Struck repeatedly with such wordy goads, he could not endure it at all, like a horse of high breed that cannot endure the whip. Agitating the waters with great force, that valiant warrior rose like a prince of elephants from within the lake, breathing heavily in rage, and armed with his heavy mace that was endued with the strength of adamant and decked with gold. Piercing the solidified waters, thy son rose, shouldering his mace of iron, like the sun himself scorching everything with his rays. Endued with great strength, thy son, possessed of great intelligence, began to handle his heavy mace made of iron and equipped with a sling. Beholding him armed with mace and resembling a crested mountain or the trident-wielding Rudra himself casting angry glances on living creatures, they observed that Bharata chief shedding an effulgence around like the scorching sun himself in the sky. Indeed, all creatures then regarded that mighty-armed chastiser of foes, as he stood shouldering his mace after rising from the waters, looking like the Destroyer himself armed with his bludgeon. Indeed, all the Pancalas then saw thy royal son to look like the thunder-wielding Shakra or the trident-bearing Hara. Seeing him, however, rise from within the waters, all the Pancalas and the Pandavas began to rejoice and seize each other's hands.

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