(Viduragamana Parva continued)
" said, ' replied saying, I desire to do exactly what you would recommend. But I do not wish to inform of it even by a change of muscle. It was, therefore, O son, that I was applauding the Pandavas in 's presence, so that he might not know even by a sign what is in my mind. Now that hath has gone away, this is the time, O (), for telling me what thou you hast have hit upon, and what, O (), thou you too hast have hit upon.'
" said. 'Let us, O father, by means of trusted and skilful and adroit Brahmanas, seek to produce dissensions between the sons of and . Or, let king and his sons, and all his ministers of state, be plied with presents of large wealth, so that they may abandon the cause of , the son of . Or, let our spies induce the Pandavas to settle in 's dominions, by describing to them, separately, the inconvenience of residing in Hastinapura, so that, separated from as, they may permanently settle in Panchala. Or, let some clever spies, full of resources, sowing the seeds of dissension among the Pandavas, make them jealous of one another. Or, let them incite against her husbands. She has many lords and this will not present any difficulty. Or, let some seek to make the Pandavas themselves dissatisfied with , in which case also will be dissatisfied with them. Or, let, O king, some clever spies, repairing thither there, secretly compass the death of . is the strongest of them all. Relying upon alone, the Pandavas used to disregard us, of old. is fierce and brave and the (sole) refuge of the Pandavas. If he be slain, the others will be deprived of strength and energy. Deprived of who is their sole refuge, they will no longer strive to regain their kingdom. , O king, is invincible in battle, if protecteth protects him from behind. Without , is not equal to even a fourth part of . Indeed, O king, the Pandavas conscious of their own feebleness without and of our strength would not really strive to recover the kingdom. Or, if, O monarch, coming hither here, they prove docile and obedient to us, we would then seek to repress them according to the dictates of political science (as explained by Kanika). Or, we may tempt them by means of handsome girls, upon which the princess of Panchala will get annoyed with them. Or, O , let messengers be despatched to bring them hither here, so that, when arrived, we may through trusted agents, by some of the above methods, cause them to be slain. Strive, O father, to employ any of these (various) methods that may appear to thee you faultless. Time passeth passes. Before their confidence in king --that bull amongst kings--is established we may succeed, O monarch, to encounter them. But after their confidence hath has been established in , we are sure to fail. These, O father, are my views for the discomfiture of the Pandavas. Judge whether they be good or bad. What, O , dost do thou you think?'"
(Viduragamana Parva continued)
" said, 'Thus addressed by , said, 'It doth does not seem to me, O , that thy your reasoning is well-founded. O perpetuator of the Kuru race, no method will succeed against the Pandavas. O brave prince, thou you hast have before, by various subtle means, striven to carry out thy your wishes. But ever hast have thou you failed to slay thy your foes. They were then living near thee you, O king! They were then unfledged and of tender years, but thou you couldst could not injure them then. They are now living at a distance, grown up, full-fledged. The sons of , O thou you of firm resolution, cannot now be injured by any subtle contrivances of thine yours. This is my opinion. As they are aided by the very Fates, and as they are desirous of regaining their ancestral kingdom, we can never succeed in injuring them by any means in our power. It is impossible to create disunion amongst them. They can never be disunited who have all taken to a common wife. Nor can we succeed in estranging from the Pandavas by any spies of ours. She chose them as her lords when they were in adversity. Will she abandon them now that they are in prosperity? Besides women always like to have many husbands, hath has obtained her wish. She can never be estranged from the Pandavas. The is honest and virtuous; he is not avaricious. Even if we offer him our whole kingdom he will not abandon the Pandavas. 's son also possesseth possesses every accomplishment, and is attached to the Pandavas. Therefore, I do not think that the Pandavas can now be injured by any subtle means in thy your power. But, O bull amongst men, this is what is good and advisable for us now, viz., to attack and smite them till they are exterminated. Let this course recommend itself to thee you. As long as our party is strong and that of the king of the Panchalas is weak, so long strike them without any scruple. O son of , as long as their innumerable vehicles and animals, friends, and friendly tribes are not mustered together, continue, O king, to exhibit thy your prowess. As long as the king of the Panchalas together with his sons gifted with great prowess, setteth sets not his heart upon fighting with us, so long, O king, exhibit thy your prowess. And, O king, exert thy your prowess before he of the Vrishni race () cometh comes with the Yadava host into the city of , carrying everything before him, to restore the Pandavas to their paternal kingdom. Wealth, every article of enjoyment, kingdom, there is nothing that may not sacrifice for the sake of the Pandavas. The illustrious Bharata had acquired the whole earth by his prowess alone. hath has acquired sovereignty of the three worlds by prowess alone. O king, prowess is always applauded by the Kshatriyas. O bull amongst Kshatriyas, prowess is the cardinal virtue of the brave. Let us, therefore, O monarch, with our large army consisting of four kinds of forces, grind without loss of time, and bring hither here the Pandavas. Indeed, the Pandavas are incapable of being discomfited by any policy of conciliation, of gift, of wealth and bribery, or of disunion. Vanquish them, therefore, by thy your prowess. And vanquishing them by thy your prowess, rule thou you this wide earth. O monarch, I see not any other means by which we may accomplish our end.'
