As Salya was driving Radheya through a maze of enemy lines, Radheya said to him, ‘Now that you have somehow saved Bheema from my clutches, take me as quickly as possible to Arjuna, who must die at my hands today. Nothing would please Duryodhana more than this thorn taken out of his side.’
Salya noticed the fire of fierce determination in Radheya’s eyes. As Duryodhana saw Radheya’s chariot racing towards Arjuna, he decided to lend him whatever support he could. So he asked Duhsasana to follow him. Hardly had Radheya gone a little way when his chariot was stopped by Bheema. But recalling what Salya had said, Bheema challenged only Duhsasana to a duel, not Radheya.
‘I have waited for this moment for years, O Duhsasana. And now that I see you right in front of me, do you think I’d let you escape?’
Duhsasana responded with a sneer: ‘So have I been eager all these years to meet you. I have heard you roar on the battlefield. But, in fact, you are more of a jackal than a lion. An empty drum you are, O Bheema, fighting more with your tongue than with your weapons.’
These hot words then led to a bloody combat, in which the two warriors charged at each other, like two fire-breathing tuskers. For a while, Duhsasana defended himself valiantly, but soon he found Bheema much too overpowering. This duel was watched by Radheya, Duryodhana, Kripa and others, but none ventured to intervene.
‘If anyone comes between me and this man, I shall kill all of you,’ Bheema warned.
His mace then killed Duhsasana’s horses and wrecked his chariot. He now lay helpless on the ground, his dazed eyes filled with fear. Then pulling out his sword, Bheema chopped off his right hand.
‘I had promised Draupadi to bring her the hand that had dragged her by the hair to the open assembly. But I have still to honour another part of my pledge to her.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I have vowed to drink the blood from your chest.’ Then, brandishing his sword above his head, he plunged it deep into Duhsasana’s heart. As blood gushed out, Bheema gathered some of it in his right palm and began to drink it. A gruesome spectacle it was that stunned all the onlookers. His mouth stained red, Bheema looked like a hyena that had just killed its prey and was now drinking its blood.
‘It tastes like wine,’ Bheema said, looking all around. ‘Now I will carry some of this blood back to Draupadi to redeem my pledge, for she has vowed to let her hair remain undone till she can dip it in Duhsasana’s blood.’
Duryodhana shut his eyes and plugged his ears. Here was a savage beast, he said to himself, who would brook no resistance.