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 you, so no man on earth will by any means be able to over-power you. 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 you.'

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 has come for your departure; your brothers have thought of you.'

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 you; by fortune it is that the master of the immortals has been adored by you. 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 you 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 have come back. To-day I consider as if the entire earth engarlanded with cities has 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-Kavacas.'"

"Thereat Arjuna said,

'Tomorrow in the morning you will see all the celestial weapons with which I slew the fierce Nivata-Kavacas.'"

Vaisampayana said, "Thus having related (the facts touching) the arrival, Dhananjaya passed that night there, together with all his brothers."