th the view, thus clearly set forth by Krishna that best of men, and,
having applauded the same, and having deliberated, thus spoke with joined
palms unto Kesava, 'O Kesava, no doubt, thou art the refuge of the sons
of Pandu; for the sons of Pandu have their protector in thee! When the
time will come, there is no doubt that thou wilt do all the work just
mentioned by thee; and even more than the same! As promised by us, we
have spent all the twelve years in lonely forests. O Kesava, having in
the prescribed way completed the period for living unrecognised, the sons
of Pandu will take refuge in thee. This should be the intention of those
that associate with thee, O Krishna! The sons of Pandu swerve not from
the path of truth, for the sons of Pritha with their charity and their
piety with their people and their wives and with their relations have
their protector in thee!"

Vaisampayana said, 'O descendant of Bharata, while Krishna, the
descendant of the Vrishnis and the virtuous king, were thus talking,
there appeared then the saint Markandeya, grown grey in the practise of
penances. And he had seen many thousand years of life, was of a pious
soul, and devoted to great austerities. Signs of old age he had none; and
deathless he was, and endued with beauty and generous and many good
qualities. And he looked like one only twenty-five years old. And when
the aged saint, who had seen many thousand years of life, came, all the
Brahamanas paid their respects to him and so did Krishna together with
Pandu's son. And when that wisest saint, thus honoured, took his seat in
a friendly way, Krishna addressed him, in accordance with the views of
the Brahmanas and of Pandu's sons, thus,--

"The sons of Pandu, and the Brahmanas assembled here, and the daughter of
Drupada, and Satyabhama, likewise myself, are all anxious to hear your
most excellent words, O Markandeya! Propound to us the holy stories of
events of bygone times, and the eternal rules of righteous conduct by
which are guided kings and women and saints!"

Vaisampayana continued, "When they had all taken their seats, Narada
also, the divine saint, of purified soul, came on a visit to Pandu's
sons. Him also, then, of great soul, all those foremost men of superior
intellect, honoured in the prescribed form, by offering water to wash his
feet, and the well-known oblation called the Arghya. Then the godlike
saint, Narada, learning that they were about to hear the speech of
Mark