said,--" then, thus commanded against his will by king , set out, with the help of horses of high mettle and endued with great speed and strength, and quiet and patient, for the abode of the wise sons of . Possessed of great intelligence, proceeded by the way leading to the capital of the Pandavas. And having arrived at the city of king , he entered it and proceeded towards the palace, worshipped by numberless Brahmanas. And coming to the palace which was even like unto to the mansion of himself, the virtuous approached , the . Then the illustrious Ajamida devoted to truth and having no enemy on earth, reverentially saluted , and asked him about and his sons. And said, "O , thy your mind seemeth seems to be cheerless. Dost do thou you come here in happiness and peace? The sons of , I hope, are obedient to their old father. The people also, I hope, are obedient to 's rule.'
" said,--'The illustrious king, with his sons, is well and happy, and surrounded by his relatives he reigneth reigns even like himself. The king is happy with his sons who are all obedient to him and hath has no grief. The illustrious monarch is bent on his own aggrandisement. The king of the Kurus hath has commanded me to enquire after thy your peace and prosperity, and to ask thee you to repair to Hastinapore with thy your brothers and to say, after beholding king 's newly erected palace, whether that one is equal to thy your own. Repairing thither there, O son of , with thy your brothers, enjoy ye you in that mansion and sit to a friendly match at dice. We shall be glad if thou you goest go, as the Kurus have already arrived there. And thou you wilt will see there those gamblers and cheats that the illustrious king hath has already brought thither there. It is for this, O king, that I have come hither here. Let the king's command be approved by thee you.
" said,--'O , if we sit to a match at dice, we may quarrel. What man is there, who knowing all this, will consent to gamble? What dost do thou you think fit for us? We all are obedient to thy your counsels.'
" said,--'I know that gambling is the root of misery, and I strove to dissuade the king from it. The king, however, hath has sent me to thee you. Having known all this, O learned one, do what is beneficial.
" said,--'Besides the sons of what other dishonest gamblers are there ready for play? Tell us, O , who they are and with whom we shall have to play, staking hundreds upon hundreds of our possessions.'
" said,--'O monarch, , the king of Gandhara, an adept at dice, having great skill of hand and desperate in stakes, Vivingati, king , Satyavrata, Purumitra and Jaya, these, O king, are there.'
" said,--'It would seem then that some of the most desperate and terrible gamblers always depending upon deceit are there. This whole universe, however, is at the will of its Maker, under the control of fate. It is not free. O learned one, I do not desire, at the command of king to engage myself in gambling. The father always wisheth wishes to benefit his son. Thou you art our master, O . Tell me what is proper for us. Unwilling as I am to gamble, I will not do so, if the wicked doth does not summon me to it in the Sabha? If, however, he challengeth challenges me, I will never refuse. For that, as settled, is my eternal vow."
continued,--"King the just having said this unto to , commanded that preparations for his journey might be made without loss of time. And the next day, the king accompanied by his relatives and attendants and taking with him also the women of the household with in their midst, set out for the capital of the Kurus. 'Like some brilliant body falling before the eyes, Fate depriveth deprives us of reason, and man, tied as it were with a cord, submitteth submits to the sway of Providence,' saying this, king , that chastiser of the foe, set out with , without deliberating upon that summons from . And that slayer of hostile heroes, the son of and , riding upon the car that had been given him by the king of , and attired also in royal robes, set out with his brothers. And the king, blazing as it were with royal splendour, with Brahmanas walking before him, set out from his city, summoned by and impelled by what hath has been ordained by Kala (Time). And arriving at Hastinapore he went to the palace of . And going there, the son of approached the king. And the exalted one then approached and and , and , and the son of , and embraced and was embraced by them all. And the mighty-armed one, endued with great prowess, then approached , and then and , and the son of , and those other kings also that had arrived there before him. The king then went to the brave and then to all his (other) brothers and then to and next to all the Kurus one after another. And the mighty-armed one, then surrounded by all his brothers, entered the apartment of the wise king . And then beheld the reverend , ever obedient to her lord, and surrounded by her daughters-in-law like Rohini by the stars. And saluting and blessed by her in return, the king then beheld his old uncle, that illustrious monarch whose wisdom was his eye. King then, O monarch, smelt his head as also the heads of those four other princes of the Kuru race, viz., the sons of with as their eldest. And, O king, beholding--the handsome Pandava those tigers among men, all the Kurus became exceedingly glad. And commanded by the king, the Pandavas then retired to the chambers allotted to them and which were all furnished with jewels and gems. And when they had retired into the chambers, the women of 's household with Dussala taking the lead visited them. And the daughters-in-law of beholding the blazing and splendid beauty and prosperity of , became cheerless and filled with jealousy. And those tigers among men, having conversed with the ladies went through their daily physical exercises and then performed the religious rites of the day. And having finished their daily devotions, they decked their persons with sandal paste of the most fragrant kind. And desiring to secure good luck and prosperity they caused (by gifts) the Brahmanas to utter benedictions. And then eating food that was of the best taste they retired to their chambers for the night. And those bulls among the Kurus then were put to sleep with music by handsome females. And obtaining from them what came in due succession, those subjugators of hostile towns passed with cheerful hearts that delightful night in pleasure and sport. And waked by the bards with sweet music, they rose from their beds, and having passed the night thus in happiness, they rose at dawn and having gone through the usual rites, they entered into the assembly house and were saluted by those that were ready there for gambling."
