SECTION LII

"Vaisampayana said, 'After this, Krishna ordered Daruka, saying--Let my car be yoked.--Within a very short space of time Daruka informed (his master), saying,--It has been yoked.--The son of Pandu then commanded all his attendants, saying,--Prepare yourselves and be ready. We shall repair to-day to the city named after the elephant. Thus addressed, O king, those troops accoutred themselves, and informed Pritha's son of immeasurable energy, saying,--Everything is equipt. Then those two, viz., Krishna and the son of Pandu, ascended their car and proceeded on the journey, the loving friends engaged the while in delightful conversation. Unto Vasudeva seated on the car, Dhananjaya of great energy once more said these words, O chief of Bharata's race!--O perpetuator of the Vrishni race, the king has obtained victory through thy grace. All his foes have been slain, and he has recovered his kingdom without a thorn in it (to make it disagreeable). O slayer of Madhu, through thee the Pandavas are endued with a powerful protector. Having obtained thee for our raft we have crossed the Kuru ocean. O thou that hast this universe for thy handiwork, salutations to thee, O Soul of the universe, O best of all beings in the universe. I know thee in that measure in which I am approved by thee. 1 O slayer of Madhu, the soul of every creature is always born of thy energy. Playful sport (in the from of creation, preservation, and destruction) is thine. Earth and sky, O lord, are thy illusion. This

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whole universe, consisting of mobile and immobile objects, is established on thee. Thou createst, by modification, the four orders of Being (viz., viviparous, oviparous, filth-born, and vegetables). Thou createst the Earth, the Welkin, and Heaven, O slayer of Madhu. The stainless lunar light is thy smile. The seasons are thy senses. The ever-moving wind is thy breath, and death, existing eternally, is thy wrath. In thy grace is the goddess of prosperity. Verily, Sree is always established in thee, O thou of the highest intelligence. Thou art the sport (in which creatures engage); thou art their contentment; thou their intelligence, thou their forgiveness, thou their inclinations, thou their beauty. Thou art the universe with its mobile and immobile objects. At the end of the cycle, it is thou, O sinless one, that art called destruction. I am incapable of reciting all thy qualities in course of even a long period. Thou art the Soul and the Supreme Soul. I bow to thee, O thou of eyes like the petals of the lotus. O thou that art irresistible, I have learnt it from Narada and Devala and the Island-born (Vyasa), and the Kuru grandsire also, that all this (universe) rests on thee. Thou art the one Lord of all creatures. This, O sinless one, that thou hast declared unto me in consequence of thy favour for myself, I shall duly accomplish in its entirety, O Janarddana. Exceedingly wonderful is this which thou hast done from desire of doing what is agreeable to us, viz., the destruction in battle of the Kaurava (prince), the son of Dhritarashtra. Thai host had been burnt by thee which I (subsequently) vanquished in battle. That feat was achieved by thee in consequence of which victory became mine. By the power of thy intelligence was shown the means by which was duly affected the destruction of Duryodhana in battle, as also of Karna, as of the sinful icing of the Sindhus; and Bhurisravas. I shall accomplish all that which, O son of Devaki, pleased with me thou hast declared to myself. I do not entertain any scruple in this. Repairing to king Yudhishthira of righteous soul, I shall, O sinless one, urge him to dismiss thee, O thou that art conversant with every duty. O lord, thy departure for Dwaraka meets with my approbation. Thou shalt soon see my maternal uncle, O Janarddana. Thou shalt also see the irresistible Valadeva and other chiefs of the Vrishni race.--Thus conversing with each other, the two reached the city named after the elephant. They then, with cheerful hearts, and without any anxiety, entered the palace of Dhritarashtra which resembled the mansion of Sakra. They then saw, O monarch, king Dhritarashtra, and Vidura of great intelligence, and king Yudhishthira and the irresistible Bhimasena, and the two sons of Madri by Pandu; and the unvanquished Yuyatsu, seated before Dhritarashtra and Gandhari of great wisdom, and Pritha, and the beautiful Krishna, and the other ladies of Bharata's race with Subhadra counting first. They also saw all those ladies that used to wait upon Gandhari. Then approaching king Dhritarashtra, those two chastisers of foes announced their names and touched his feet. Indeed, those high-souled ones also touched the feet of Gandhari and Pritha and king Yudhishthira the Just, and Bhima. Embracing Vidura also, they enquired after his welfare. In the company of all those persons, Arjuna and Krishna then approached king Dhritarashtra (again). Night came and then king Dhritarashtra of great intelligence dismissed all those perpetuators of Kuru's race

