in a mountain cave. The encounter thou
speakest of with those two excellent youths--the younger Pandavas--is
like unto the act of a fool that wantonly trampleth on the tails of two
venomous black cobras with bifurcated tongues. The bamboo, the reed, and
the plantain bear fruit only to perish and not to grow in size any
further. Like also the crab that conceiveth for her own destruction, thou
wilt lay hands upon me who am protected by these mighty heroes!'

Jayadratha replied, 'I know all this, O Krishna, and I am well aware of
the prowess of those princes. But thou canst not frighten us now with
these threats. We, too, O Krishna, belong by birth to the seventeen high
clans, and are endowed with the six royal qualities.[89] We, therefore,
look down upon the Pandavas as inferior men! Therefore, do thou, O
daughter of Drupada, ride this elephant or this chariot quickly, for thou
canst not baffle us with thy words alone; or, speaking less boastfully,
seek thou the mercy of the king of the Sauviras!'

Draupadi replied, "Though I am so powerful, why doth the king of Sauvira
yet consider me so powerless. Well-known as I am, I cannot, from fear of
violence, demean myself before that prince. Even Indra himself cannot
abduct her for whose protection Krishna and Arjuna would together follow,
riding in the same chariot. What shall I say, therefore, of a weak human
being. When Kiriti, that slayer of foes, riding on his car, will, on my
account, enter thy ranks, striking terror into every heart, he will
consume everything around like fire consuming a stack of dry grass in
summer. The warring princes of the Andhaka and the Vrishni races, with
Janardana at their head, and the mighty bowmen of the Kaikeya tribe, will
all follow in my wake with great ardour. The terrible arrows of
Dhananjaya, shot from the string of the Gandiva and propelled by his arms
fly with great force through the air, roaring like the very clouds. And
when thou wilt behold Arjuna shooting from the Gandiva a thick mass of
mighty arrows like unto a flight of locusts, then wilt thou repent of
thine own folly! Bethink thyself of what thou wilt feel when that warrior
armed with the Gandiva, blowing his conch-shell and with gloves
reverberating with the strokes of his bowstring will again and again
pierce thy breast with his shafts. And when Bhima will advance towards
thee, mace in hand and the two sons of Madri range in all directions,
vomiting forth the venom of their