the tree, by striking it with his foot, so that down came the fruits and the fruit-pluckers at the same time. In fact those princes were no match for Bhimain pugilistic encounters, in speed, or in skill. Bhima used to make a childish display of his strength. by thus tormenting them.
"And seeing these wonderful exhibitions of the might of Bhima, Duryodhana, the powerful eldest son of Dhrita-rashtra, began to conceive hostility towards him. And the wicked and unrighteous Duryodhana, through ignorance and ambition, prepared himself for an act of sin, He thought, "There is no other individual who can compare with Bhima the second son of Pandu in point of prowess. I shall have to destroy him by artifice. Singly, Bhima dares us all one hundred to the combat. Therefore, when he shall sleep in the garden, I shall throw him into the current of the Ganga. Afterwards, confining his eldest brother Yudish-thira and his younger Arjuna, I shall reign sole king without molestation.' Deters mined thus, the wicked Duryodhana was ever on the watch to find out the failings of Bhima. And, O son of Bharata, at length at a beautiful place called Praman-koti on the banks of the Ganga, he built a palace decorated with hangings of broadcloth and other rich stuffs. And he built this palace for sporting in the water there, and filled it with all kinds of entertaining things, and choice viands. Gay flags waved on the top of this mansion. The name of the house was Udakakrirana. Skilful cooks prepared various kinds of viands. When all was ready, the officers gave intimation to Duryodhana. Then the evil-minded prince said to the Pandavas, 'Let us all go to the banks of the Ganga graced with trees and crowned with flowers, and sport there in the waters.' And on Yudhish-thira agreeing to this, the sons of Dhrita-rashtra, taking the Pandavas with them mounted huge elephants and a car resembling a city, and left the metropolis.
"On arriving at the place, the princes dismissed their attendants, and surveying the beauty of the grove, entered the palace, like lions entering their dens. On entering they saw that the architects had handsomely plastered the walls and the ceilings and that painters had painted them
