e the queen of kings! The heavens might fall, or the Himavat
might split, the earth might be rent, or the waters of the ocean might
dry up, but my words shall never be futile!' Hearing those words of
Achyuta in reply, Draupadi looked obliquely at her third husband
(Arjuna). And, O mighty king, Arjuna said unto Draupadi, 'O thou of
beautiful coppery eyes, grieve not! O illustrious one, it shall be even
as the slayer of Madhu hath said! It can never be otherwise, O beautiful
one!'

"Dhrishtadyumna said, 'I will slay Drona, Sikhandin will slay the
grandfather. And Bhimasena will slay Duryodhana, and Dhananjaya will
slay Karna. And, O sister, assisted by Rama and Krishna, we are
invincible in battle by even the slayer himself of Vritra--what are the
sons of Dhritarashtra?'"

Vaisampayana continued, "After these words had been spoken, all the
heroes there turned their faces towards Vasudeva, who then in their
midst began to speak as follows."

SECTION XIII

"Vasudeva said, 'O lord of earth, if I had been present at Dwaraka,
then, O king, this evil would not have befallen thee! And, O
irrepressible one, coming unto the gambling-match, even if uninvited by
the son of Amvika (Dhritarashtra), or Duryodhana, or by the other
Kauravas, I would have prevented the game from taking place, by showing
its many evils, summoning to my aid Bhishma and Drona and Kripa, and
Vahlika! O exalted one, for thy sake I would have told the son of
Vichitravirya--_O foremost of monarchs, let thy sons have nothing to do
with dice!_--I would have shown the many evils (of dice) through which
thou hast fallen into such distress and the son of Virasena was formerly
deprived of his kingdom! O king, unthought of evils, befall a man from
dice! I would have described how a man once engaged in the game
continueth to play (from desire of victory). Women, dice, hunting and
drinking to which people become addicted in consequence of temptation,
have been regarded as the four evils that deprive a man of prosperity.
And those versed in the _Sastras_ are of opinion that evils attend upon
all these. They also that are addicted to dice know all its evils. O
thou of mighty arms, appearing before the son of Amvika, I would have
pointed out that through dice men in a day lose their possessions, and
fall into distress, and are deprived of their untasted wealth, and
exchange harsh words! O perpetuator of the Kuru race, I would have
pointed out these and other attendan