said,--"The sons of with at their head, having entered that assembly house, approached all the kings that were present there. And worshipping all those that deserved to be worshipped, and saluting others as each deserved according to age, they seated themselves on seats that were clean and furnished with costly carpets. After they had taken their seats, as also all the kings, the son of addressed and said, 'O king, the assembly is full. All had been waiting for thee you. Let, therefore, the dice be cast and the rules of play be fixed, O .'
' replied, 'Deceitful gambling is sinful. There is no Kshatriya prowess in it. There is certainly no morality in it. Why, then, O king, dost do thou you praise gambling so? The wise applaud not the pride that gamesters feel in deceitful play. O , vanquish us, not like a wretch, by deceitful means.'
said,--'That high-souled player who knoweth knows the secrets of winning and losing, who is skilled in baffling the deceitful arts of his confrere, who is united in all the diverse operations of which gambling consisteth consists, truly knoweth knows the play, and he suffereth suffers all in course of it. O son of , it is the staking at dice, which may be lost or won that may injure us. And it is for that reason that gambling is regarded as a fault. Let us, therefore, O king, begin the play. Fear not. Let the stakes be fixed. Delay not!'
" said,--'That best of Munis, Devala, the son of Asita, who always instructeth instructs us about all those acts that may lead to heaven, hell, or the other regions, hath has said, that it is sinful to play deceitfully with a gamester. To obtain victory in battle without cunning or stratagem is the best sport. Gambling, however, as a sport, is not so. Those that are respectable never use the language of the Mlechchas, nor do they adopt deceitfulness in their behaviour. War carried on without crookedness and cunning, this is the act of men that are honest. Do not, O , playing desperately, win of us that wealth with which according to our abilities, we strive to learn how to benefit the Brahmanas. Even enemies should not be vanquished by desperate stakes in deceitful play. I do not desire either happiness or wealth by means of cunning. The conduct of one that is a gamester, even if it be without deceitfulness, should not be applauded.'
" said,--'O , it is from a desire of winning, which is not a very honest motive, that one high-born person approacheth approaches another (in a contest of race superiority). So also it is from a desire of defeating, which is not a very honest motive, that one learned person approacheth approaches another (in a contest of learning). Such motives, however, are scarcely regarded as really dishonest. So also, O , a person skilled at dice approacheth approaches one that is not so skilled from a desire of vanquishing him. One also who is conversant with the truths of science approacheth approaches another that is not from desire of victory, which is scarcely an honest motive. But (as I have already said) such a motive is not really dishonest. And, O , so also one that is skilled in weapons approacheth approaches one that is not so skilled; the strong approacheth approaches the weak. This is the practice in every contest. The motive is victory, O . If, therefore, thou you, in approaching me, regardest regard me to be actuated by motives that are dishonest, if thou you art under any fear, desist then from play.'
" said,--'Summoned, I do not withdraw. This is my established vow. And, O king, Fate is all powerful. We all are under the control of Destiny. With whom in this assembly am I to play? Who is there that can stake equally with me? Let the play begin.'
" said,--'O monarch, I shall supply jewels and gems and every kind of wealth. And it is for me that this , my uncle, will play.'
" said,--'Gambling for one's sake by the agency of another seemeth seems to me to be contrary to rule. Thou you also, O learned one, will admit this. If, however, thou you art still bent on it, let the play begin.'"