th.
The shares of the Pandavas is, no doubt, fixed. Why should that share of
theirs be seized by that fool? This being the state of things, it would
be praiseworthy for us to be even killed in fight. A paternal kingdom is
preferable to sovereignty received from a stranger. These time-honoured
rules of law, O Sanjaya, thou must propound to the Kurus, in the midst of
the assembled kings,--I mean those dull-headed fools who have been
assembled together by Dhritarashtra's son, and who are already under the
clutches of death. Look once more at that vilest of all their acts,--the
conduct of the Kurus in the council-hall. That those Kurus, at whose head
stood Bhishma, did not interfere when the beloved wife of the sons of
Pandu, daughter of Drupada, of fare fame, pure life, and conduct worthy
of praise, was seized, while weeping, by that slave of lust. The Kurus
all, including young and old, were present there. If they had then
prevented that indignity offered to her, then I should have been pleased
with Dhritarashtra's behaviour. It would have been for the final good of
his sons also. Dussasana forcibly took Krishna into the midst of the
public hall wherein were seated her fathers-in-law. Carried there,
expecting sympathy, she found none to take her part, except Vidura. The
kings uttered not a word of protest, solely because they were a set of
imbeciles. Vidura alone spoke words of opposition, from a sense of
duty,--words conceived in righteousness addressed to that man
(Duryodhana) of little sense. Thou didst not, O Sanjaya, then say what
law and morality were, but now thou comest to instruct the son of Pandu!
Krishna, however, having repaired to the hall at that time made
everything right, for like a vessel in the sea, she rescued the Pandavas
as also herself, from that gathering ocean (of misfortunes)! Then in that
hall, while Krishna stood, the charioteer's son addressed her in the
presence of her fathers-in-law saying, "O Daughter of Drupada thou hast
no refuge. Better betake thyself as a bond-woman to the house of
Dhritarashtra's son. Thy husbands, being defeated, no longer exist. Thou
hast a loving soul, choose some one else for thy lord." This speech,
proceeding from Karna, was a wordy arrow, sharp, cutting all hopes,
hitting the tenderest parts of the organisation, and frightful. It buried
itself deep in Arjuna's heart. When the sons of Pandu were about to adopt
the garments made of the skins of black deer, Dussasana s