Virata as a
cook bearing the name of Vallava. I am skilled in culinary art, and I
shall prepare curries for the king, and excelling all those skilful
cooks that had hitherto dressed his food I shall gratify the monarch.
And I shall carry mighty loads of wood. And witnessing that mighty feat,
the monarch will be pleased. And, O Bharata, beholding such superhuman
feats of mine, the servants of the royal household will honour me as a
king. And I shall have entire control over all kinds of viands and
drinks. And commanded to subdue powerful elephants and mighty bulls, I
will do as bidden. And if any combatants will fight with me in the
lists, then will I vanquish them, and thereby entertain the monarch. But
I shall not take the life of any of them. I shall only bring them down
in such way that they may not be killed. And on being asked as regards
my antecedent I shall say that--_Formerly I was the wrestler and cook of
Yudhishthira._ Thus shall I, O king, maintain myself.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'And what office will be performed by that mighty
descendant of the Kurus, Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti, that foremost of
men possessed of long arms, invincible in fight, and before whom, while
he was staying with Krishna, the divine Agni himself desirous of
consuming the forest of Khandava had formerly appeared in the guise of a
Brahmana? What office will be performed by that best of warriors,
Arjuna, who proceeded to that forest and gratified Agni, vanquishing on
a single car and slaying huge _Nagas_ and _Rakshasas_, and who married
the sister of Vasuki himself, the king of the _Nagas_? Even as the sun
is the foremost of all heat-giving bodies, as the Brahmana is the best
of all bipeds, as the cobra is the foremost of all serpents, as Fire is
the first of all things possessed of energy, as the thunderbolt is the
foremost of all weapons, as the humped bull is the foremost of all
animals of the bovine breed, as the ocean is the foremost of all watery
expanses, as clouds charged with rain are the foremost of all clouds, as
Ananta is the first of all _Nagas_, as Airavata is the foremost of all
elephants, as the son is the foremost of all beloved objects, and
lastly, as the wife is the best of all friends, so, O Vrikodara, is the
youthful Gudakesa, the foremost of all bowmen. And O Bharata, what
office will be performed by Vibhatsu, the wielder of _Gandiva_, whose
car is drawn by white horses, and who is not inferior to Indra or
Vasudeva