d also thy strength, and thy
deeds. It is not for that reason that I reproached thee. O son of Pandu,
a thousand times greater will be the benefit conferred by thee on the
Pandava's cause than that which thou thinkest thyself to be capable of
conferring on it. Thou, O Bhima, with thy kinsmen and friends, art
exactly that which one should be that has taken his birth in a family
like thine, that is regarded by all the kings of the earth. The fact,
however, is that they can never arrive at the truth, who under the
influence of doubt proceed to enquire about the consequences hereafter of
virtue and vice, or about the strength and weakness of men. For it is
seen that what is the cause of the success of a person's object becometh
also the cause of his ruin. Human acts, therefore, are doubtful in their
consequences. Learned men, capable of judging of the evils of actions
pronounce a particular course of action as worthy of being followed. It
produces, however, consequences, the very opposite of what were foreseen,
very much like the course of the wind. Indeed, even those acts of men
that are the results of deliberation and well-directed policy, and that
are consistent with considerations of propriety, are baffled by the
dispensations of Providence. Then, again, Providential dispensations,
such as heat and cold and rain and hunger and thirst, that are not the
consequences of human acts, may be baffled by human exertion. Then again,
besides those acts which a person is pre-ordained (as the result of the
act of past lives) to go through, one can always get rid of all other
acts begun at his pleasure, as is testified by both the Smritis and the
Srutis. Therefore, O son of Pandu, one cannot go on the world without
acting. One should, hence, engage in work knowing that one's purpose
would be achieved by a combination of both Destiny and Exertion. He that
engageth in acts under this belief is never pained by failure, nor
delighted by success. This, O Bhimasena, was the intended import of my
speech. It was not intended by me that victory would be certain in an
encounter with the foe. A person, when his mind is upset should not lose
his cheerfulness and must yield neither to langour nor depression. It is
for this that I spoke to thee in the way I did. When the morrow comes, I
will go, O Pandava, to Dhritarashtra's presence. I will strive to make
peace without sacrificing your interests. If the Kauravas make peace,
then boundless fame wil