’Thou wicked-minded Duryodhana, thou wretch, destruction hath all ready overtaken thee when thou insultest in language such as this the wife of these bulls among the Kurus, especially their wedded wife Draupadi.  And having spoken those words, the wise Dhritarashtra endued with knowledge, reflecting with the aid of his wisdom and desirous of saving his relatives and friends from destruction, began to console Krishna, the princess of Panchala, and addressing her, the monarch said,—­’Ask of me any boon, O princess of Panchala, that thou desirest, Chaste and devoted to virtue, thou art the first of all my daughters-in-law.

“Draupadi said,—­’O bull of the Bharata race, if thou will grant me a boon, I ask the handsome Yudhishthira, obedient to every duty, be freed from slavery.  Let not unthinking children call my child Prativindhya endued with great energy of mind as the son of a slave.  Having been a prince, so superior to all men, and nurtured by kings it is not proper that he should be called the child of a slave.

“Dhritarashtra said unto her,—­’O auspicious one, let it be as thou sayest.  O excellent one, ask thou another boon, for I will give it.  My heart inclineth to give thee a second boon.  Thou dost not deserve only one boon.

“Draupadi said,—­’I ask, O king, that Bhimasena and Dhananjaya and the twins also, with their cars and bows, freed from bondage, regain their liberty.’

’Dhritarashtra said,—­’O blessed daughter, let it be as thou desirest.  Ask thou a third boon, for thou hast not been sufficiently honoured with two boons.  Virtuous in thy behaviour, thou art the foremost of all my daughters-in-law.

Draupadi said,—­’O best of kings, O illustrious one, covetousness always bringeth about loss of virtue.  I do not deserve a third boon.  Therefore I dare not ask any.  O king of kings, it hath been said that a Vaisya may ask one boon; a Kshatriya lady, two boons; a Kshatriya male, three, and a Brahmana, a hundred.  O king, these my husbands freed from the wretched state of bondage, will be able to achieve prosperity by their own virtuous acts!’”

SECTION LXXI

“Karna said,—­’We have never heard of such an act (as this one of Draupadi), performed by any of the women noted in this world for their beauty.  When the sons of both Pandu and Dhritarashtra were excited with wrath, this Draupadi became unto the sons of Pandu as their salvation.  Indeed the princess of Panchala, becoming as a boat unto the sons of Pandu who were sinking in a boatless ocean of distress, hath brought them in safety to the shore.’”

Vaisampayana continued,—­“Hearing these words of Karna in the midst of the Kurus,—­viz., that the sons of Pandu were saved by their wife,—­the angry Bhimasena in great affliction said (unto Arjuna),—­’O Dhananjaya, it hath been said by Devala three lights reside in every person, viz., offspring, acts and learning, for from these three hath sprung creation.  When life becometh extinct and the body becometh impure and is cast off by relatives, these three become of service to every person.  But the light that is in us hath been dimmed by this act of insult to our wife.  How, O Arjuna, can a son born from this insulted wife of ours prove serviceable to us?