Without doubt, thou art competent to subjugate, on a single car,
the gods, Gandharvas, Asuras, Yakshas, and Rakshasas. O mighty-armed
Bhishma, thou art always spoken of by the Brahmanas as the ninth of the
Vasus. By thy virtues, however, thou hast surpassed them all and art
equal unto Vasava himself. I know, O best of persons, that thou art
celebrated for thy prowess, O foremost of beings, among even the very
gods. Among men on earth, O foremost of men, we have never seen nor heard
of any one possessed of such attributes as thee. O thou of the royal
order, thou surpassest the gods themselves in respect of every attribute.
By thy ascetic power thou canst create a universe of mobile and immobile
creatures. What need then be said of thy having acquired many blessed
regions by means of thy foremost of virtues? Dispel now the grief of the
eldest son of Panda who is burning with sorrow on account of the
slaughter of his kinsmen. All the duties that have been declared in
respect of the four orders about the four modes of life are well known to
thee. Everything again that is indicated in the four branches of
knowledge, in the four Hotras, O Bharata, as also those eternal duties
that are laid down in Yoga and Sankhya philosophy, the duties too of the
four orders and these duties that are not inconsistent with their
declared practices,--all these, along with their interpretations, O son
of Ganga, are known to thee. The duties that have been laid down for
those sprang from an intermixture of the four orders and those laid down
for particular countries and tribes and families, and those declared by
the Vedas and by men of wisdom, are all well known to thee.
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