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Mahabharata Shalya Parva (Gada Yuddha Parva) Chapter 60
"Dhritarashtra said, 'Beholding the (Kuru) king struck down unfairly, what O Suta, did the mighty Baladeva, that foremost one of Yadu's race, say? Tell me, O Sanjaya, what Rohini's son, well-skilled in encounters with the mace and well acquainted with all its rules, did on that occasion!'
"Sanjaya said, 'Beholding thy son struck at the thighs, the mighty Rama, that foremost of smiters, became exceedingly angry.
Raising his arms aloft the hero having the plough for his weapon, in a voice of deep sorrow, said in the midst of those kings, "Oh, fie on Bhima, fie on Bhima! Oh, fie, that in such a fair fight a blow hath been struck below the navel! Never before hath such an act as Vrikodara hath done been witnessed in an encounter with the mace! No limb below the navel should be struck. This is the precept laid down in treatises! This Bhima, however, is an ignorant wretch, unacquainted with the truths of treatises! He, therefore, acteth as he likes!" While uttering these words, Rama gave way to great wrath. The mighty Baladeva then, uplifting his plough, rushed towards Bhimasena! The form of that high-souled warrior of uplifted arms then became like that of the gigantic mountains of Kailasa variegated with diverse kinds of metals. The mighty Keshava, however, ever bending with humanity, seized the rushing Rama encircling him with his massive and well-rounded arms. Those two foremost heroes of Yadu's race, the one dark in complexion and the other fair, looked exceedingly beautiful at that moment, like the Sun and the Moon, O king, on the evening sky! For pacifying the angry Rama, Keshava addressed him, saying, "There are six kinds of advancement that a person may have: one's own advancement, the advancement of one's friends, the advancement of one's friends, the decay of one's enemy, the decay of one's enemy's friends, and the decay of one's enemy's friends' friends. When reverses happen to one's own self or to one's friends, one should then understand that one's fall is at hand and, therefore, one should at such times look for the means of applying a remedy. The Pandavas of unsullied prowess are our natural friends. They are the children of our own sire's sister! They had been greatly afflicted by their foes! The accomplishment of one's vow is one's duty. Formerly Bhima had vowed in the midst of the assembly that he would in great battle break with his mace the thighs of Duryodhana.
The great Rishi Maitreya also, O scorcher of foes, had formerly cursed Duryodhana, saying, 'Bhima will, with his mace, break thy thighs!' In consequence of all this, I do not see any fault in Bhima! Do not give way to wrath, O slayer of Pralamva! Our relationship with the Pandavas is founded upon birth and blood, as also upon an attraction of hearts. In their growth is our growth. Do not, therefore, give way to wrath, O bull among men!" Hearing these words of Vasudeva the wielder of the plough, who was conversant with rules of morality, said, "Morality is well practised by the good. Morality, however, is always afflicted by two things, the desire of Profit entertained by those that covet it, and the desire for Pleasure cherished by those that are wedded to it.
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