ed either as a friend or a foe! What use in spending bitter
breath upon one who hath now become a piece of wood! Mount your cars
quickly, ye kings, for we should leave this place! By good luck, this
sinful wretch hath been slain with his counsellors and kinsmen and
friends!" Hearing these rebukes from Krishna, king Duryodhana, O monarch,
gave way to wrath and endeavoured to rise. Sitting on his haunches and
supporting himself on his two arms, he contracted his eyebrows and cast
angry glances at Vasudeva. The form then of Duryodhana whose body was
half raised looked like that of a poisonous snake, O Bharata, shorn of
its tail. Disregarding his poignant and unbearable pains, Duryodhana
began to afflict Vasudeva with keen and bitter words, "O son of Kansa's
slave, thou hast, it seems, no shame, for hast thou forgotten that I have
been struck down most unfairly, judged by the rules that prevail in
encounters with the mace? It was thou who unfairly caused this act by
reminding Bhima with a hint about the breaking of my thighs! Dost thou
think I did not mark it when Arjuna (acting under thy advice) hinted it
to Bhima? Having caused thousands of kings, who always fought fairly, to
be slain through diverse kinds of unfair means, feelest thou no shame or
no abhorrence for those acts? Day after day having caused a great carnage
of heroic warriors, thou causedst the grandsire to be slain by placing
Shikhandi to the fore! Having again caused an elephant of the name of
Ashvatthama to be slain, O thou of wicked understanding, thou causedst
the preceptor to lay aside his weapons. Thinkest thou that this is not
known to me! While again that valiant hero was about to be slain this
cruel Dhrishtadyumna, thou didst not dissuade the latter! The dart that
had been begged (of Shakra as a boon) by Karna for the slaughter of
Arjuna was baffled by thee through Ghatotkacha! Who is there that is more
sinful than thou? Similarly, the mighty Bhurishrava, with one of his arms
lopped off and while observant of the Praya vow, was caused to be slain
by thee through the agency of the high-souled Satyaki. Karna had done a
great feat for vanquishing Partha. Thou, however, causedst Aswasena, the
son of that prince of snakes (Takshaka), to be baffled in achieving his
purpose! When again the wheel of Karna's car sank in mire and Karna was
afflicted with calamity and almost vanquished on that account, when,
indeed, that foremost of men became anxious to liberate