And beholding Kunti's son thus armed and
about to set out, the Brahmanas and _Siddhas_ and invisible spirits
addressed him, saying, 'O son of Kunti, obtain thou soon what thou
wishest.' And the Brahmanas, also uttering benedictions said, 'Achieve
thou the object thou hast in view. Let victory be truly thine.' And
beholding the heroic Arjuna, of thighs stout as the trunks of the
_Sala_, about to set out taking away with him the hearts of all, Krishna
addressed him saying, 'O thou strong-armed one, let all that Kunti had
desired at thy birth, and let all that thou desirest, be accomplished, O
Dhananjaya! Let no one amongst us be ever again born in the order of
Kshatriyas. I always bow down unto the Brahmanas whose mode of living is
mendicancy. This is my great grief that the wretch Duryodhana beholding
me in the assembly of princes mockingly called me a _cow_! Besides this
he told me in the midst of that assembly many other hard things. But the
grief I experience at parting with thee is far greater than any I felt
at those insults. Certainly, in thy absence, thy brothers will while
away their waking hours in repeatedly talking of thy heroic deeds! If,
however, O son of Pritha, thou stayest away for any length of time, we
shall derive no pleasure from our enjoyments or from wealth. Nay, life
itself will be distasteful to us. O son of Pritha, our weal, and woe,
life and death, our kingdom and prosperity, are all dependent on thee. O
Bharata, I bless thee, let success be thine. O sinless one, thy
(present) task thou wilt be able to achieve even against powerful
enemies. O thou of great strength, go thou to win success with speed.
Let dangers be not thine. I bow to _Dhatri_ and _Vidhatri_! I bless
thee. Let prosperity be thine. And, O Dhananjaya, let _Hri, Sree, Kirti,
Dhriti, Pushti, Uma, Lakshmi, Saraswati_, all protect thee on thy way,
for thou ever worshippest thy elder brother and ever obeyest his
commands. And, O bull of the Bharata race, I bow to the Vasus, the
Rudras and Adityas, the Manilas, the Viswadevas, and the Sadhyas, for
procuring thy welfare. And, O Bharata, be thou safe from all spirits of
mischief belonging to the sky, the earth, and the heaven, and from such
other spirits generally.'"

Vaisampayana continued, "Krishna, the daughter of Yajnasena, having
uttered these benedictions, ceased. The strong-armed son of Pandu then,
having walked round his brothers and round Dhaumya also, and taking up
his handsome