________________
ŪRUBHANGA AND THE CRITICAL EDITION OF THE MAHABHARATA
M. A. MEHENDALE
The fighting on the eighteenth day of the epic battle did not end for that day immediately after the fall of Salya but continued for sometime. During the turmoil, Duryodhana felt tired and was a little dismayed. He thought of retiring from the battle. With a mace in his hand he left the battlefield alone and hid himself in a pond.' When the Pandavas learnt about his hideout, they went to the pond and challenged Duryodhana to come out and fight? Duryodhana agreed on one condition, viz. that the Pandavas fight with him singly and not all of them together. The condition was accepted and a duel followed between Bhima and Duryodhana with a mace as their weapon.
The duel, with occasional periods of rest, lasted for quite sometime." The fight went on strictly according to the rules, no one showing any inclination to take undue advantage of the adverse situation of the other. On one occasion, for instance, Bhima forced Duryodhana to kneel on the ground and, on another occasion Duryodhana even fell on the ground. On both these occasions, Bhima did not hit Duryodhana while he was unconscious. Only when Duryodhana regained consciousness and was in a position to continue fighting, the duel was resumed. Similarly. When Duryodhana had an upper hand and he succeeded in felling down Bhima and in breaking his armour he did not hit Bhima as long as the latter lay down on the battlefield.
By that time, however, Krsna noticed that the duel had reached the stage when Duryodhana had an edge over his opponent. Bhima had lost his armour. Krsna realized that that was the time to throw some hint to Bhima. He plainly told Arjuna that if Bhima continued the fight as he was doing, i.e. fighting strictly according to the rules, there was no chance of his coming out victorious. Bhima must take recourse to some unlawful act. Arjuna too realized the need and he secretly stroked his thigh hinting what Bhima should do. Bhima understood the hint and when he found an opportunity he threw his mace at Duryodhana. Duryodhana, however, succeeded in dodging the hit. When Bhima showed his inclination to hit Duryodhana again, the latter planned to jump up to avoid the hit. Bhima guessed correctly what Duryodhana intended to do and threw his mace exactly at the point where Duryodhana's thighs would be if he really jumped up. This time Bhima did not miss the mark. The mace broke Duryodhana's thighs and he lay on the battle field, his thighs broken?
Thus came to an end the duel. Bhima violated an important rule of the
Madhu Vidyā/526
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
