“Thou wilt, no doubt, go to the world of men.  O best of Brahmanas, tell thou Yudhishthira these words of mine.  Soon will thy brother Arjuna come to thee, having acquired arms and accomplished a great deed for the celestials that is incapable of being accomplished by themselves.  Do thou meanwhile devote thyself to ascetic austerities, with thy brothers.  There is nothing superior to asceticism, and it is by asceticism that a person achieveth great results.  And, O bull of the Bharata race, well do I know that Karna is endued with great ardour and energy and strength and prowess that is incapable of being baffled.  Well do I know that, skilled in fierce conflict, he hath not his rival in battle; that he is a mighty bowman, a hero deft in the use of fierce weapons and cased in the best of mail.  Well do I know that that exalted son of Aditya resembleth the son of Maheswara himself.  Well do I also know the high natural prowess of the broad-shouldered Arjuna.  In battle Karna is not equal unto even a sixteenth part of Pritha’s son.  And as for the fear of Karna which is in thy heart, O repressor of foes, I shall dispel when Savyasachin will have left heaven.  And as regards thy purpose, O hero, to set out on a pilgrimage to tirthas, the great Rishi Lomasa will, without doubt, speak unto thee.  And whatever that regenerate Rishi will relate unto thee touching the merits of asceticism and tirthas, thou shouldst receive with respect and not otherwise!"’”

SECTION XCII

“Lomasa continued, ’Listen now, O Yudhishthira, to what Dhananjaya hath said:  “Cause my brother Yudhishthira to attend to the practice of virtue which leadeth to prosperity.  Endued with wealth of asceticism, thou art conversant with the highest morality, with ascetic austerities of every kind, with the eternal duties of kings blessed with prosperity, and the high and sanctifying merit that men obtain from tirthas.  Persuade thou the sons of Pandu to acquire the merit attaching to tirthas.  Do thou with thy whole soul persuade the king to visit the tirthas and give away kine.”  This is what Arjuna said unto me.  Indeed he also said, “Let him visit all the tirthas protected by thee.  Thou wilt also protect him from Rakshasas, and watch over him in inaccessible regions and rugged mountain breasts.  And as Dadhichi had protected Indra, and Angiras had protected the Sun, so do thou, O best of regenerate ones, protect the sons of Kunti from Rakshasas.  Along the way are many Rakshasas, huge as mountain-cliffs.  But protected by thee these will not be able to approach the sons of Kunti.”  Obedient to the words of Indra and at the request of Arjuna also protecting thee from dangers, I shall wander with thee.  Before this, O son of the Kuru race, I have twice visited the tirthas.  With thee I shall repair to them for the third time.  O Yudhishthira, Manu and other royal Rishis of meritorious deeds