Bhima has also made a promise that
whoever would call him 'tularak', would be slaughtered by him there and
then. Now the King has repeatedly used those very words to me in thy
presence, O hero, viz., 'Give thy bow.' If I slay him, O Keshava, I will
not be able to live in this world for even a moment. Having intended
again the slaughter of the king through folly and the loss of my mental
faculties, I have been polluted by sin. It behoveth thee today, O
foremost of all righteous persons, to give me such counsel that my vow,
known throughout the world, may become true while at the same time both
myself and the eldest son of Pandu may live.'"
"'Vasudeva said, "The king was fatigued, and under the influence of
grief, He had been mangled in battle by Karna with numerous arrows. After
that, O hero, he was repeatedly struck by the Suta's son (with his
shafts), while he was retreating from battle. It was for this that,
labouring under a load of sorrow, he spoke those improper words unto thee
in wrath. He provoked thee by those words so that thou mightest slay
Karna in battle. The son of Pandu knows that the wretched Karna is
incapable of being borne by any one else in the world (save thee). It was
for this, O Partha, that the king in great wrath said those harsh words
to thy face. The stake in the game of today's battle has been made to lie
in the ever alert and always unbearable Karna. That Karna being slain,
the Kauravas would necessarily be vanquished.
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