Strive thou by all means, O Bharata, to liberate Duryodhana by the
arts of conciliation. If, however, the king of the Gandharvas cannot be
managed by the arts of conciliation, then must thou try to rescue
Suyodhana by lightly skirmishing with the foe. But if the chief of the
Gandharvas do not let the Kurus off even then, they must be rescued by
crushing the foe by all means. O Vrikodara, this is all I can tell thee
now, for my vow hath been begun and is not ended yet!'"
Vaisampayana continued, "Hearing these words of Ajatasatru, Dhananjaya
pledged himself, from respect for these commands of his superior, to
liberate the Kauravas. And Arjuna said, 'If the Gandharvas do not set
the Dhartarashtras free peacefully, the Earth shall this day drink the
blood of the king of the Gandharvas!' And hearing that pledge of the
truth-speaking Arjuna, the Kauravas then, O king, regained (the lost)
tenor of their minds."
SECTION CCXLII
Vaisampayana said, "Hearing the words of Yudhishthira, those bulls among
men, headed by Bhimasena, rose up with faces beaming in joy. And those
mighty warriors, O Bharata, then began to case themselves in
impenetrable mail that were besides variegated with pure gold, and armed
themselves with celestial weapons of various kinds. And the Pandavas
thus cased in mail, and mounted on those chariots furnished with
flagstaffs and armed with bows and arrows, looked like blazing fires.
And those tigers among warriors, riding upon those well furnished cars
drawn by fleet horses, proceeded to that spot without losing a moment.
Pages:
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403