SECTION LXXVIII
"Arjuna said, 'O Janardana, Yudhishthira hath already said what should be
said. But, O chastiser of foes, hearing what you hast said, it seemeth
to me that thou, O lord, does not think peace to be easily obtainable
either in consequence of Dhritarashtra's covetousness or from our present
weakness. Thou thinkest also that human prowess alone is fruitless, and
also that without putting forth one's prowess one's purposes cannot be
achieved. What you hast said may be true, but at the same time it may
not always be true. Nothing, however, should be regarded as
impracticable. It is true, peace seemeth to you to be impossible in
consequence of our distressful condition, yet they are still acting
against us without reaping the fruits of their acts. Peace, therefore, if
properly proposed, O lord, may be concluded. O Krishna, strive thou,
therefore, to bring about peace with the foe. Thou, O hero, are the
foremost of all friends of both the Pandavas and the Kurus, even as
Prajapati is of both the gods and the Asuras. Accomplish thou, therefore,
that which is for the good of both the Kurus and the Pandavas. The
accomplishment of our good is not, I believe, difficult for thee. If thou
strivest, O Janardana, such is this act that it will be soon effected. As
soon as you goest thither, it will be accomplished. If, O hero, thou
purposest to treat the evil-minded Duryodhana in any other way, that
purpose of yours will be carried out exactly as you wishest. Whether it
be peace or war with the foe that you wishest, any wish, O Krishna, that
thon mayest entertain, will certainly be honoured by us. Doth not the
evil-minded Duryodhana with his sons and kinsmen deserve destruction
when, unable to bear the sight of Yudhishthira's prosperity and finding
no other faultless expedient, that wretch, O slayer of Madhu, deprived us
of our kingdom by the sinful expedient of deceitful dice? What bowman is
there, who, born in the Kshatriya order, and invited to combat, turneth
away from the fight even if he is sure to die? Beholding ourselves
vanquished by sinful means and banished to the woods, even then, you of
the Vrishni race, I thought that Suyodhana deserved death at my hands.
What thou, however, O Krishna, wishest to do for your friends is scarcely
strange, although it seems inexplicable how the object In view is capable
of being effected by either mildness or its reverse. Or, if you deemest
their immediate destruction to be preferable, let it be effected soon
without further deliberation. Surely, you knowest how Draupadi was
insulted in the midst of the assembly by Duryodhana of sinful soul and
how also we bore it with patience. That Duryodhana, O Madhava, will
behave with justice towards the Pandavas is what I cannot believe. Wise
counsels will be lost on him like seed sown in a barren soil. Therefore,
do without delay what thou, O you of Vrishni race, thinkest to be proper
and beneficial for the Pandavas, or what, indeed, should next be done.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 5 : UPA-PARVA 78 ---------------------
