that
army, equipped (for war), consisting of horsemen and foot soldiers and
horses and cars and elephants, prepare to do your bidding. O son of
Pandu! Drive Duryodhana, the son of Dhritarashtra, the vilest of sinful
men, together with his followers and his hosts of friends to the path
betaken by the lord of Saubha, the son of the Earth! You, O ruler of
men, are welcome to stick to that stipulation which was made in the
assembly-hall--but let the city of Hastina be made ready for you, when
the hostile force has been slain by the soldiers of the _Dasarha_ tribe!
Having roamed at your pleasure in all those places where you may desire
to go, having got rid of your grief and freed from all your sins--you
will reach the city of Hastina--the well-known city situated in the
midst of a fine territory!'--Then the magnanimous king having been
acquainted with the view, thus clearly set forth by Krishna that best of
men, and, having applauded the same, and having deliberated, thus spoke
with joined palms unto Kesava, 'O Kesava, no doubt, thou art the refuge
of the sons of Pandu; for the sons of Pandu have their protector in
thee! When the time will come, there is no doubt that thou wilt do all
the work just mentioned by thee; and even more than the same! As
promised by us, we have spent all the twelve years in lonely forests. O
Kesava, having in the prescribed way completed the period for living
unrecognised, the sons of Pandu will take refuge in thee. This should be
the intention of those that associate with thee, O Krishna! The sons of
Pandu swerve not from the path of truth, for the sons of Pritha with
their charity and their piety with their people and their wives and with
their relations have their protector in thee!'"

Vaisampayana said, "O descendant of Bharata, while Krishna, the
descendant of the _Vrishnis_ and the virtuous king, were thus talking,
there appeared then the saint Markandeya, grown grey in the practise of
penances. And he had seen many thousand years of life, was of a pious
soul, and devoted to great austerities. Signs of old age he had none;
and deathless he was, and endued with beauty and generous and many good
qualities. And he looked like one only twenty-five years old. And when
the aged saint, who had seen many thousand years of life, came, all the
_Brahmanas_ paid their respects to him and so did Krishna together with
Pandu's son. And when that wisest saint, thus honoured, took his seat in
a friendly way