ain, said these sweet words, 'By thee
hath been achieved a feat incapable of being achieved by the gods and the
Asuras. And, O Partha, by slaying my mighty enemies, thou hast paid the
preceptor's fee. And, O Dhananjaya, thus in battle shalt thou always
remain calm, and discharge the weapons unerringly, and there shall not
stand thee in fight celestials, and Danavas, and Rakshasas, and Yakshas,
and Asuras, and Gandharvas and birds and serpents. And, O Kaunteya, by
conquering it even by the might of thy arms, Kunti's son Yudhishthira,
will rule the earth.'"

SECTION CLXXIII

"Arjuna continued, 'Then firmly confident, the sovereign of the
celestials considering as his own, pertinently said these words unto me
wounded by cleaving shafts, 'All the celestial weapons, O Bharata, are
with thee, so no man on earth will by any means be able to over-power
thee. And, O son, when thou art in the field, Bhishma and Drona and Kripa
and Karna and Sakuni together with other Kshatriyas shall not amount unto
one-sixteenth part of thee.' And the lord Maghavan granted me this golden
garland and this shell, Devadatta, of mighty roars, and also his
celestial mail impenetrable and capable of protecting the body. And Indra
himself set on my (head) this diadem. And Sakra presented me with these
unearthly apparels and unearthly ornaments, elegant and rare. In this
manner, O king, (duly) honoured, I delightfully dwelt in Indra's sacred
abode with the children of the Gandharvas. Then, well-pleased, Sakra,
together with the celestials, addressed me, saying, 'O Arjuna, the time
hath come for thy departure; thy brothers have thought of thee.' Thus, O
Bharata, remembering the dissensions arising from that gambling, did I, O
king, pass those five years in the abode of Indra. Then have I come and
seen thee surrounded by our brothers on the summit of this lower range of
the Gandhamadana.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'O Dhananjaya, by fortune it is that the weapons have
been obtained by thee; by fortune it is that the master of the immortals
hath been adored by thee. O repressor of foes, by fortune it is that the
divine Sthanu together with the goddess had become manifest unto thee and
been gratified by thee in battle, O sinless one; by fortune it is that
thou hadst met with the Lokapalas, O best of the Bharatas. O Partha, by
fortune it is that we have prospered; and by fortune it is that thou hast
come back. To-day I consider as if the entire earth engarla