earth, O best of kings, have been assembled together.  Inflamed with wrath, they will certainly exterminate the population of the earth.  Save, O king, the world.  Let not the population of the earth be exterminated.  O son of Kuru’s race, if thou regainest thy natural disposition, the earth may continue to be peopled as now.  Save, O king, these monarchs, who are all of pure descent, endued with modesty and liberality and piety, and connected with on another in bonds of relationship or alliance, from the terrible danger that threatens them.  Abandoning wrath and enmity, O chastiser of foes, let these kings, embracing one another in peace, eating and drinking with one another, dressed in excellent robes and decked with garlands, and doing courtesies to one another, return to their respective homes.  Let the affection thou hadst for the Pandavas be revived in thy bosom, and let it, O bull of Bharata’s race, lead to the establishment of peace.  Deprived of their father while they were infants, they were brought up by thee.  Cherish them now as becomes thee, O bull of Bharata’s race, as if they were thy own sons.  It is thy duty to protect them.  And especially it is so when they are distressed.  O bull of Bharata’s race, let not thy virtue and profit be both lost.  Saluting and propitiating thee, the Pandavas have said unto thee, ’At thy command we have, with our followers, suffered great misery.  For these twelve years have we lived in the woods, and for the thirteenth year have we lived incognito in an uninhabited part of the world.  We broke not our pledge, firmly believing that our father also would abide by his.  That we violated not our word is well-known to the Brahman as who were with us.  And as we, O bull of the Bharata race, have abided by our promise, also do thou abide by thine.  Long have we suffered the greatest misery, but let us now have our share of the kingdom.  Fully conversant as thou art with virtue and profit, it behoveth thee to rescue us.  Knowing that our obedience is due to thee, we have quietly undergone much misery.  Behave thou then unto us like a father or brother.  A preceptor should behave as a preceptor towards his disciples, and as disciples we are willing to behave as such towards thee, our preceptor.  Act thou, therefore, towards us as a preceptor should.  If we go wrong, it is the duty of our father to set us right.  Therefore, set us on the way and tread thou also the excellent path of righteousness.’  Those sons of thine, O bull of the Bharata race, have also said unto these kings assembled in the court these words, ’If the members of an assembly are conversant with morality, nothing improper should be permitted by them to happen.  Where, in the presence of the virtuous members of an assembly, righteousness is sought to be overpowered by unrighteousness, and truth by the untruth, it is those members themselves that are vanquished and slain.  When righteousness, pierced by unrighteousness, seeketh the protection