O brave prince, thou hast before, by various subtle means, striven to
carry out thy wishes. But ever hast thou failed to slay thy foes. They
were then living near thee, O king! They were then unfledged and of tender
years, but thou couldst not injure them then. They are now living at a
distance, grown up, full-fledged. The sons of Kunti, O thou of firm
resolution, cannot now be injured by any subtle contrivances of thine.
This is my opinion. As they are aided by the very Fates, and as they are
desirous of regaining their ancestral kingdom, we can never succeed in
injuring them by any means in our power. It is impossible to create
disunion amongst them. They can never be disunited who have all taken to a
common wife. Nor can we succeed in estranging Krishna from the Pandavas by
any spies of ours. She chose them as her lords when they were in adversity.
Will she abandon them now that they are in prosperity? Besides women
always like to have many husbands, Krishna hath obtained her wish. She can
never be estranged from the Pandavas. The king of Panchala is honest and
virtuous; he is not avaricious. Even if we offer him our whole kingdom he
will not abandon the Pandavas. Drupada's son also possesseth every
accomplishment, and is attached to the Pandavas. Therefore, I do not think
that the Pandavas can now be injured by any subtle means in thy power. But,
O bull amongst men, this is what is good and advisable for us now, viz.,
to attack and smite them till they are exterminated.
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