e
other world. He that is good never indulges in self-praise. Unable,
however, to brook the slaughter of my sire, I speak of my prowess. Let
the Pandavas, with Janardana among them, behold my energy today, while I
grind all their troops, achieving what is done (by the destroyer himself)
at the end of the Yuga. Neither the gods, nor the Gandharvas, nor the
Asuras, the Uragas, and the Rakshasas, nor all the foremost of men, shall
today be able to vanquish me on my car in battle. There is none in the
world equal to me or Arjuna in knowledge of weapons. Entering into the
midst of the troops, like the sun himself in the midst of his blazing
rays, I shall today use my celestial weapons. Today, applied by me,
innumerable shafts, sped from my bow in dreadful battle, displaying their
terrible energy, I shall grind the Pandavas. Today, all the points of the
compass, O king will be seen by the warriors of our army shrouded with my
winged arrows of keen points, as if with torrents of rain. Scattering
showers of shafts on all sides with a loud noise, I shall overthrow my
foes, like a tempest felling trees. Neither Vibhatsu, nor Janardana, nor
Bhimasena, nor Nakula, nor Sahadeva, nor king Yudhishthira, nor
Prishata's wicked-souled son (Dhrishtadyumna), nor Sikhandin, nor
Satyaki, O Kauravya, knoweth that weapon which I have, along with the
mantras, for hurting and withdrawing it. Formerly on one occasion,
Narayana, assuming the form of a Brahmana, came to my father. Bowing unto
him, my father presented his offerings unto him in due form. Taking them
himself, the divine Lord offered to give him a boon. My father then
solicited that supreme weapon called Narayana. The divine Lord, the
foremost of all gods, addressing my sire, said, 'No man shall ever become
thy equal in battle. This weapon, however, O Brahmana, should never be
used in haste. It never comes back without effecting the destruction of
the foe. I know none whom it may not slay, O lord! Indeed, it would slay
even the unslayable. Therefore, it should not be used (without the
greatest deliberation). This mighty weapon, O scorcher of foes, should
never be hurled upon persons that abandon their cars or weapons in
battle, or upon those that seek for quarter or those that wield
themselves up. He who seeketh to afflict in battle the unslayable with
it, is himself exceedingly afflicted by it![259]'--My sire thus received
that weapon. Then Lord Narayana, addressing myself also, said, '