Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.72.35
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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maṇḍalāni
—
arcs, circular movements
Accusative plural. The mace-duel has formal footwork — clockwise and anticlockwise circling, like the technical maṇḍalas of dance and ritual.
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naṭayoḥ
—
of two actors
Genitive dual. Naṭa — actor, dancer. The simile marks Vyāsa's aesthetic detachment: even slaughter, witnessed from the right angle, is līlā.
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raṅgiṇoḥ
—
on a stage
Genitive dual adjective. Raṅgin — stage-going. The fighting ground is theatre; Kṛṣṇa is the unseen sūtradhāra.
Jarāsandha and Bhīma here demonstrate their expertise in the use of clubs. Thus it can be understood that both fighters were fearless and steady even in the rage of battle.
Swinging their clubs to the left and right in various ways (mandalani vicitrani), they appeared like dancers, by their skillful use of their weapons and their fearlessness.
Sometimes they went left or right and sometimes faced each other (eva ca).
Sometimes they even circled to the right (eva). And they also faced each other (ca). They moved about since they were in the arena (raṅgiṇoh). The fight appeared beautiful (śuśubhe).
Two dancers turn on a stage — sometimes the audience cannot tell who leads. The Bhāgavatam likens the deadly duel to naṭas, actors dancing in a raṅga. The aesthetic is precise: the violence is choreographed, the beauty real.
My note
Source: vedabase.io