Section VIII.
Vaiçampāyana said,—"As Arjuna entered the asylum of the truthful Rishi, he beheld the son of Satyavati seated in a secluded spot.1 Approaching that Rishi of high vows and endued with a knowledge of all duties, he said,—'I am Arjuna'—and then awaited his pleasure.2 Satyavati's son, endued with high penances, answered, saying,—'Welcome!' Of tranquil soul, the great Muni further said,—'Take thy seat.'3 Seeing that the son of Prithā was exceedingly cheerless and breathing heavy sighs repeatedly and filled with despair, Vyāsa addressed him, saying,4—'Hast thou been sprinkled with water from anybody's nails or hair, or the end of anybody's cloth, or from the mouth of a jar? Hast thou had sexual congress with any woman before the cessation of her functional flow? Hast thou slain a Brāhmana?5 Hast thou been vanquished in battle? Thou lookest like one shorn of prosperity! I do not know that thou hast been defeated by any one. Why then, O chief of Bharata's race, this exceedingly dejected aspect? It behooveth thee, O son of Prithā, to tell me all, if, indeed, there be no harm in telling it!'6
"Arjuna said,—'He whose complexion was like that of a (newly-risen) cloud, he whose eyes were like a pair of large lotus petals, viz., Krishna, has, with Rāma, cast off his body and ascended to Heaven.7 At Prabhāsa, through iron bolts generated by the curse denounced by Brāhmanas, the destruction has taken place of the Vrishni heroes. Awful has that carnage been, and not even a single hero has escaped.8 The heroes of the Bhoja, the Andhaka, and the Vrishni races, O Brāhmana, who were all endued with high souls, great might, and leonine pride, have slaughtered one another in battle.9 Possessed of arms that looked like maces of iron, and capable of bearing the strokes of heavy clubs and darts, alas, they have all been slain with blades of Erakā grass! Behold the perverse course of Time!10 Five hundred thousand mighty-armed warriors have thus been laid low. Encountering one another, they have met with destruction.11 Thinking repeatedly of this carnage of the Yādava warriors of im-
