him,—­with such persistence, he looked into it and saw a particle of rice and vegetable sticking at its rim.  And swallowing it he said unto her, ’May it please the god Hari, the soul of the Universe, and may that god who partaketh at sacrifices, be satiated with this.’  Then the long-armed Krishna, that soother of miseries, said unto Bhimasena, ‘Do thou speedily invite the Munis to dinner.’  Then, O good king, the celebrated Bhimasena quickly went to invite all those Munis, Durvasa and others, who had gone to the nearest stream of transparent and cool water to perform their ablutions.  Meanwhile, these ascetics, having plunged into the river, were rubbing their bodies and observing that they all felt their stomachs to be full.  And coming out of the stream, they began to stare at one another.  And turning towards Durvasa, all those ascetics observed, ’Having bade the king make our meals ready, we have come hither for a bath.  But how, O regenerate Rishi, can we eat anything now, for our stomachs seem to be full to the throat.  The repast hath been uselessly prepared for us.  What is the best thing to be done now?’ Durvasa replied, ’By spoiling the repast, we have done a great wrong to that royal sage, king Yudhishthira.  Would not the Pandavas destroy us by looking down upon us with angry eyes?  I know the royal sage Yudhishthira to be possessed of great ascetic power.  Ye Brahmanas, I am afraid of men that are devoted to Hari.  The high-souled Pandavas are all religious men, learned, war-like, diligent in ascetic austerities and religious observances, devoted to Vasudeva, and always observant of rules of good conduct.  If provoked, they can consume us with their wrath as fire doth a bale of cotton.  Therefore, ye disciples, do ye all run away quickly without seeing them (again)!’”

Vaisampayana continued, “All those Brahmanas, thus advised by their ascetic preceptor, became greatly afraid of the Pandavas and fled away in all directions.  Then Bhimasena not beholding those excellent Munis in the celestial river, made a search after them here and there at all the landing places.  And learning from the ascetics of those places that they had run away, he came back and informed Yudhishthira of what had happened.  Then all the Pandavas of subdued senses, expecting them to come, remained awaiting their arrival for some time.  And Yudhishthira said, ’Coming dead of night the Rishis will deceive us.  Oh how, can we escape from this difficulty created by the facts?’ Seeing them absorbed in such reflections and breathing long deep sighs at frequent intervals, the illustrious Krishna suddenly appeared to them and addressed them these words:  ’Knowing, ye sons of Pritha, your danger from that wrathful Rishi, I was implored by Draupadi to come, and (therefore) have I come here speedily.  But now ye have not the least fear from the Rishi Durvasa.  Afraid of your ascetic powers, he hath made himself scarce ere this.  Virtuous men never suffer.  I now ask your permission to let me return home.  May you always be prosperous!’”