his life.”  Hearing those words of Krishna, king Yudhishthira the just, in a great fury, raised the prostrate Hrishikesha and joining his hands, said in haste, “It is even so as thou hast said.  I have been guilty of a transgression, I have now been awakened by thee, O Govinda.  I am saved by thee, O Madhava.  By thee, O Acyuta, we have today been rescued from a great calamity.  Both of us stupefied by folly, viz., myself and Arjuna, have been rescued from an ocean of distress, having obtained thee as our lord.  Indeed, having obtained the raft of thy intelligence today, we have, with our relatives and allies, passed over an ocean of sorrow and grief.  Having obtained thee, O Acyuta, we are not masterless."’”

71

“Sanjaya said, ’Having heard these joyful words of king Yudhishthira, Govinda of virtuous soul, that delighter of the Yadus, then addressed Partha.  The latter, however, having at the instance of Krishna addressed those words unto Yudhishthira, became exceedingly cheerless for having committed a trivial sin.  Then Vasudeva, smiling, said unto the son of Pandu, “What would have been thy condition, O Partha, if, observant of virtue thou hadst slain the son of Dharma with thy sharp sword?  Having only addressed the king as thou, such cheerlessness hath possessed thy heart.  If thou hadst slain the king, O Partha, what wouldst thou have done after that?  Morality is so inscrutable, especially by persons of foolish understanding.  Without doubt great grief would have been thine in consequence of thy fear of sin.  Thou wouldst have sunk also in terrible hell in consequence of the slaughter of thy brother.  Gratify now this king of virtuous behaviour, this foremost of all practisers of virtue, this chief of Kuru’s race.  Even this is my wish.  Gratifying the king with devotion, and after Yudhishthira will have been made happy, we two will proceed against the car of the Suta’s son for fighting him.  Slaying Karna today with thy keen shafts in battle, do thou, O giver of honours, give great happiness to Dharma’s son.  Even this, O mighty-armed one, is what I think to be suitable to this hour.  Having done this, thy purpose will be achieved.”  Then Arjuna, O monarch, in shame, touched king Yudhishthira’s feet with his head.  And he repeatedly said unto that chief of the Bharatas, “Be pleased with me, Forgive, O king, all that I have said from desire of observing virtue and from fear of sins.’”

“Sanjaya said, ’Beholding Dhananjaya, that slayer of foes, lying weeping at his feet, O bull of Bharata’s race, king Yudhishthira the just raised his brother.  And king Yudhishthira, that lord of the earth, then embraced his brother affectionately and wept aloud.  The two brothers, of great splendour, having wept for a long while, at last became freed from grief, O monarch, and as cheerful as before.  Then embracing him once more with affection and smelling his head, the son of Pandu, exceedingly gratified, applauded his brother Jaya