SECTION LXXIV

Vaisampayana said,—­’O monarch, it was then that the virtuous Gandhari, afflicted with grief on account of her affection for her sons, addressed king Dhritarashtra and said, “When Duryodhana was born, Vidura of great intelligence had said, ’It is well to send this disgrace of the race to the other world.  He cried repeatedly and dissonantly like a jackal.  It is certain he will prove the destruction of our race.  Take this to heart, O king of the Kurus.  O Bharata, sink not, for thy own fault, into an ocean of calamity.  O lord, accord not thy approbation to the counsels of the wicked ones of immature years.  Be not thou the cause of the terrible destruction of this race.  Who is there that will break an embankment which hath been completed, or re-kindle a conflagration which hath been extinguished?  O bull of the Bharata race, who is there that will provoke the peaceful sons of Pritha?  Thou rememberest, O Ajamida, everything, but still I will call thy attention to this.  The scriptures can never control the wicked-minded for good or evil.  And, O king, a person of immature understanding will never act as one of mature years.  Let thy sons follow thee as their leader.  Let them not be separated from thee for ever (by losing their lives).  Therefore, at my word, O king, abandon this wretch of our race.  Thou couldst not, O king, from parental affection, do it before.  Know that the time hath come for the destruction of race through him.  Err not, O king.  Let thy mind, guided by counsels of peace, virtue, and true policy, be what it naturally is.  That prosperity which is acquired by the aid of wicked acts, is soon destroyed; while that which is won by mild means taketh root and descendeth from generation to generation.”

“The king, thus addressed by Gandhari who pointed out to him in such language the path of virtue, replied unto her, saying,—­’If the destruction of our race is come, let it take place freely.  I am ill able to prevent it.  Let it be as they (these my sons) desire.  Let the Pandavas return.  And let my sons again gamble with the sons of Pandu.”

SECTION LXXV

Vaisampayana said,—­’The royal messenger, agreeably to the commands of the intelligent king Dhritarashtra, coming upon Yudhishthira, the son of Pritha who had by that time gone a great way, addressed the monarch and said,—­’Even these are the words of thy father-like uncle, O Bharata, spoken unto thee, ’The assembly is ready.  O son of Pandu, O king Yudhisthira, come and cast the dice.’

Yudhishthira said,—­’Creatures obtain fruits good and ill according to the dispensation of the Ordainer of the creation.  Those fruits are inevitable whether I play or not.  This is a summons to dice; it is, besides the command of the old king.  Although I know that it will prove destructive to me, yet I cannot refuse.’