been a prey to constant anxiety on account of her children, whom she hath not seen for that period.  When Drupada’s daughter endued with such a disposition, doth not enjoy uninterrupted happiness, it seemeth, O Govinda, that the happiness one enjoyeth is never the fruit of one’s acts.  When I remember the forcible dragging of Draupadi to the assembly, then neither Vibhatsu nor Yudhishthira, nor Bhima, nor Nakula, nor Sahadeva, becometh an object of affection to me.  Never before had a heavier grief been mine than what pierced my heart when that wretch Dussasana, moved by wrath and covetousness, dragged Draupadi, then in her flow, and therefore clad in a single raiment, into the presence of her father-in-law in the assembly and exposed her to the gaze of all the Kurus.  It is known that amongst those that were present, king Vahlika, Kripa, Somadatta, were pierced with grief at this sight, but of all present in that assembly, it was Vidura whom I worship.  Neither by learning, nor by wealth doth one become worthy of homage.  It is by disposition alone that one becomes respectable, O Krishna, endued with great intelligence and profound wisdom, the character of the illustrious Vidura, like unto an ornament (that he wears) adorns the whole world.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ’Filled with delight at the advent of Govinda, and afflicted with sorrow (on account of her sons) Pritha gave expression to all her diverse griefs.  And she said, ’Can gambling and the slaughter of deer, which, O chastiser of foes, occupied all wicked kings of old, be a pleasant occupation for the Pandavas?  The thought consumeth, O Kesava, that being dragged into the presence of all the Kurus in their assembly by Dhritarashtra’s sons, insults worse than death were heaped on Krishna, O chastiser of foes, the banishment of my sons from their capital and their wanderings in the wilderness,—­these and various other griefs, O Janardana, have been mine.  Nothing could be more painful to me or to my sons themselves, O Madhava, than that they should have had to pass a period of concealment, shut up in a stranger’s house.  Full fourteen years have passed since the day when Duryodhana first exited my sons.  If misery is destructive of fruits of sins, and happiness is dependent on the fruits of religious merit, then it seems that happiness may still be ours after so much misery.  I never made any distinction between Dhritarashtra’s sons and mine (so far as maternal affection is concerned).  By that truth, O Krishna, I shall surely behold thee along with the Pandavas safely come out of the present strife with their foes slain, and the kingdom recovered by them.  The Pandavas themselves have observed their vow with such truthfulness sticking to Dharma that they are incapable of being defeated by their enemies.  In the matter of my present sorrows, however, I blame neither myself nor Suyodhana, but my father alone.  Like a wealthy man giving away a sum of money in gift, my father gave me away to Kuntibhoja.  While a child playing