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as also Janarddana for retiring to their respective chambers. Permitted by the king all of them entered their respective apartments. Krishna of great energy proceeded to the apartments of Dhananjaya. Worshipped duly and furnished with every object of comfort and enjoyment, Krishna of great intelligence passed the night in happy sleep with Dhananjaya as his companion. When the night passed away and morning came, the two heroes, finishing their morning rites and dealing their persons properly, proceeded to the mansion of king Yudhishthira the just. There Yudhishthira the just, of great might, sat with his ministers. The two high-souled ones, entering that well-adorned chamber, beheld king Yudhishthira the just like the two Aswins beholding the chief of the celestials. Meeting the king, he of Vrishni's race as also that foremost hero of Kuru's race, obtaining the permission of Yudhishthira who was highly pleased with them, sat themselves down. Then the king, gifted with great intelligence, seeing those two friends, became desirous of addressing them. Soon that best of monarchs, that foremost of speakers addressed them in the following words.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'Ye heroes, ye foremost ones of Yadu's and Kuru's race, it seems that ye two are desirous of saying something to me. Do ye say what is in your mind. I shall soon accomplish it. Do not hesitate.'

"Thus addressed, Phalguna, well conversant with speech, humbly approached king Yudhishthira the just and then said these words.--'Vasudeva here, of great prowess, O king, is long absent from home. He desires, with thy permission, to see his sire. Let him go, if thou thinkest it meet, to the city of the Anarttas. It behoveth thee; O hero, to grant him permission!'

"Yudhishthira said, 'O lotus-eyed one, blessed be thou. O slayer of Madhu, do thou go this very day to the city of Dwaravati for seeing, O puissant one, that foremost one of Sura's race. O mighty-armed Kesava, thy departure is approved by me. Thou hast not seen my maternal uncle as also the goddess Devaki, for a long time. Meeting my maternal uncle and repairing to Valadeva also, O giver of honours, thou wilt, O thou of great wisdom, worship both of them at my word as they deserve. 1 Do thou also think of me daily as also of Bhima, that foremost of mighty men, and of Phalguna and Nakula and Sahadeva, O giver of honours. Having seen the Anarttas, and thy sire, O mighty-armed one, and the Vrishnis, thou wilt come back to my horse-sacrifice, O sinless one. Do thou then depart, taking with thee diverse kinds of gems and various sorts of wealth. Do thou, O hero of the Satwata race, also take with thee whatever else thou likest. It is through thy grace, O Kesava, that the whole Earth, O hero, has come under our dominion and all our foes have been slain.'

When king Yudhishthira the just of Kuru's race said so, Vasudeva, that foremost of men, said these words (in reply).

"Vasudeva said, 'O mighty-armed one, all jewels and gems, all wealth,

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and the entire Earth, are thine and thine alone. Whatever wealth exists in my, abode, thou, O lord, art always the owner thereof.' Unto him Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma, said,--'Be it so'--and then duly worshipped (Krishna) the eldest brother, endued with great energy, of Gada. Vasudeva then proceeded to his paternal aunt (Kunti). Duly honouring her, he circumambulated her person. He was properly accosted by her in return, and then by all the others having Vidura for their first. The four-armed eldest brother of Gada then set out from Nagapura on his excellent car. 1 Placing his sister, the lady Subhadra, on the car, the mighty-armed Janarddana then, with the permission of both Yudhishthira and (Kunti) his paternal aunt, set out, accompanied by a large train of citizens. The hero who had the foremost of apes on his banner, as also Satyaki, and the two sons of Madravati, and Vidura of immeasurable intelligence, and Bhima himself whose tread resembled that of a prince of elephants, all followed Madhava. Janarddana of mighty energy causing all those extenders of the Kuru kingdom and Vidura also to return, addressed Daraka, and Satyaki, saying,--'Urge the steeds to speed.' Then that grinder of hostile masses, viz., Janarddana of great prowess, accompanied by Satyaki, the foremost one of Sini's race, proceeded to the city of the Anarttas, after having slain all his foes, like He of a hundred sacrifices proceeding to Heaven (after slaughtering all his foes).'

Footnotes

91:1 This line is rather obscure. The sense seems to be this: no one can know the Supreme Deity if it is not the latter's pleasure to be known. One, therefore, understands Him in exactly that measure in which it is His pleasure to be known.

93:1 Krishna's father Vasudeva is maternal uncle. Yudhishthira asks Krishna to worship Vasudeva and Valadeva on his behalf, i.e., he charges Krishna to bear to them a message of respect and love from him.

94:1 The city of Hastinapura is sometimes called Nagapura, both Hasti and Naga being words expressive of the elephant. 'The city called after the elephant' is the usual description of the Kuru capital.