alketh not
in the path of righteousness? Seeing me void of eye-sight, and incapable
of exerting myself actively, my wretched son, O charioteer, believeth me
to be a fool, and listeneth not to my words. Those wretches also that are
his counsellors, viz., Karna and Suvala, and others, always pander to his
vices, as he is incapable of understanding things rightly. The shafts
that Arjuna of immeasurable prowess may lightly shoot, are capable of
consuming all my sons, leave alone those shafts that he will shoot,
impelled by anger. The arrows urged by the might of Arjuna's arms and
shot from his large bow, and inspired with mantras capable of converting
them into celestial weapons can chastise the celestials themselves. He
who hath for his counsellor and protector and friend that smiter of
sinful men--the lord of the three worlds--Hari himself--encountereth
nothing that he cannot conquer. This, O Sanjaya, is most marvellous in
Arjuna that, as we have heard, he hath been clasped by Mahadeva in his
arms. That also which Phalguna, assisted by Damodara did of old towards
helping Agni in the conflagration of Khandava, hath been witnessed by all
the world. When, therefore, Bhima and Partha and Vasudeva of the Satwata
race become enraged, surely my sons along with their friends and the
Suvalas are all unequal to fight with them.'"

SECTION L

Janamejaya said, "Having sent the heroic sons of Pandu into exile, these
lamentations, O Muni, of Dhritarashtra were perfectly futile. Why did the
king permit his foolish son Duryodhana to thus incense those mighty
warriors, the sons of Pandu? Tell us now, O Brahmana, what was the food
of the sons of Pandu, while they lived in the woods? Was it of the
wilderness, or was it the produce of cultivation?"

Vaisampayana said, "Those bulls among men, collecting the produce of the
wilderness and killing the deer with pure arrows, first dedicated a
portion of the food to the Brahmanas, and themselves are the rest. For, O
king, while those heroes wielding large bows lived in the woods, they
were followed by Brahmanas of both classes, viz., those worshipping with
fire and those worshipping without it. And there were ten thousand
illustrious Snataka Brahmanas, all conversant with the means of
salvation, whom Yudhishthira supported in the woods. And killing with
arrows Rurus and the black deer and other kinds of clean animals of the
wilderness, he gave them unto those Brahmanas. And no one that lived