profit, and happiness, of fame, prowess, and energy,
and which enhanceth the joy of foes. O exalted
king, know the truth, the celestial origin of thy
soul, and the maker of thy body, and then summon thou
patience to thy aid. In days of old, O king,
we have obtained thee, by ascetic austerities from
Maheswara. The upper part of thy body is wholly
made of an assemblage of Vajras, and is, therefore,
invulnerable to weapons of every description, O sinless
one. The lower part of thy body, capable of captivating
the female heart by its comeliness was made of flowers
by the goddess herself—the wife of Mahadeva.
Thy body is thus, O best of kings, the creation of
Maheswara himself and his goddess. Therefore,
O tiger among kings, thou art of celestial origin,
not human. Other brave Kshatriyas of mighty energy
headed by Bhagadatta, and all acquainted with celestial
weapons, will slay thy foes. Therefore, let this
grief of thine cease. Thou hast no cause for
fear. For aiding thee, many heroic Danavas
have been born on the earth. Other Asuras will
also possess Bhishma and Drona and Karna and others.
Possessed by those Asuras, these heroes will cast
away their kindness and fight with thy foes. Indeed,
when the Danavas will enter their heart and
possess them completely, flinging all affections to
a distance, becoming hard-hearted, these warriors
will strike every body opposed to them in battle without
sparing sons, brothers, fathers, friends, disciples,
relatives, even children and old men. Blinded
by ignorance and wrath, and impelled by that destiny
which hath been ordained by the Creator, these tigers
among men, with hearts steeped in sin, will, O thou
foremost of the Kurus, depopulate the earth by hurling
and shooting all kinds of weapons, with great manliness
and strength and always addressing one another boastfully
with words such as these, “Thou shall not
escape from me today with life.” And
these illustrious sons of Pandu also, five in number,
will fight with these. And, endued with mighty
strength and favoured by Fate, they will compass the
destruction of these. And, O king, many Daityas
and Rakshasas also that have been born in the
Kshatriya order, will fight with great prowess in the
battle with thy foes, using maces and clubs and lances
and various weapons of a superior kind. And,
O hero, with respect to the fear that is in thy heart
rising from Arjuna, we have already settled the means
for slaying Arjuna. The soul of the slain Naraka
hath assumed the form of Karna. Recollecting
his former hostility he will encounter both Kesava
and Arjuna. And that mighty warrior and foremost
of smiters, proud of his prowess will vanquish Arjuna
in battle as also all thy enemies. The wielder
of the thunder-bolt, knowing all this, and desirous
of saving Arjuna, will in disguise take away from
Karna his ear-rings and coat of mail. We also
have for that reason appointed hundreds upon hundreds
and thousands upon thousands of Daityas and