"Those tigers among men, borne by their excellent steeds resembling the wind in fleetness, came back with him of Dasharha's race to their encampment. Speedily alighting from their cars, those great car-warriors, themselves much more afflicted, beheld Drupada's daughter Krishna afflicted with woe. Approaching the cheerless princess stricken with sorrow and grief, the Pandavas with Keshava, sat round her.
"Then the mighty Bhimasena, desired by the king, gave that celestial gem unto her and said these words: 'This gem, O amiable lady, is thine. The slayer of thy sons hath been vanquished. Rise, casting off thy sorrow, and recollect the duties of a Kshatriya lady. O thou of black eyes, when Vasudeva was about to set out (from Upaplavya) on his mission of peace, thou hadst, O timid lady, said even these words unto the slayer of Madhu, 'I have no husbands! I have no sons, nor brothers! Nor art thou alive, O Govinda, since the king desires for peace!' Those bitter words were addressed by thee to Krishna, that foremost of persons! It behoveth thee to recollect those words of thine that were so consistent with Kshatriya usages.
"'The wretched Duryodhana, that obstacle on the way of our sovereignty, has been slain. I have quaffed the blood of the living Duhshasana. We have paid off the debt we owed to our enemy. People, while talking, will not be able to censure us any longer. Having vanquished Drona's son, we have set him free for the sake of his being a Brahmana and of the respect that should be shown to our deceased preceptor. His fame hath been destroyed, O goddess, only his body remains! He has been divested of his gem and on earth he has been reft of his weapons!'
"Draupadi said, 'I desired to only pay off our debt for the injury we have sustained. The preceptor's son is worthy of my reverence as the preceptor himself. Let the king bind this gem on his head, O Bharata!' The king then, taking that gem, placed it on his head, at the desire of Draupadi and regarding it as a gift from the preceptor. Holding on his head that excellent and celestial gem, the puissant king looked beautiful like a mountain with the moon above it. Though stricken with grief on account of the death of her sons, the princess Draupadi, possessed of great mental strength, gave up her vow. Then king Yudhishthira enquired of the mighty-armed Krishna, saying the following words."
17
Vaishampayana said, "After all the troops had been slain during the hour of sleep by those three car-warriors, king Yudhishthira in great grief said these words unto him of Dasharha's race: 'How, O Krishna, could my sons, all of whom were mighty car-warriors, be slaughtered by the sinful and wretched Ashvatthama of no great skill in battle? How also could Drona's son slay the children of Drupada, all of whom were accomplished in weapons, possessed of great prowess, and capable of battling with hundreds of thousands of foes? How could he slay that foremost of car-warriors, Dhrishtadyumna, before whom the great bowman Drona himself could not appear? What act was done by the preceptor's son, O bull among men, in consequence of which he succeeded in slaying, single-handed, all our men in battle?'
"The holy one said, 'Verily, Drona's son had sought the aid of that highest of all the gods, the eternal Mahadeva. It was for this that he succeeded in slaying, single-handed, so large a number of warriors. If Mahadeva be gratified, he can bestow even immortality. Girisha can give such valour as will succeed in checking Indra himself. I know Mahadeva truly, O bull of Bharata's race! I know also his various acts of old. He, O Bharata, is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all creatures. This entire universe acts and moves through his energy.
"'The puissant Grandsire, desirous of creating living creatures, saw Rudra; and the Grandsire asked him, saying, "Create living creatures without delay!" Thus asked, Rudra of tawny locks, saying, "So be it!" plunged into the water and practised austerities for a long time, inasmuch as he was sensible of the defects of living creatures. Having waited in expectation of Rudra for a very long time, the Grandsire, by a fiat of his will, invoked into existence another being for making him the creator of all kinds of living things. Beholding Girisha plunged into the waters, this (second) being said unto his sire, "If there be no being born before me, then I will create living creatures!" His sire replied unto him, saying, "There is no other first-born being besides thee! This Sthanu has plunged into the water! Go and create living creatures, without any anxiety!"
"'That being then created many living creatures, having Daksha for their first, who created all these creatures of four kinds. As soon, however, as they were created, they ran O king, towards their sire, afflicted with hunger and desirous of devouring him. The second being whom Brahma had created, thereupon ran towards him, desirous of protection from his own offspring. And he said unto the Grandsire, "O illustrious one, protect me from these, and let these creatures have their food assigned unto them!" Then the Grandsire assigned herbs and plants and other vegetables as their food, and unto those that were strong he assigned the weaker creatures as the means of sustenance. Their sustenance having been thus assigned, the newly-created creatures all went away to regions they desired, and cheerfully multiplied by union with their respective species.
"'After the creatures had multiplied and the Grandsire had become well pleased, the first-born rose from the water and beheld the living creation. He saw that diverse kinds of creatures had been created and that they had multiplied by their own energy. At this sight, Rudra became angry and caused his procreative limb to disappear in the bowels of the Earth. The unfading Brahma, soothing him by soft words, said unto him, "O Sharva, what wert thou doing so long within the water? For what reason, also hast thou caused thy limb of generation to disappear in the bowels of the Earth?" Thus questioned, that lord of the universe wrathfully answered the lord Brahman, "Somebody else has created all these creatures! What purpose then would be served by this limb of mine? I have by my austerities, O Grandsire, created food for all these creatures. These herbs and plants also will multiply like those that will subsist upon them!" Having said these words, Bhava went away, in cheerlessness and rage, to the foot of the Menjavat mountains for practising severer austerities.'"