O thou of incomparable prowess, O king of the Madras, for the
destruction of the foe, I solicit thee today, with humility and bow of
the head. Therefore, for the destruction of Partha and for my good, it
behoveth thee, O foremost of car-warriors, to accept, from love, the
office of charioteer. With thee for his driver, the son of Radha will
subjugate my foes. There is none else for holding the reins of Karna's
steeds, except thee, O thou of great good fortune, thou that art the
equal of Vasudeva in battle. Protect Karna then by every means like
Brahma protecting Maheswara. Even as he of Vrishni's race protects by
every means the son of Pandu in all dangers, do thou, O chief of the
Madras, protect the son of Radha today. Bhishma, and Drona, and Kripa,
and thyself and the valiant ruler of the Bhojas, and Shakuni the son of
Subala, and Drona's son and myself, constituted the chief strength of our
army. Even thus, O lord of Earth, we had divided amongst ourselves the
hostile army into portion for the share of each. The share that had been
allotted to Bhishma is now no more as also that which had been allotted
to the high-souled Drona. Going even beyond their allotted shares, those
two slew my foes. Those two tigers among men, however, were old, and both
of them have been slain deceitfully. Having achieved the most difficult
feats, both of them, O sinless one, have departed hence to heaven.
Similarly, many other tigers among men, of our army, slain by foes in
battle, have ascended to heaven, casting off their lives and having made
great exertions to the best of their powers.
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