All the brethren rushed to Bhima's aid, and they saw the two wrestlers struggling in a cloud of dust, and they appeared like two high cliffs shrouded in mist.
Arjuna cried out: “O Bhima, I am here to help thee. Let me slay the monster.”
Bhima answered: “Fear not, but look on. The Rakshasa will not escape from my hands.”
Said Arjuna: “Do not keep him alive too long. We must hasten hence. The dawn is near, and Rakshasas become stronger at daybreak; they exercise their powers of deception during the two twilights. Do not play with him, therefore, but kill him speedily.”
At these words Bhima became strong as Vayu, his sire, when he is angered,[237] and, raising aloft the Rakshasa, he whirled him round and round, crying: “In vain hast thou gorged on unholy food. I will rid the forest of thee. No longer wilt thou devour human beings.”
Then, dashing the monster to the ground, Bhima seized him by the hair and by the waist, laid him over a knee, and broke his back. So was the Rakshasa slain.
Day was breaking, and Pritha and her sons immediately turned away to leave the forest. The Rakshasa woman followed them, and Bhima cried to her: “Begone! or I will send thee after thy brother.”
Said Yudhishthira: “It is unseemly to slay a woman. Besides, she is the sister of that Rakshasa, and even although she became angry, what harm can she do us?”
Kneeling at Pritha's feet, the demon wailed: “O illustrious and blessed lady, thou knowest the sufferings women endure when the love god wounds them. Have pity upon me now, and command thy son to take me for his bride. If he continues to scorn me, I will slay myself. Let me be thy slave, and I will carry you all wheresoever you desire and protect you from perils.”
Pritha heard her with compassion, and prevailed upon Bhima to take her for his bride. So the two were married by Yudhishthira; then the Rakshasa took Bhima upon her back and sped through the air to a lonely place among the mountains which is sacred to the gods. They lived together beside silvery streams and lakes sparkling with lotus blooms; they wandered through woods of blossoming trees where birds sang sweetly, and by celestial sea-beaches covered with pearls and nuggets of gold. The demon bride had assumed celestial beauty, and ofttimes played sweet music, and she made Bhima happy.