Indeed, overwhelmed with grief, the monarch addressed
Bhima. And these were the words, O king, that
Yudhishthira the son of Kunti then said unto him, ’O
Bhima, I do not behold the standard of that Arjuna,
who on a single car had vanquished all the gods, the
Gandharvas and Asuras!’ Then Bhimasena, addressing
king Yudhishthira the Just who was in that plight,
said, ’Never before did I see, or hear thy ’Words
afflicted with such cheerlessness. Indeed, formerly,
when we were smitten with grief, it was thou who hadst
been our comforter. Rise, Rise, O king of kings,
say what I am to do for thee. O giver of honours,
there is nothing that I cannot do. Tell me what
your commands are, O foremost one of Kuru’s race!
Do not set your heart on grief.’ Unto Bhimasena
then, the king with a sorrowful face and with eyes
bathed in tears, said, sighing the while like a black
cobra, ’The blasts of the conch Panchajanya,
wrathfully blown by Vasudeva of world-wide renown,
are being heard. It seems, from this, that thy
brother Dhananjaya lieth today on the field, deprived
of life. Without doubt, Arjuna having been slain,
Janardana is fighting. That hero of great might,
relying on whose prowess the Pandavas are alive, he
to whom we always turn in times of fear like the celestials
towards their chief of a thousand eyes, that hero
hath, in search after the ruler of Sindhus, penetrated
into the Bharata host. I know this, O Bhima, viz.,
that he hath gone, but he hath not yet returned.
Dark in complexion, youthful in years, of curly locks,
exceedingly handsome mighty car-warrior, of broad
chest and long arms, possessed of the tread of an infuriated
elephant, of eyes of the colour of burnished copper
and like those a chakra, that brother of thine enhances
the fears of foes. Blessed be thou, even this
is the cause of my grief, O chastiser of foes!
For Arjuna’s sake, O thou of mighty arms, as
also for the sake of Satwata, my grief increaseth like
a blazing fire fed with libations of clarified butter.
I do not see his standard. For this am I stupefied
with sorrow. Without doubt, he hath been slain,
and Krishna, skilled in battle, is fighting. Know
also that the tiger among men, that mighty car-warrior,
Satwata is slain. Alas! Satyaki hath followed
in the wake of that other mighty car-warrior, with
thy brother. Without seeing Satyaki also, I am
stupefied by grief. Therefore, O son of Kunti,
go thither, where Dhananjaya is and Satyaki also of
mighty energy, if, of course, thou thinkest it thy
duty to obey my words, O thou that art acquainted
with duty.’ Remember that I am thy eldest
brother. Thou shouldst think Satyaki to be dearer
to thee than Arjuna himself. O son of Pritha,
Satyaki hath gone, from desire of doing good to me,
in the track of Arjuna, a track that is incapable of
being trod by persons of vile souls. Beholding
the two Krishnas and Satyaki also of the Satwata race
sound and whole, send me a message, O son of Pandu,
by uttering a leonine roar.’”