Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/150

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110
THE EPIC AGE—THE MAHABHARATA

fierce vindictiveness drank his blood. Lastly, there was the crowning contest between Kama and Arjuna, who had hated each other through life; and Arjuna killed Kama unfairly when his chariot wheels had sunk in the earth and he could not move or fight. On the last or eighteenth day, Duryodhana fled from Bhima, but was compelled by taunts and rebukes to turn and fight, and Bhima by a foul blow (because struck below the waist)

AFTER THE BATTLE OF EIGHTEEN DAYS.

broke the knee to which Duryodhana had once dragged Draupadi. The wounded warrior was left to die, but the bloodshed was not yet over, for Drona's son made a midnight raid on the enemy's camp, killed Drupada's son, and finally quenched the ancient feud in blood. The Pandavas then went to Hastinapura, and Yudhishthira became king. He is said to have subdued every monarch in Aryan India, and at last celebrated the Asvamedha ceremony, or great horse-sacrifice, by letting loose a horse which wandered for a