(O janamejaya!) Even though, both vasudeva and ugrasena were old men, with all the members of their bodies affected by old age, hairs on their heads turned white, they were still enjoying fighting.

Both, well enriched with spiritual and worldly knowledge, experts in the dharma of kShatriya-s (warfare), fought in the great battlefield with the rAkShasa, hiDimba, having wicked soul. (See nIlakaNTha commentary)

They distressed the indra (king) of rAkShasa-s, hiDimba, the man eater, with many thousands of arrows in the battle.

The indra (king) of rAkShasa-s, hiDimba, ate men all over (the battle field). The one with wicked soul had a well grown body, long arms and a great cheek.

He had a huge belly, deformed and inauspicious eyes and yellow hair. His nose was crooked like the nose of a hawk. He was highly terrible with huge arms and all the hairs of his body were standing up.

He had a huge body, like a mountain. He had long fangs and the face of a jackal. With a huge belly and long teeth, he appeared terrible as if he is capable of eating the entire world.

He had high shoulders, great chest and long neck. He appeared like an elephant. He ate pieces of flesh and drank lots of blood.

O the best among kings! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued): hiDimba struck elephants with elephants, horses with horses, chariots with chariots and horsemen with horsemen.

He sucked those men who were seen before him, straight into his nose. O great king! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued): hiDimba, the man eater, all of a sudden, killed some of the vR^iShNi-s, all around and ate them.

rAkhSasa, hiDimbha, having a deformed look, killed those, whomsoever he saw before him.

hiDimba, the man eater, the lord of rAkShasa-s, while eating vR^iShNi-s and yAdava-s, all of a sudden, threw some of them, far away.

O king! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued) Just like the angry rudra (shiva) destroys the beings at the time of the destruction, the rAkShasa (hiDimba) ate all of them within a moment.

Some of the valiant vR^iShNi-s became afraid and ran away in all directions. Some of the prominent vR^iShNi-s were eaten by the rAkShasa, hiDimba.

O king! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued) In the same way kumbhakarNa ate the monkeys (during the battle between rAma and rAvaNa), (hiDimbha) the man eater, consumed the entire army, and nothing of the army of vR^iShNi-s was left behind. The army of vR^iShNi-s was made motionless like in a picture.

In between this, the old, prominent yAdava-s became angry. Taking highly terrible bows, they stood before the rAkShasa, hiDimba, like old deer standing in front of the angry lion.

The great rAkShasa, hiDimba, having deformed eyes, ran and attacked them, opening his mouth, deep as the netherworld, widely, to swallow them.

Then the rAkShasa, hiDimba, came running and eating the bodies seen by him. Then O king! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued) The bulls of the yAdava-s shot lots of arrows and filled his mouth.

hiDimbha, the enemy of deva-s having deformed eyes, blocked all of them, by opening, his huge, terrible mouth like the god of death. The terrifying rAkShasa arrived running, opening his mouth widely.

He took away their bows and broke them quickly in the battle.

The wicked soul, rAkShasa hiDimba, the best among rAkShasa-s, having a deformed face, extended his long arms and tried to catch vasudeva and the protector of the earth, king (ugrasena) served by the aged in the assembly of kings.

O ugrasena! Here I shall eat you along with vasudeva. For what purpose are you standing in front of me?

Come and enter my mouth. You have become my food. This vasudeva, father of hari (viShNu, kR^iShNa) created by brahma,

is tired and hungry, though quick and valiant in battle. I will not leave you from my mouth. You may quickly enter the same.

By drinking your blood, today I will be satisfied and happy. I shall comfortably eat the flesh of both of you, who are old.

(vaishampAyana continued: O janamejaya!) Saying this, the rAkShasa, hiDimbha, the lord of rAkShasa-s, having a huge cheekbone, ran all of a sudden and quickly reached with his mouth widely open.

O king! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued) The prominent vR^iShNi-s, vasudeva and ugrasena, became afraid, left their weapons and looked all around, and folowed different directions.

During this time, the splendorous balabhadra saw that vasudeva and ugrasena have become (helpless) thus

He (balarAma) assigned lord vAsudeva (kR^iShNa) to fight with haMsa and reached in between those and the wicked soul, the rAkShasa

and said: O rAkShasa! Do not act rashly. Release these best kings. I am standing in front of you. O rAkShsa! Fight with me, the slayer of enemies.

I will only kill you. What are you threatening? Seeing the one with plough as weapon, (balarAma), hiDimba released them (vasudeva and ugrasena) in the great battle.

This one is huge and wicked. I shall eat him before. Saying this, hiDimba ran towards balabhadra (balarAma), opening his mouth widely as before.

Leaving his bow and arrow, the powerful balabhadra(balarAma) stood before the rAkShsa (hiDimba) clapping his best hands and then folding his strong fists.

The wicked soul hiDimba also folded his terrible fists and struck on the chest of (bala)rAma, opening his mouth like the god of death.

balabhadra, struck by the fist, became angry. He, the one who is not despised, struck the lord of rAkShasa-s, with his fist.

The valiant man and rAkShsa had a battle of fists.

As the lions of the men and rAkShsas fought, fearful sounds of fist strikes emanated from the battle field.

In the battle field, the king of rakShasa-s, hiDimba, struck (bala)rAma with his fist on the chest like the destroyer of cities, indra, strikes with his vajra.

Then the powerful (bala)rAma, folding his fist nicely, struck on the chest of hiDimba, the one who hates the immortals, deva-s.

(bala)rAma, spreading his hand, slapped the rAkShasa on his face. hiDimba, the lord of rAkShasa-s, struck by the slap of the hand, fell on his knees on the ground. The rakShasa lost all his vigour.

Then bala(rAma) leaped and caught the rAkShasa with his hands, lifted and whirled him around with the speed of his hands, step by step.

(bala)rAma, showing the power of his mind, lifted the indra of rAkShasa-s, hiDimba, up and whirled him for a long time. As all were watching, the one having the plough as his weapon, balarAma, threw the rAkShasa away to a distance of two calls. (Note 2)

Thus the best among rAkShasa-s, hiDimba lost his life and left that place.

All the rAkShasa-s who were left undead in that great battle, became afraid of balabhadra (balarAma) and ran away in all the ten directions.

As the lord with the rays, the lord of the day, the lord having thousands of rays, contained his splendor, the evening arrived and the eyes of all the beings entered darkness. The night arrived.

O the best among kings! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued) As the lord of the beings, the face of the world, the preceptor of the universe, entered the waters of the ocean, the lord of the stars duly arrived, destroying the darkness of the evening.

O king! (janamejaya! vaishampAyana continued) The best among the kings (of the army of haMsa and Dimbhaka) said: "O king! It will be good if the war in the morning takes place at the mountain of govardhana, reverberating with the sound of songs sung by the kinnara-s" and retired from the festival of battle on that day.