a rather
cheerless heart addressed him as follows.

"'Kesava said, "Are thy perceptions now as clear as before? I hope thy
understanding, O foremost of eloquent men, is not clouded. I hope thy
limbs are not tortured by the pain arising from the wounds by shafts.
From mental grief also the body becomes weak. In consequences of the boon
granted to thee by thy sire, the righteous Santanu, thy death, O puissant
hero, depends on thy own will. I myself have not that merit in
consequence of which thou hast obtained this boon. The minutest pin
(inserted) within the body produces pain. What need then be said, O king,
of hundreds of arrows that have pierced thee? Surely, pain cannot be said
to afflict thee. Thou art competent, O Bharata, to instruct the very gods
regarding the origin and dissolution of living creatures. Possessed of
great knowledge, everything belonging to the Past, the Future, and the
Present, is well known to thee. The dissolution of created beings and the
reward of righteousness are well known to thee, O thou of great wisdom,
for thou art an ocean of virtue and duty. While living in the enjoyment
of swelling sovereignty, I beheld thee forgo female intercourse though
sound of limbs and perfectly hale and though surrounded by female
companions. Except Santanu's son Bhishma of great energy and firmly
devoted to righteousness, possessed of heroism and having virtue for the
only object of his pursuit, we have never heard of any other person in
the three worlds that could, by his ascetic power, though lying on a bed
of arrows and at the point of death, still have such a complete mastery
over death (as to keep it thus at bay). We have never heard of anybody
else that was so devoted to truth, to penances, to gifts, to the
performances of sacrifices, to the science of arms, to the Vedas, and to
the protection of persons soliciting protection, and that was so harmless
to all creatures, so pure in behaviour, so self-restrained, and so bent
upon the good of all creatures, and that was also so great a car-warrior
as thee. Without doubt, thou art competent to subjugate, on a single car,
the gods, Gandharvas, Asuras, Yakshas, and Rakshasas. O mighty-armed
Bhishma, thou art always spoken of by the Brahmanas as the ninth of the
Vasus. By thy virtues, however, thou hast surpassed them all and art
equal unto Vasava himself. I know, O best of persons, that thou art
celebrated for thy prowess, O foremost of beings, among even the v