e
stained with the guilt of slaughtering women for this. Having slain our
kinsmen and friends and thereby committed an inexpiable sin, we shall
have to fall into hell with heads downwards. O best of men, we shall,
therefore, waste our limbs with the austerest of penances. Tell me, O
grandsire, to what mode of life I should betake myself then."'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Hearing these words of Yudhishthira, the
Island-born Rishi, having reflected keenly for some time, addressed the
son of Pandu as follows:

"'Vyasa said, "Remembering the duties of a Kshatriya, O king, do not give
way to grief. All those Kshatriyas, O bull among Kshatriyas, have fallen
in the observance of their proper duties. In the pursuit of great
prosperity and of great fame on earth, those foremost of men, all of whom
were liable to death,[109] have perished through the influence of Time.
Thou hast not been their slayer, nor this Bhima, nor Arjuna, nor the
twins. It is Time that took away their life-breaths according to the
great law of change. Time hath neither mother, nor father, nor anybody
for whom he is disposed to show any favour. He is the witness of the acts
of all creatures. By him have they been taken away. This battle, O bull
of Bharata's race, was only an occasion ordained by him. He causes
creatures to be slain through the instrumentality of creatures. This is
the manner in which it puts forth its irresistible power. Know that Time
(in his dealings with creatures) is dependent upon the bond of action and
is the witness of all actions good and bad. It is Time that brings about
the fruits, fraught with bliss or woe, of our actions. Think, O
mighty-armed one, of the acts of those Kshatriyas that have fallen. Those
acts were the causes of their destruction and it is in consequence of
them that they have perished. Think also of thy own acts consisting of
observances of vows with restrained soul. And think also how thou hast
been forced by the Supreme Ordainer to do such an act (as the slaughter
of so many human beings). As a weapon made by a smith or carpenter is
under the control of the person that is handling it, and moves as he
moves it, similarly this universe, controlled by actions done in Time,
moves as those actions move it. Seeing that the births and deaths of
creatures take place without any (assignable) cause and in perfect
wantonness, grief and joy are perfectly needless. Although this
entanglement of thy heart is a mere delusion