“Sanjaya said, ’Deep-voiced like a cloud, Duryodhana then roared from joy like a bull.  Possessed of great energy, he challenged the son of Pritha to battle.  When the high-souled king of the Kurus thus summoned Bhima to the encounter, diverse portents of an awful kind became noticeable.  Fierce winds began to blow with loud noises at intervals, and a shower of dust fell.  All the points of the compass became enveloped in a thick gloom.  Thunderbolts of loud peal fell on all sides, causing a great confusion and making the very hair to stand on end.  Hundreds of meteors fell, bursting with a loud noise from the welkin.  Rahu swallowed the Sun most untimely, O monarch!  The Earth with her forests and trees shook greatly.  Hot winds blew, bearing showers of hard pebbles along the ground.  The summits of mountains fell down on the earth’s surface.  Animals of diverse forms were seen to run in all directions.  Terrible and fierce jackals, with blazing mouths, howled everywhere.  Loud and terrific reports were heard on every side, making the hair stand on end.  The four quarters seemed to be ablaze and many were the animals of ill omen that became visible.  The water in the wells on every side swelled up of their own accord.  Loud sounds came from every side, without, O king, visible creatures to utter them.  Beholding these and other portents, Vrikodara said unto his eldest brother, king Yudhishthira the just, “This Suyodhana of wicked soul is not competent to vanquish me in battle!  I shall today vomit that wrath which I have been cherishing for a long while in the secret recesses of my heart, upon this ruler of the Kurus like Arjuna throwing fire upon the forest of Khandava!  Today, O son of Pandu, I shall extract the dart that lies sticking to thy heart!  Slaying with my mace this sinful wretch of Kuru’s race, I shall today place around thy neck the garland of Fame!  Slaying this wight of sinful deeds with my mace on the field of battle, I shall today, with this very mace of mine, break his body into a hundred fragments!  He shall not have again to enter the city called after the elephant.  The setting of snakes at us while we were asleep, the giving of poison to us while we ate, the casting of our body into the water at Pramanakoti, the attempt to burn us at the house of lac, the insult offered us at the assembly, the robbing us of all our possessions, the whole year of our living in concealment, our exile into the woods, O sinless one, of all these woes, O best of Bharata’s race, I shall today reach the end, O bull of Bharata’s line!  Slaying this wretch, I shall, in one single day, pay off all the debts I owe him!  Today, the period of life of this wicked son of Dhritarashtra, of uncleansed soul, hath reached its close, O chief of the Bharatas!  After this day he shall not again look at his father and mother!  Today, O monarch, the happiness of this wicked king of the Kurus hath come to an end!  After this day, O monarch, he shall not again cast