' The moment after, she
beheld Krishna and then she said, 'Oh, what have I said?' And anxious from
fear of sin, and reflecting how every one could be extricated from the
situation, she took the cheerful Yajnaseni by the hand, and approaching
Yudhishthira said, 'The daughter of king Yajnasena upon being represented
to me by thy younger brothers as the alms they had obtained, from
ignorance, O king, I said what was proper, viz., 'Enjoy ye all what hath
been obtained.' O thou bull of the Kuru race, tell me how my speech may
not become untrue; how sin may not touch the daughter of the king of
Panchala, and how also she may not become uneasy.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by his mother that hero among men,
that foremost scion of the Kuru race, the intelligent king (Yudhishthira),
reflecting for a moment, consoled Kunti, and addressing Dhananjaya, said,
'By thee, O Phalguna, hath Yajnaseni been won. It is proper, therefore,
that thou shouldst wed her. O thou withstander of all foes, igniting the
sacred fire, take thou her hand with due rites.'
"Arjuna, hearing this, replied, 'O king, do not make me a participator in
sin. Thy behest is not conformable to virtue. That is the path followed by
the sinful. Thou shouldst wed first, then the strong-armed Bhima of
inconceivable feats, then myself, then Nakula, and last of all, Sahadeva
endued with great activity. Both Vrikodara and myself, and the twins and
this maiden also, all await, O monarch, thy commands.
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