uravas and slaying our foes, know that I am now determined to imitate
the excellent behaviour of Pururavas. I do not, O ruler of the Madrakas,
behold the person in the three worlds that can, I think, dissuade me from
this purpose. Forbear to speak, knowing all this. Why dost thou rave in
such a way from fear? O wretch amongst the Madrakas, I shall not now slay
thee and present thy carcase as an offering to carnivorous creatures.
From regard for a friend, O Shalya, for the sake of Dhritarashtra's son,
and for avoiding blame, for these three reasons, thou still livest. If, O
ruler of the Madras, thou speakest such words again, I shall then crush
thy head with my mace that is as hard as the thunder. People will today
see or hear, O thou that art born in a sinful country, either that the
two Krishnas have slain Karna or that Karna has slain the two Krishnas."
Having said these words, the son of Radha, O monarch, once more addressed
the king of the Madras, fearlessly saying, "Proceed, proceed."'"

41

"Sanjaya said, 'Hearing, O sire, these words of Radha's son who delighted
in battle, Shalya once more addressed Karna, citing an example, "I am
born in the race of men who performed great sacrifices, who never
retreated from battle, who were kings whose coronal locks underwent the
sacred bath. I am also myself devoted to the practice of virtue. Thou, O
Vrisha, seemest to be like one that is intoxicated with spirits. For all
that, I will, from friendship, seek to cure thy erring and intoxicated
self. Listen, O Karna, to this simile of a crow that I am about to
narrate. Having heard it, thou mayest do what thou choosest, O thou that
art destitute of intelligence and that art a wretch of thy race. I do
not, O Karna, remember the slightest fault in me for which, O thou of
mighty arms, thou mayst desire to slay my innocent self. I must tell thee
what is for thy good and what is for thy ill, acquainted as I am with
both, especially as I am the driver of thy car and desirous of the good
of king Duryodhana. What land is level and what not, the strength or
weakness of the warrior (on my vehicle), the fatigue and faintness, at
all times, of the steeds and the warrior (I am driving), a knowledge of
the weapons that are available, the cries of animals and birds, what
would be heavy for the steeds and what exceedingly heavy for them, the
extraction of arrows and the curing of wounds which weapons counteract
which, the several methods of