e invincible in
battle by even the slayer himself of Vritra--what are the sons of
Dhritarashtra?'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'After these words had been spoken, all the
heroes there turned their faces towards Vasudeva, who then in their midst
began to speak as follows.'"

SECTION XIII

"Vasudeva said, O lord of earth, if I had been present at Dwaraka, then,
O king, this evil would not have befallen thee! And, O irrepressible one,
coming unto the gambling-match, even if uninvited by the son of Amvika
(Dhritarashtra), or Duryodhana, or by the other Kauravas, I would have
prevented the game from taking place, by showing its many evils,
summoning to my aid Bhishma and Drona and Kripa, and Vahlika! O exalted
one, for thy sake I would have told the son of Vichitravirya--O foremost
of monarchs, let thy sons have nothing to do with dice!--I would have
shown the many evils (of dice) through which thou hast fallen into such
distress and the son of Virasena was formerly deprived of his kingdom! O
king, unthought of evils, befall a man from dice! I would have described
how a man once engaged in the game continueth to play (from desire of
victory). Women, dice, hunting and drinking to which people become
addicted in consequence of temptation, have been regarded as the four
evils that deprive a man of prosperity. And those versed in the Sastras
are of opinion that evils attend upon all these. They also that are
addicted to dice know all its evils. O thou of mighty arms, appearing
before the son of Amvika, I would have pointed out that through dice men
in a day lose their possessions, and fall into distress, and are deprived
of their untasted wealth, and exchange harsh words! O perpetuator of the
Kuru race, I would have pointed out these and other attendant evils! If
he had accepted my words thus addressed, the welfare of the Kurus as also
virtue itself would both have been secured! And, O foremost of kings, if
he had rejected my gentle counsels offered as medicine, then, O best of
the Bharata race, I would have compelled him by force! And, if those who
wait at his court, professing to be his friends but in reality his foes,
had supported him, then I would have slain them all, along with those
gamblers, there present! O Kauravya, it is owing to my absence from the
Anartta country at that time that thou hast fallen into such distress
begot of dice! O thou best of Kurus, O son of Pandu, on arriving at
Dwarka I learnt from Yuyudhan