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VIRATA PARVA 3

being asked as regards my antecedent I shall say that—Formerly I was the wrestler and cook of Yudhishthira. Thus shall I, O king, maintain myself.'

"Yudhishthira said,—'And what office will be performed by that mighty descendant of the Kurus, Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti, that fore-most of men possessed of long arms, invincible in fight, and before whom, while he was staying with Krishna, the divine Agni himself desirous of consuming the forest of Khandava had formerly appeared in the guise of a Brahmana ? What office will be performed by that best of warriors, Arjuna, who proceeded to that forest and gratified Agni, vanquishing on a single car and slaying huge Nagas and Rakshasas, and who married the sister of Vasuki himself, the king of the Nagas ? Even as the sun is the foremost of all heat-giving bodies, as the Brahmana is the best of all bipeds, as the cobra is the foremost of all serpents, as Fire is the first of all things possessed of energy, as the thunder-bolt is the foremost of all weapons, as the humped bull is the foremost of all animals of the bovine breed, as the ocean is the foremost of all watery expanses, as clouds charged with rain are the foremost of all clouds, as Ananta is the first of all Nagas, as Airavata is the foremost of all elephants, as the son is the foremost of all beloved objects, and lastly, as the wife is the best of all friends, so, O Vrikodara, is the youthful Gudakesa, the foremost of all bowmen. And, O Bharata, what office will be performed by Vibhatsu, the wielder of Gandiva, whose car is drawn by white horses, and who is not inferior to Indra or Vasudeva himself? What office will be performed by Arjuna who, dwelling for five years in the abode of the thousand-eyed Deity ( Indra ) shining in celestial lustre, acquired by his own energy the science of superhuman arms with all celestial weapons, and whom I regard as the tenth Rudra, the thirteenth Aditya, the ninth Vasu, and the tenth Graha, whose arms, symmetrical and long, have the skin hardened by constant strokes of the bow-string and cicatrices which resemble those on the humps of bulls,—that foremost of warriors who is as Himavat among mountains, the ocean among expanses of water, Sakra among the celestials, Havyavaha ( fire ) among the Vasus, the tiger among beasts, and Gaduda among feathery tribes !'

"Arjuna replied,—'O lord of the Earth, I will declare myself as one of the neuter sex. O monarch, it is, indeed, difficult to hide the marks of the bowstring on my arms. I will, however, cover both my cicatrized arms with bangles. Wearing brilliant rings on my ears and conch-bangles on my wrists and causing a braid to hang down from my head, I shall, O king, appear as one of the third sex, Brihannala by name. And living as a female I shall ( always ) entertain the king and the inmates of the inner appartments by reciting stories. And, O king, I shall also instruct the women of Virata's palace in singing and delight-