son thus armed and about to set out, the Brahmanas and Siddhas and invisible spirits addressed him, saying, ’O son of Kunti, obtain thou soon what thou wishest.’  And the Brahmanas, also uttering benedictions said, ’Achieve thou the object thou hast in view.  Let victory be truly thine.’  And beholding the heroic Arjuna, of thighs stout as the trunks of the Sala, about to set out taking away with him the hearts of all, Krishna addressed him saying, ’O thou strong-armed one, let all that Kunti had desired at thy birth, and let all that thou desirest, be accomplished, O Dhananjaya!  Let no one amongst us be ever again born in the order of Kshatriyas.  I always bow down unto the Brahmanas whose mode of living is mendicancy.  This is my great grief that the wretch Duryodhana beholding me in the assembly of princes mockingly called me a cow!  Besides this he told me in the midst of that assembly many other hard things.  But the grief I experience at parting with thee is far greater than any I felt at those insults.  Certainly, in thy absence, thy brothers will while away their waking hours in repeatedly talking of thy heroic deeds!  If, however, O son of Pritha, thou stayest away for any length of time, we shall derive no pleasure from our enjoyments or from wealth.  Nay, life itself will be distasteful to us.  O son of Pritha, our weal, and woe, life and death, our kingdom and prosperity, are all dependent on thee.  O Bharata, I bless thee, let success be thine.  O sinless one, thy (present) task thou wilt be able to achieve even against powerful enemies.  O thou of great strength, go thou to win success with speed.  Let dangers be not thine.  I bow to Dhatri and Vidhatri!  I bless thee.  Let prosperity be thine.  And, O Dhananjaya, let Hri, Sree, Kirti, Dhriti, Pushti, Uma, Lakshmi, Saraswati, all protect thee on thy way, for thou ever worshippest thy elder brother and ever obeyest his commands.  And, O bull of the Bharata race, I bow to the Vasus, the Rudras and Adityas, the Manilas, the Viswadevas, and the Sadhyas, for procuring thy welfare.  And, O Bharata, be thou safe from all spirits of mischief belonging to the sky, the earth, and the heaven, and from such other spirits generally.’”

Vaisampayana continued, “Krishna, the daughter of Yajnasena, having uttered these benedictions, ceased.  The strong-armed son of Pandu then, having walked round his brothers and round Dhaumya also, and taking up his handsome bow, set out.  And all creatures began to leave the way that Arjuna of great energy and prowess, urged by the desire of beholding Indra, took.  And that slayer of foes passed over many mountains inhabited by ascetics, and then reached the sacred Himavat, the resort of the celestials.  And the high-souled one reached the sacred mountain in one day, for like the winds he was gifted with the speed of the mind, in consequence of his ascetic austerities.  And having crossed the Himavat, as also the Gandhamadana,