must meet them all and tell them that Yudhishthira send his kindly greetings to them.  Thou must, O Sanjaya, embrace the daughters of your house, and must ask them about their welfare on my behalf.  Thou must tell them,—­May your husbands be kindly and agreeable; may you be agreeable to your husbands; may you have ornaments and clothes and perfumery and cleanliness; may you be happy and have at your command the joys of life; may your looks be pretty and words pleasant; Thou must ask, O sire, the women of the house as to their welfare.  Thou must also represent unto the maid-servants and man-servants there, may be of the Kurus, and also the many humpbacked and lame ones among them, that I am doing well, and thou must then ask them about their welfare.  Thou must tell them,—­I hope, Dhritarashtra’s son still vouchsafes the same kindly treatment to you.  I hope, he gives you the comforts of life.—­Thou must also represent unto those that are defective in limb, those that are imbecile, the dwarfs to whom Dhritarashtra gives food and raiment from motives of humanity, those that are blind, and all those that are aged, as also to the many that have the use only of their hands being destitute of legs, that I am doing well, and that I ask them regarding their welfare, addressing them in the following words,—­Fear not, nor be dispirited on account of your unhappy lives so full of sufferings; no doubt, sins must have been committed by you in your former lives.  When I shall check my foes, and delight my friends, I shall satisfy you by gifts of food and clothes.—­Thou shouldst also, O sire, at our request, enquire after the welfare of those that are masterless and weak, and of those that vainly strive to earn a living, and of those that are ignorant, in fact, of all those persons that are in pitiable circumstances.  O charioteer, meeting those others, that coming from different quarters, have sought the protection of the Dhritarashtras, and in fact, all who deserve our greetings, thou shouldst also enquire about their welfare and peace.  Thou shouldst also enquire about the welfare of those who have come to the Kurus of their own accord or who have been invited, as also of all the ambassadors arrived from all sides and then represent unto them that I am well.  As regards the warriors that have been obtained by Dhritarashtra’s son, there are none equal to them on earth.  Virtue, however, is eternal, and virtue is my power for the destruction of my enemies.  Thou shouldst, O Sanjaya, also represent unto Suyodhana, the son of Dhritarashtra, the following,—­That desire of thine which torments thy heart, viz., the desire of ruling the Kurus without a rival, is very unreasonable.  It had no justification.  As for ourselves, we will never act in such a way as to do anything that may be disagreeable to thee!  O foremost of heroes anwng the Bharatas, either give me lack my own Indraprastha or fight with me!’”

SECTION XXXI