I have quaffed the blood of the living Duhshasana. We have
paid off the debt we owed to our enemy. People, while talking, will not
be able to censure us any longer. Having vanquished Drona's son, we have
set him free for the sake of his being a brahmana and of the respect that
should be shown to our deceased preceptor. His fame hath been destroyed,
O goddess, only his body remains! He has been divested of his gem and on
earth he has been reft of his weapons!"
Draupadi said, "I desired to only pay off our debt for the injury we have
sustained. The preceptor's son is worthy of my reverence as the preceptor
himself. Let the king bind this gem on his head, O Bharata!" The king
then, taking that gem, placed it on his head, at the desire of Draupadi
and regarding it as a gift from the preceptor. Holding on his head that
excellent and celestial gem, the puissant king looked beautiful like a
mountain with the moon above it. Though stricken with grief on account of
the death of her sons, the princess Draupadi, possessed of great mental
strength, gave up her vow. Then king Yudhishthira enquired of the
mighty-armed Krishna, saying the following words."
17
Vaishampayana said, "After all the troops had been slain during the hour
of sleep by those three car-warriors, king Yudhishthira in great grief
said these words unto him of Dasharha's race: How, O Krishna, could my
sons, all of whom were mighty car-warriors, be slaughtered by the sinful
and wretched Ashvatthama of no great skill in battle? How also could
Drona's son slay the children of Drupada, all of whom were accomplished
in weapons, possessed of great prowess, and capable of battling with
hundreds of thousands of foes? How could he slay that foremost of
car-warriors, Dhrishtadyumna, before whom the great bowman Drona himself
could not appear? What act was done by the preceptor's son, O bull among
men, in consequence of which he succeeded in slaying, single-handed, all
our men in battle?'
The holy one said, "Verily, Drona's son had sought the aid of that
highest of all the gods, the eternal Mahadeva.
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