possessed of ascetic merit.  “She hath undergone severe ascetic austerities and can, therefore, consume the three worlds,” even thus thought the son of Pandu.  By sending Krishna, Gandhari, blazing with wrath, would be comforted before Yudhishthira’s own arrival.  “Hearing of the death of her son brought to such a plight by ourselves, she will, in wrath, with the fire of her mind, reduce us to ashes!  How will Gandhari endure such poignant grief, after she hears her son, who always fought fairly, slain unfairly by us?” Having reflected in this strain for a long while, king Yudhishthira the just, filled with fear and grief, said these words unto Vasudeva:  “Through thy grace, O Govinda, my kingdom hath been reft of thorns!  That which we could not in imagination even aspire to obtain hath now become ours, O thou of unfading glory!  Before my eyes, O mighty-armed one, making the very hair stand on end, violent were the blows that thou hadst to bear, O delighter of the Yadavas!  In the battle between the gods and the Asuras, thou hadst, in days of old, lent thy aid for the destruction of the foes of the gods and those foes were slain!  In the same way, O mighty-armed one, thou hast given us aid, O thou of unfading glory!  By agreeing to act as our charioteer, O thou of Vrishni’s race, thou hast all along protected us!  If thou hadst not been the protector of Phalguna in dreadful battle, how could then this sea of troops have been capable of being vanquished?  Many were the blows of the mace, and many were the strokes of spiked bludgeons and darts and sharp arrows and lances and battle axes, that have been endured by thee!  For our sake, O Krishna, thou hadst also to hear many harsh words and endure the fall, violent as the thunder, of weapons in battle!  In consequence of Duryodhana’s slaughter, all this has not been fruitless, O thou of unfading glory!  Act thou again in such a way that the fruit of all those acts may not be destroyed!  Although victory hath been ours, O Krishna, our heart, however, is yet trembling in doubt!  Know, O Madhava, that Gandhari’s wrath, O mighty-armed one, hath been provoked!  That highly-blessed lady is always emaciating herself with the austerest of penances!  Hearing of the slaughter of her sons and grandsons, she will, without doubt, consume us to ashes!  It is time, O hero, I think, for pacifying her!  Except thee, O foremost of men, what other person is there that is able to even behold that lady of eyes red like copper in wrath and exceedingly afflicted with the ills that have befallen her children?  That thou shouldst go there, O Madhava, is what I think to be proper, for pacifying Gandhari, O chastiser of foes, who is blazing with wrath!  Thou art the Creator and the Destroyer.  Thou art the first cause of all the worlds thyself being eternal!  By words fraught with reasons, visible and invisible that are all the result of time, thou wilt quickly, O thou of great wisdom, be able to pacify Gandhari!  Our grandsire, thy holy Krishna-Dvaipayana, will be