to my words!  There is, besides some profound mystery in all this, ordained by fate.  It is for this, that I tell thee so.  Do thou act without mistrust of any kind!  O bull among men, it is not fit for thee to know this which is a secret to the very gods.  Therefore, I do not reveal that secret unto thee.  Thou wilt, however, understand it in time.  I repeat what I have already said.  Do thou, O Radha’s son, lay my words to heart!  When the wielder of the thunder-bolt asketh thee for them, do thou never give him thy ear-rings!  O thou of exceeding splendour, with thy handsome ear-rings, thou lookest beautiful, even like the Moon himself in the clear firmament, between the Visakha constellation!  Dost thou know that fame availeth only the person that is living.  Therefore, when the lord of the celestials will ask the ear-rings, thou shouldst, O son, refuse him!  Repeating again and again answers fraught with various reasons, thou wilt, O sinless one, be able to remove the eagerness of the lord of the celestial for the possession of the ear-rings.  Do thou, O Karna, after Purandara’s purpose by urging answers fraught with reason and grave import and adorned with sweetness and suavity.  Thou dost always, O tiger among men, challenge him that can draw the bow with his left hand, and heroic Arjuna also will surely encounter thee in fight.  But when furnished with thy ear-rings, Arjuna will never be able to vanquish thee in fight even if Indra himself comes to his assistance.  Therefore, O Karna, if thou wishest to vanquish Arjuna in battle, these handsome ear-rings of thine should never be parted with to Sakra.’”

SECTION CCC

“Karna said, ’As thou, O lord of splendour, knowest me for thy worshipper, so also thou knowest that there is nothing which I cannot give away in charity, O thou of fiery rays!  Neither my wives, nor my sons, nor my own self, nor my friends, are so dear to me as thou, on account of the veneration I feel for thee, O lord of splendour!  Thou knowest, O maker of light, that high-souled persons bear a loving regard for their dear worshippers.  Karna revereth me and is dear to me.  He knoweth no other deity in heaven,—­thinking this thou hast, O lord, said unto me what is for my benefit.  Yet, O thou of bright rays, again do I beseech thee with bended head, again do I place myself in thy hands.  I will repeat the answer I have already given.  It behoveth thee to forgive me!  Death itself is not fraught with such terrors for me as untruth!  As regards especially the Brahmanas, again, I do not hesitate to yield up my life even for them!  And, O divine one, respecting what thou hast said unto me of Phalguna, the son of Pandu, let thy grief born of thy anxiety of heart, O lord of splendour, be dispelled touching him and myself; for I shall surely conquer Arjuna in battle!  Thou knowest, O deity, that I have great strength of weapons obtained from Jamadagnya and the high-souled Drona.  Permit me now, O foremost of celestials, to observe my vow, so that unto him of the thunderbolt coming to beg of me, I may give away even my life!’