" continued, 'Hearing these words of , , endued with great strength, applauded him highly. The monarch then addressed him and said, 'Thou you, O son of a Suta, art gifted with great wisdom and accomplished in arms. This speech, therefore, favouring the exhibition of prowess suiteth suits thee you well. But let , and , and , and you two, take counsel together and adopt that proposal which may lead to our benefit.'
continued, "'Then king called unto to him, all those celebrated ministers and took counsel with them.'"
(Viduragamana Parva continued)
" said, 'Asked by to give his opinion, replied, 'O , a quarrel with the Pandavas is what I can never approve of. As thou you art to me, so was without doubt. And the sons of are to me, as those of . I should protect them as well as I should thy your sons, O ! And, O king, the Pandavas are as much near to me as they are to prince or to all the other Kurus. Under these circumstances a quarrel with them is what I never like. Concluding a treaty with those heroes, let half the land be given unto to them. This is without doubt, the paternal kingdom of those foremost ones of the Kuru race. And, O , like thee you who lookest look upon this kingdom as thy your paternal property, the Pandavas also look upon it as their paternal possession. If the renowned sons of obtain not the kingdom, how can it be thine yours, or that of any other descendant of the Bharata race? If thou you regardest regard thyself as one that hath has lawfully come into the possession of the kingdom, I think they also may be regarded to have lawfully come into the possession of this kingdom before thee you. Give them half the kingdom quietly. This, O tiger among men, is beneficial to all. If thou you actest otherwise, evil will befall us all. Thou you too shall be covered with dishonour. O , strive to maintain thy your good name. A good name is, indeed, the source of one's strength. It hath has been said that one liveth lives in vain whose reputation hath has gone. A man, O Kaurava, doth does not die so long as his fame lasteth lasts. One liveth lives as long as one's fame endureth endures, and dieth dies when one's fame is gone. Follow thou you, O son of , the practice that is worthy of the Kuru race. O thou you of mighty arms, imitate thy your own ancestors. We are fortunate that the Pandavas have not perished. We are fortunate that liveth lives. We are fortunate that the wretch without being able to accomplish his purpose hath has himself perished. From that time when I heard that the sons of 's daughter had been burnt to death, I was, O son of , ill able to meet any living creature. O tiger among men, hearing of the fate that overtook , the world doth does not regard so guilty as it regardeth regards thee you. O king, the escape, therefore, of the sons of with life from that conflagration and their re-appearance, do away with thy your evil repute. Know, O thou you of Kuru's race, that as long as those heroes live, the wielder of the thunder himself cannot deprive them of their ancestral share in the kingdom. The Pandavas are virtuous and united. They are being wrongly kept out of their equal share in the kingdom. If thou you shouldst should act rightly, if thou you shouldst should do what is agreeable to me, if thou you shouldst should seek the welfare of all, then give half the kingdom unto to them.'"