hers, sad and sore and grieved at heart,
Followed Krishna's moving chariot, for they could not see him part,

Krishna stopped once more his chariot, and his parting blessing gave,
Thus the chief with eyes of lotus spake in accents calm and brave:

_"King of men! with sleepless watching ever guard thy kingdom flair,
Like a father tend thy subjects with a father's love and care,_

_Be unto them like the rain-drop nourishing the thirsty ground,
Be unto them tree of shelter shading them from heat around,_

_Like the blue sky ever bending be unto them ever kind,
Free from pride and free from passion rule them with a virtuous mind!"_

Spake and left the saintly Krishna, pure and pious-hearted chief,
Sad Yudhishthir wended homeward and his heart was filled with grief.

BOOK IV

DYUTA

(The Fatal Dice)

Duryodhan came back from the Imperial Sacrifice filled with jealousy
against Yudhishthir, and devised plans to effect his fall. Sakuni,
prince of Gandhara, shared Duryodhan's hatred towards the sons of
Pandu, and helped him in his dark scheme. Yudhishthir with all his
piety and righteousness had one weakness, the love of gambling, which
was one of the besetting sins of the monarchs of the day. Sakuni was
an expert at false dice, and challenged Yudhishthir, and Yudhishthir
held it a point of honour not to decline such a challenge.

He came from his new capital, Indra-prastha, to Hastina-pura the
capital of Duryodhan, with his mother and brothers and Draupadi. And
as Yudhishthir lost game after game, he was stung with his losses,
and with the recklessness of a gambler still went on with the fatal
game. His wealth and hoarded gold and jewels, his steeds, elephants
and cars, his slaves male and female, his empire and possessions,
were all staked and lost!

The madness increased, and Yudhishthir staked his brothers, and then
himself, and then the fair Draupadi, and lost! And thus the Emperor
of Indra-prastha and his family were deprived of every possession
on earth, and became the bond-slaves of Duryodhan. The old king
Dhrita-rashtra released them from actual slavery, but the five
brothers retired to forests as homeless exiles.

Portions of Section lxv. and the whole of Sections lxix., lxxvi., and
lxxvii. of Book ii. of the original text have been translated in this
Book.

I

Draupadi in the Council Hall

Glassed on Ganga's limpid waters brightly shine Hastina's walls
Queen Draupadi duly honoured lives wit