invisible spirits addressed him, saying, ‘O
son of Kunti, obtain thou soon what thou wishest.’
And the Brahmanas, also uttering benedictions said,
’Achieve thou the object thou hast in view.
Let victory be truly thine.’ And beholding
the heroic Arjuna, of thighs stout as the trunks of
the Sala, about to set out taking away with him the
hearts of all, Krishna addressed him saying, ’O
thou strong-armed one, let all that Kunti had desired
at thy birth, and let all that thou desirest, be accomplished,
O Dhananjaya! Let no one amongst us be ever again
born in the order of Kshatriyas. I always bow
down unto the Brahmanas whose mode of living is mendicancy.
This is my great grief that the wretch Duryodhana
beholding me in the assembly of princes mockingly
called me a cow! Besides this he told me in the
midst of that assembly many other hard things.
But the grief I experience at parting with thee is
far greater than any I felt at those insults.
Certainly, in thy absence, thy brothers will while
away their waking hours in repeatedly talking of thy
heroic deeds! If, however, O son of Pritha, thou
stayest away for any length of time, we shall derive
no pleasure from our enjoyments or from wealth.
Nay, life itself will be distasteful to us. O
son of Pritha, our weal, and woe, life and death,
our kingdom and prosperity, are all dependent on thee.
O Bharata, I bless thee, let success be thine.
O sinless one, thy (present) task thou wilt be able
to achieve even against powerful enemies. O thou
of great strength, go thou to win success with speed.
Let dangers be not thine. I bow to Dhatri and
Vidhatri! I bless thee. Let prosperity be
thine. And, O Dhananjaya, let Hri, Sree, Kirti,
Dhriti, Pushti, Uma, Lakshmi, Saraswati, all protect
thee on thy way, for thou ever worshippest thy elder
brother and ever obeyest his commands. And, O
bull of the Bharata race, I bow to the Vasus, the
Rudras and Adityas, the Manilas, the Viswadevas, and
the Sadhyas, for procuring thy welfare. And, O
Bharata, be thou safe from all spirits of mischief
belonging to the sky, the earth, and the heaven, and
from such other spirits generally.’”
Vaisampayana continued, “Krishna, the daughter
of Yajnasena, having uttered these benedictions, ceased.
The strong-armed son of Pandu then, having walked
round his brothers and round Dhaumya also, and taking
up his handsome bow, set out. And all creatures
began to leave the way that Arjuna of great energy
and prowess, urged by the desire of beholding Indra,
took. And that slayer of foes passed over many
mountains inhabited by ascetics, and then reached
the sacred Himavat, the resort of the celestials.
And the high-souled one reached the sacred mountain
in one day, for like the winds he was gifted with
the speed of the mind, in consequence of his ascetic
austerities. And having crossed the Himavat,
as also the Gandhamadana, he passed over many uneven
and dangerous spots, walking night and day without
fatigue. And having reached Indrakila, Dhananjaya