rvation of religion, even He hath taken his birth among men
in the race of the Yadus. And the adorable Vishnu is styled Krishna.
These, O king of Sindhu, are the achievements of the Lord whom all the
worlds worship and whom the learned describe as without beginning and
without end, unborn and Divine! They call Him, the unconquerable Krishna
with conchshell, discus and mace, and adorned with the emblem of a curl
of hair, Divine, clad in silken robes of yellow hue, and the best of
those versed in the art of war. Arjuna is protected by Krishna the
possessor of these attributes. That glorious and lotus-eyed Being of
infinite power, that slayer of hostile heroes, riding in the same chariot
with Pritha's son, protecteth him! He is, therefore, invincible; the very
gods cannot resist his power, still less can one with human attributes
vanquish the son of Pritha in battle! Therefore, O king, thou must let
him alone! Thou shalt, however, be able to vanquish for a single day
only, the rest of Yudhishthira's forces along with thine enemies--the
four sons of Pandu!"

Vaisampayana continued, "Having said these words unto that prince, the
adorable Hara of three eyes, the destroyer of all sins, the consort of
Uma, and lord of wild beasts, the destroyer of (Daksha's) sacrifice, the
slayer of Tripura and He that had plucked out the eyes of Bhaga,
surrounded by his dwarfish and hunch-backed and terrible followers having
frightful eyes and ears and uplifted arms, vanished, O tiger among kings,
from that place with his consort Uma! And the wicked Jayadratha also
returned home, and the sons of Pandu continued to dwell in the forest of
Kamyaka."

SECTION CCLXXI

Janamejaya said, "What did those tigers among men, the Pandavas, do,
after they had suffered such misery in consequence of the ravishment of
Draupadi?"

Vaisampayana said, "Having defeated Jayadratha and rescued Krishna, the
virtuous king Yudhishthira took his seat by the side of that best of
Munis. And among those foremost of ascetics who were expressing their
grief upon bearing Draupadi's misfortune, Yudhishthira, the son of Pandu,
addressed Markandeya, saying, 'O adorable Sire, amongst the gods and the
ascetics, thou art known to have the fullest knowledge of both the past
as well as; the future. A doubt existeth in my mind, which I would ask
thee to solve! This lady is the daughter of Drupada; she hath issued from
the sacrificial altar and hath not been begotten of the fle