disposed
towards those that take refuge in thee. Do thou cherish me with thy
kindness. O thou with a complexion dark as the leaves of the blue lotus,
and with eyes red as the corolla of the lily, and attired in yellow robes
with, besides, the bright Kaustubha gem in thy bosom, thou art the
beginning and the end of creation, and the great refuge of all. Thou art
the supreme light and essence of the Universe! Thy face is directed
towards every point. They call thee Supreme Germ and the depository of
all treasures. Under thy protections, O lord of the gods, all evils lose
their terror. As thou didst protect me before from Dussasana, do thou
extricate me now from this difficulty."

Vaisampayana continued, "The great and sovereign God, and Lord of the
earth, of mysterious movements, the lord Kesava who is ever kind to the
dependents, thou adored by Krishna, and perceiving her difficulty,
instantly repaired to that place leaving the bed of Rukmini who was
sleeping by his side. Beholding Vasudeva, Draupadi bowed down to him in
great joy and informed him of the arrival of the Munis and every other
thing. And having heard everything Krishna said unto her, 'I am very much
afflicted with hunger, do thou give me some food without delay, and then
thou mayst go about thy work.' At these words of Kesava, Krishna became
confused, and replied unto him, saying, 'The sun-given vessel remains
full till I finish my meal. But as I have already taken my meal today,
there is no food in it now. Then that lotus-eyed and adorable being said
unto Krishna, 'This is no time for jest, O Krishna.--I am much distressed
with hunger, go thou quickly to fetch the vessel and show it to me.' When
Kesava, that ornament of the Yadu's race, had the vessel brought unto
him,--with such persistence, he looked into it and saw a particle of rice
and vegetable sticking at its rim. And swallowing it he said unto her,
'May it please the god Hari, the soul of the Universe, and may that god
who partaketh at sacrifices, be satiated with this.' Then the long-armed
Krishna, that soother of miseries, said unto Bhimasena, 'Do thou speedily
invite the Munis to dinner. Then, O good king, the celebrated Bhimasena
quickly went to invite all those Munis, Durvasa and others, who had gone
to the nearest stream of transparent and cool water to perform their
ablutions. Meanwhile, these ascetics, having plunged into the river, were
rubbing their bodies and observing that they all felt