ing dazzled the entire earth like the sun by his
energy, that Yudhishthira, alas, is now a courtier of king Virata. O
Pandu's son, that Pandava who was respectfully waited upon in court by
kings and sages, behold him now waiting upon another. Alas, beholding
Yudhishthira a courtier sitting beside another and breathing adulatory
speeches to the other, who can help being afflicted with grief? And
beholding the highly wise and virtuous Yudhishthira, undeserving as he is
of serving others, actually serving another for sustenance, who can help
being afflicted with grief? And, O hero, that Bharata who was worshipped
in court by the entire earth, do thou now behold him worshipping another.
Why then, O Bharata, dost thou not regard me as one afflicted with
diverse miseries, like one forlorn and immersed in a sea of sorrow?'"

SECTION XIX

"Draupadi said, 'This O Bharata, that I am going to tell thee is another
great grief of mine. Thou shouldst not blame me, for I tell thee this
from sadness of heart. Who is there whose grief is not enhanced at sight
of thee, O bull of the Bharata race, engaged in the ignoble office of a
cook, so entirely beneath thee and calling thyself as one of Vallava
caste? What can be sadder than this, that people should know thee as
Virata's cook, Vallava by name, and therefore one that is sunk in
servitude? Alas, when thy work of the kitchen is over, thou humbly
sittest beside Virata, calling thyself as Vallava the cook, then
despondency seizeth my heart. When the king of kings in joy maketh thee
fight with elephants, and the women of the inner apartments (of the
palace) laugh all the while, then I am sorely distressed. When thou
fightest in the inner apartments with lions, tigers, and buffaloes, the
princess Kaikeyi looking on, then I almost swoon away. And when Kaikeyi
and those maidservants, leaving their seats, come to assist me and find
that instead of suffering any injury in limbs mine is only a swoon, the
princess speaks unto her women, saying, "Surely, it is from affection and
the duty begot of intercourse that this lady of sweet smiles grieveth for
the exceedingly powerful cook when he fights with the beasts. Sairindhri
is possessed of great beauty and Vallava also is eminently handsome. The
heart of woman is hard to know, and they, I fancy, are deserving of each
other. It is, therefore, likely that the Sairindhri invariably weepeth
(at such times) on account of her connection with her love