who with his son, sat indifferently, without answering, when Krishna in such distress, dragged into the assembly and sought to be made a slave, asked him to say the truth, that preceptor, who, white all the other warriors were fatigued, cased Duryodhana in invulnerable armour when the latter desired to slay Phalguna and who, having cased him so, appointed him to protect Jayadratha, who, being acquainted with the Brahma weapon, scrupled not to exterminate the Panchalas, headed by Satyajit, that had exerted themselves for my victory, that preceptor, who, whilst we were being unrighteously exiled from our kingdom, freely told us to go into the woods although he had been solicited by our friends to withhold his permission[267].  Alas, that great friend of our hath been slain!  For his sake, I will, with my friends, lay down my life.  After Kunti’s son, Yudhishthira had said this, he of Dasarha’s race, (viz., Kesava) quickly forbidding the troops, by motion of his arms, to fly away said these words, Speedily lay down your weapons, all of you, and alight from your vehicles.  Even this is the means ordained by the illustrious one, (viz., Narayana himself) for baffling this weapon.  Come down on the earth, all of you from your elephants and steeds and cars.  If you stand weaponless on the earth, this weapon will not slay you.  In those places where you will fight for quelling the force of this weapon the Kauravas will become more powerful than you.  Those men, however, that will throw down their weapons and alight from their vehicles, will not in this battle, be slain by this weapon.  They, however, that will, even in imagination, contend against this weapon, will all be slain even if they seek refuge deep beneath the earth’.  The warriors of the Pandava army, hearing, O Bharata, these words of Vasudeva, threw their weapons and drove away from their hearts all desire of battle.  Then Bhimasena, the son of Pandu, beholding the warriors about to abandon their weapons, said these words, O king, gladdening them all:  ’None should lay down his weapons here.  I shall, with my shafts, oppose this weapon of Drona’s son.  With this heavy mace of mine, that is decked with gold, I shall career in this battle like the Destroyer himself, quelling this weapon of Drona’s son.  There is no man here that is equal to me in prowess, even as there is no luminary in the firmament that is equal to the sun.  Beholding these two strong arms of mine like unto the trunks of a couple of mighty elephants, capable of pulling down the mountain of Himavat.  I am the one person here that possesses the might of the thousand elephants.  I am without a peer, even as Sakra is known to be in heaven among the celestials.  Let people witness today the prowess of these two arms of my broad-chested self, while engaged in baffling the bright and blazing weapon of Drona’s son.  If there be none (else) capable of contending against the Narayana weapon, even I shall contend against it today in the very sight of all the Kurus and the Pandavas.