I saw thy heroic
brother capable of wielding the bow with his left hand, seated on the
same seat with Sakra. And beholding Partha on that seat I was greatly
astonished, O tiger among men! And the lord of the celestials then said
unto me, 'Go thou unto the sons of Pandu.' At the request, therefore, of
Indra as also of the high-souled son of Pritha have I come hither with
speed, desiring to see thee with thy younger brothers. O child, I will
relate what will please thee highly, O son of Pandu! Do thou listen to
it, O king, with Krishna and the Rishis that are with thee. O bull of the
Bharata race, Partha hath obtained from Rudra that incomparable weapon
for the acquisition of which thou hadst sent him to heaven. That fierce
weapon, known by the name of Brahma-sira which arose after Amrita, and
which Rudra had obtained by means of ascetic austerities, hath been
acquired by Arjuna together with the Mantras for hurling and withdrawing
it, and the rites of expiation and revival. And, O Yudhishthira, Arjuna
of immeasurable prowess hath also acquired Vajras and Dandas and other
celestial weapons from Yama and Kuvera and Varuna and Indra, O son of the
Kuru race! And he hath also thoroughly learnt music, both vocal and
instrumental, and dancing and proper recitation of the Saman (Veda) from
Vishwavasu's son. And having thus acquired weapons and mastered the
Gandharva Veda, thy third brother Vibhatsu liveth happily (in heaven).
Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, for I shall now deliver to thee the message
of that foremost of celestials. He hath commanded me saying, "Thou wilt,
no doubt, go to the world of men. O best of Brahmanas, tell thou
Yudhishthira these words of mine. Soon will thy brother Arjuna come to
thee, having acquired arms and accomplished a great deed for the
celestials that is incapable of being accomplished by themselves. Do thou
meanwhile devote thyself to ascetic austerities, with thy brothers. There
is nothing superior to asceticism, and it is by asceticism that a person
achieveth great results. And, O bull of the Bharata race, well do I know
that Karna is endued with great ardour and energy and strength and
prowess that is incapable of being baffled. Well do I know that, skilled
in fierce conflict, he hath not his rival in battle; that he is a mighty
bowman, a hero deft in the use of fierce weapons and cased in the best of
mail. Well do I know that that exalted son of Aditya resembleth the son
of Maheswara himself.