SECTION CLXXIII
"Arjuna continued, 'Then firmly confident, the sovereign of the
celestials considering as his own, pertinently said these words unto me
wounded by cleaving shafts, 'All the celestial weapons, O Bharata, are
with thee, so no man on earth will by any means be able to over-power
thee. And, O son, when you are in the field, Bhishma and Drona and Kripa
and Karna and Sakuni together with other Kshatriyas shall not amount unto
one-sixteenth part of thee.' And the lord Maghavan granted me this golden
garland and this shell, Devadatta, of mighty roars, and also his
celestial mail impenetrable and capable of protecting the body. And Indra
himself set on my (head) this diadem. And Sakra presented me with these
unearthly apparels and unearthly ornaments, elegant and rare. In this
manner, O king, (duly) honoured, I delightfully dwelt in Indra's sacred
abode with the children of the Gandharvas. Then, well-pleased, Sakra,
together with the celestials, addressed me, saying, 'O Arjuna, the time
hath come for your departure; your brothers have thought of thee.' Thus, O
Bharata, remembering the dissensions arising from that gambling, did I, O
king, pass those five years in the abode of Indra. Then have I come and
seen you surrounded by our brothers on the summit of this lower range of
the Gandhamadana.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'O Dhananjaya, by fortune it is that the weapons have
been obtained by thee; by fortune it is that the master of the immortals
hath been adored by thee. O repressor of foes, by fortune it is that the
divine Sthanu together with the goddess had become manifest unto you and
been gratified by you in battle, O sinless one; by fortune it is that
thou had met with the Lokapalas, O best of the Bharatas. O Partha, by
fortune it is that we have prospered; and by fortune it is that you hast
come back. To-day I consider as if the entire earth engarlanded with
cities hath already been conquered, and as if the sons of Dhritarashtra
have already been subdued. Now, O Bharata, I am curious to behold those
celestial weapons wherewith you had slain the powerful
Nivata-Kavachas.'"
"Thereat Arjuna said, 'Tomorrow in the morning you wilt see all the
celestial weapons with which I slew the fierce Nivata-Kavachas.'"
Vaisampayana said, "Thus having related (the facts touching) the arrival,
Dhananjaya passed that night there, together with all his brothers."
--------------------END OF PARVA 3 : UPA-PARVA 173 ---------------------
