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Rh therefore, that the citizens are endeavouring to inflict a great injury on us! Pandu obtained of old the ancestral kingdom by virtue of his own accomplishments, but thou, from blindness, didst not obtain the kingdom, though fully qualified to have it. If Pandu's son now obtaineth the kingdom as his inheritance from Pandu, his son will obtain it after him and that son's son also, and so on will it decend in Pandu's line. In that case, O king of the world, ourselves with our children, excluded from the royal line, shall certainly be disregarded by all men ! There fore. O monarch, adopt such counsels that we may not suffer perpetual distress, becoming dependents on others for our food. O king, if thou hadst obtained the sovereignty before, we would certainly have succeeded to it, however much the people might be unfavourable to us!"

Thus ends the hundred and forty-third section in the Jatugriha Parva of the Adi Parva.

Vaisampayana continued."King Dhritarashtra whose knowledge only was his eyes, on hearing these words of his son and recollecting everything that Kanika had said unto him, became afflicted with sorrow, and his mind also thereupon began to waver. Then Duryyodhana, and Karna, and Sakuni, the son of Suvala, and Dussana as their fourtb, held a consultation together. Prince Duryyodbana said unto Dhritarashtra, -"Send, O father, by some clever contrivance, the Pandavas to the town of Varanavata ! We shall then have no fear of them ! Dhritarashtra, on hearing these words uttered by his son, reflected for a moment and replied unto Duryyodhana, saying.--"Pandu, ever devoted to virtue, always behaved dutifully towards all his relatives but particularly towards myself. He cared very little for the enjoyments of the world, but devotedly gave everything unto me, even the kingdom. His son is as much devoted to virtue as he, and is possessed of every accomplishment. Of world-wide fame, he is again the favou. rite of the people. Possessed of allies, how can we by force exile him from his ancestral kingdom? The counsellors and soldiers (of the state) and their sons and grandsons have all been cherished and maintained by Pandu. Tbus benefitted of old by Pandu, shall not, O child, the citizens slay us with all our friends and relatives now on account of Yudhishthira ?

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