And, O monarch, proceeding towards the funeral pyre he
beheld a large tree, tall as palmyra-palm, with gigantic shoulders and
withered top. And that slayer of foes grasping with his arms that tree
measuring ten _Vyamas_, uprooted it, even like an elephant, and placed
it upon his shoulders. And taking up that tree with trunk and branches
and measuring ten _Vyamas_, that mighty hero rushed towards the _Sutas_,
like Yama himself, mace in hand. And by the impetus of his rush[18]
banians and peepals and _Kinsukas_ falling down on the earth lay in
clusters. And beholding that Gandharva approach them like a lion in
fury, all the _Sutas_ trembling with fear and greatly distressed, became
panic-struck. And they addressed each other, saying, 'Lo, the powerful
Gandharva cometh hither, filled with rage, and with an upraised tree in
hand. Let _Sairindhri_, therefore, from whom this danger of ours hath
arisen, be set free.' And beholding the tree that had been uprooted by
Bhimasena, they set Draupadi free and ran breathlessly towards the city.
And seeing them run away, Bhima, that mighty son of the Wind-god,
despatched, O foremost of kings, by means of that tree, a hundred and
five of them unto the abode of Yama, like the wielder of the thunderbolt
slaying the Danavas. And setting Draupadi free from her bonds, he then,
O king, comforted her. And that mighty-armed and irrepressible
Vrikodara, the son of Pandu, then addressed the distressed princess of
Panchala with face bathed in tears, saying, 'Thus, O timid one, are they
slain that wrong thee without cause.
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