Text 18
tam āpatantaṁ sa vilakṣya dūrāt
kumāra-hodvigna-manā rathena
parādravat prāṇa-parīpsur urvyāṁ
yāvad-gamaṁ rudra-bhayād yathā kaḥ
tam — him; āpatantam — coming over furiously; saḥ — he; vilakṣya — seeing; dūrāt — from a distance; kumāra-hā — the murderer of the princes; udvigna-manāḥ — disturbed in mind; rathena — on the chariot; parādravat — fled; prāṇa — life; parīpsuḥ — for protecting; urvyām — with great speed; yāvat-gamam — as he fled; rudra-bhayāt — by fear of Śiva; yathā — as; kaḥ — Brahmā (or arkaḥ — Sūrya).
Aśvatthāmā, the murderer of the princes, seeing from a great distance Arjuna coming at him with great speed, fled in his chariot, panic stricken, just to save his life, as Brahmā fled in fear from Śiva.
According to the reading matter, either kaḥ or arkaḥ, there are two references in the Purāṇas. Kaḥ means Brahmā, who once became allured by his daughter and began to follow her, which infuriated Śiva, who attacked Brahmā with his trident. Brahmājī fled in fear of his life. As far as arkaḥ is concerned, there is a reference in the Vāmana Purāṇa. There was a demon by the name Vidyunmālī who was gifted with a glowing golden airplane which traveled to the back of the sun, and night disappeared because of the glowing effulgence of this plane. Thus the sun-god became angry, and with his virulent rays he melted the plane. This enraged Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva then attacked the sun-god, who fled away and at last fell down at Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), and the place became famous as Lolārka.