Summoned by the Brahmana, Arjuna reflected, with a sorrowful heart, 'Alas,
this innocent Brahmana's wealth is being robbed! I should certainly dry up
his tears. He hath come to our gate, and is weeping even now. If I do not
protect him, the king will be touched with sin in consequence of my
indifference; our own irreligiousness will be cited throughout the kingdom,
and we shall incur a great sin. If, disregarding the king, I enter the
chamber, without doubt I shall be behaving untruthfully towards the
monarch without a foe. By entering the chamber, again, I incur the penalty
of an exile in the woods. But I must overlook everything. I care not if I
have to incur sin by disregarding the king. I care not if I have to go to
the woods and die there. Virtue is superior to the body and lasteth after
the body hath perished!' Dhananjaya, arriving at this resolution, entered
the chamber and talked with Yudhishthira. Coming out with the bow, he
cheerfully told the Brahmana, 'Proceed, O Brahmana, with haste, so that
those wretched robbers may not go much ahead of us. I shall accompany thee
and restore unto thee thy wealth that hath fallen into the hands of the
thieves.' Then Dhananjaya, capable of using both his arms with equal skill,
armed with the bow and cased in mail and riding in his war-chariot decked
with a standard, pursued the thieves, and piercing them with his arrows,
compelled them to give up the booty. Benefiting the Brahmana thus by
making over to him his kine, and winning great renown, the hero returned
to the capital.
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