The track pursued by him
hath not yet disappeared, for the broken branches of trees have not yet
faded. Therefore, turn your cars and follow her quickly, for the
princess cannot have gone far by this time! Ye warriors possessed of the
prowess of Indra, putting on your costly bows of handsome make, and
taking up your costly bows and quivers, speed ye in pursuit of her, lest
overpowered by threats or violence and losing her sense and the colour
of her cheeks, she yields herself up to an undeserving wight, even as
one poureth forth, from the sacrificial ladle, the sanctified oblation
on a heap of ashes. O, see that the clarified butter is not poured into
an unigniting fire of paddy chaff; that a garland of flowers is not
thrown away in a cemetery. O, take care that the _Soma_ juice of a
sacrifice is not licked up by a dog through the carelessness of the
officiating priests! O, let not the lily be rudely torn by a jackal
roaming for its prey in the impenetrable forest. O, let no inferior
wight touch with his lips the bright and beautiful face of your wife,
fair as the beams of the moon and adorned with the finest nose and the
handsomest eyes, like a dog licking clarified butter kept in the
sacrificial pot! Do ye speed in this track and let not time steal a
march on you.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'Retire, good woman, and control thy tongue. Speak
not this way before us. Kings or princes, whoever are infatuated with
the possession of power, are sure to come to grief!'"
Vaisampayana continued, "With these words, they departed, following the
track pointed out to them, and frequently breathing deep sighs like the
hissing of snakes, and twanging the strings of their large bows.
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