t, thou shouldst not, O hero, indulge in
such lamentations like an ordinary person. Formerly, many of thy wise
well-wishers, numbering Vidura amongst them, had told thee, "Do not, O
king, abandon the sons of Pandu." Thou didst not then heed those words.
The man that heedeth not the counsels of well-wishing friends, weepeth,
falling into great distress, like thyself. He of Dasarha's race, O king,
had formerly begged thee for peace. For all that, Krishna of world-wide
fame, obtained not his prayer. Ascertaining thy worthlessness, and thy
jealousy towards the Pandavas, and understanding also thy crooked
intentions towards the sons of Pandu, and hearing thy delirious
lamentations, O best of kings, that puissant Lord of all the worlds, that
Being, acquainted with the truth of everything in all the worlds, viz.,
Vasudeva, then caused the flame of war to blaze forth among the Kurus.
This great and wholesale destruction hath come upon thee, brought about
by thy own fault. O giver of honours, it behoveth thee not to impute the
fault to Duryodhana. In the development of these incidents no merit of
thine is to be seen in the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. This
defeat is entirely owing to thee. Therefore, knowing as thou dost the
truth about this world, be quiet and hear how this fierce battle,
resembling that between the gods and the Asuras, took place. After the
grandson of Sini, that warrior of prowess incapable of being baffled, had
entered into thy host, the Parthas headed by Bhimasena also rushed
against thy troops. The mighty car-warrior Kritavarman, however, alone,
resisted, in that battle the Pandavas thus rushing in fury and wrath with
their followers against thy host. As the continent resists the surgings,
even so did the son of Hridika resist the troops of the Pandavas in that
battle. The prowess that we then beheld of the son of Hridika was
wonderful, inasmuch as the united Parthas succeeded not in transgressing
his single self. Then the mighty-armed Bhima, piercing Kritavarman with
three shafts, blew his conch, gladdening all the Pandavas. Then Sahadeva
pierced the son of Hridika with twenty shafts, and Yudhishthira the just
pierced him with five and Nakula pierced him with a hundred. And the sons
of Draupadi pierced him with three and seventy shafts, Ghatotkacha
pierced him with seven. And Virata and Drupada and Drupada's son
(Dhrishtadyumna) each pierced him with five shafts, and Sikhandin, having
once pierc