Text 19
tayoḥ spṛdhos tigma-gadāhatāṅgayoḥ
kṣatāsrava-ghrāṇa-vivṛddha-manyvoḥ
vicitra-mārgāṁś carator jigīṣayā
vyabhād ilāyām iva śuṣmiṇor mṛdhaḥ
tayoḥ — them; spṛdhoḥ — the two combatants; tigma — pointed; gadā — by the maces; āhata — injured; aṅgayoḥ — their bodies; kṣata-āsrava — blood coming out from the injuries; ghrāṇa — smell; vivṛddha — increased; manyvoḥ — anger; vicitra — of various kinds; mārgān — maneuvers; caratoḥ — performing; jigīṣayā — with a desire to win; vyabhāt — it looked like; ilāyām — for the sake of a cow (or the earth); iva — like; śuṣmiṇoḥ — of two bulls; mṛdhaḥ — an encounter.
There was keen rivalry between the two combatants; both had sustained injuries on their bodies from the blows of each other’s pointed maces, and each grew more and more enraged at the smell of blood on his person. In their eagerness to win, they performed maneuvers of various kinds, and their contest looked like an encounter between two forceful bulls for the sake of a cow.
Here the earth planet is called ilā. This earth was formerly known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa, and when Mahārāja Parīkṣit ruled the earth it was called Bhārata-varṣa. Actually, Bhārata-varṣa is the name for the entire planet, but gradually Bhārata-varṣa has come to mean India. As India has recently been divided into Pakistan and Hindustan, similarly the earth was formerly called Ilāvṛta-varṣa, but gradually as time passed it was divided by national boundaries.