Vaisampayana continued, “In that assembly of heroes Vasudeva then spake unto the weeping Draupadi as follows, ’O fair lady, the wives of those with whom thou art angry, shall weep even like thee, beholding their husbands dead on the ground, weltering in blood and their bodies covered with the arrows of Vivatsu!  Weep not, lady, for I will exert to the utmost of my powers for the sons of Pandu!  I promise thou shalt (once more) be the queen of kings!  The heavens might fall, or the Himavat might split, the earth might be rent, or the waters of the ocean might dry up, but my words shall never be futile!’ Hearing those words of Achyuta in reply, Draupadi looked obliquely at her third husband (Arjuna).  And, O mighty king, Arjuna said unto Draupadi, ’O thou of beautiful coppery eyes, grieve not!  O illustrious one, it shall be even as the slayer of Madhu hath said!  It can never be otherwise, O beautiful one!’

“Dhrishtadyumna said, ’I will slay Drona, Sikhandin will slay the grandfather.  And Bhimasena will slay Duryodhana, and Dhananjaya will slay Karna.  And, O sister, assisted by Rama and Krishna, we are invincible in battle by even the slayer himself of Vritra—­what are the sons of Dhritarashtra?’”

Vaisampayana continued, “After these words had been spoken, all the heroes there turned their faces towards Vasudeva, who then in their midst began to speak as follows.”

SECTION XIII

“Vasudeva said, ’O lord of earth, if I had been present at Dwaraka, then, O king, this evil would not have befallen thee!  And, O irrepressible one, coming unto the gambling-match, even if uninvited by the son of Amvika (Dhritarashtra), or Duryodhana, or by the other Kauravas, I would have prevented the game from taking place, by showing its many evils, summoning to my aid Bhishma and Drona and Kripa, and Vahlika!  O exalted one, for thy sake I would have told the son of Vichitravirya—­O foremost of monarchs, let thy sons have nothing to do with dice!—­I would have shown the many evils (of dice) through which thou hast fallen into such distress and the son of Virasena was formerly deprived of his kingdom!  O king, unthought of evils, befall a man from dice!  I would have described how a man once engaged in the game continueth to play (from desire of victory).  Women, dice, hunting and drinking to which people become addicted in consequence of temptation, have been regarded as the four evils that deprive a man of prosperity.  And those versed in the Sastras are of opinion that evils attend upon all these.  They also that are addicted to dice know all its evils.  O thou of mighty arms, appearing before the son of Amvika, I would have pointed out that through dice men in a day lose their possessions, and fall into distress, and are deprived of their untasted wealth, and exchange harsh words!  O perpetuator of the Kuru race, I would have pointed out these and other attendant evils!  If he had