SECTION
II
Bhima said, "I intend to present
myself before the lord of Virata as a cook bearing the name of Vallabha. I am skilled
in culinary art, and I shall prepare curries for the king, and excelling all
those skilful cooks that had hitherto dressed his food I shall gratify the
monarch. And I shall carry mighty loads of wood. And witnessing that mighty
feat, the monarch will be pleased. And, O Bharata, beholding such superhuman
feats of mine, the servants of the royal household will honour me as a king. And
I shall have entire control over all kinds of viands and drinks. And commanded
to subdue powerful elephants and mighty bulls, I will do as bidden. And if any
combatants will fight with me in the lists, then will I vanquish them, and
thereby entertain the monarch. But I shall not take the life of any of them. I
shall only bring them down in such way that they may not be killed. And on
being asked as regards my antecedent I shall say that--Formerly I was the
wrestler and cook of Yudhishthira.
Thus
shall I, O king, maintain myself."
Yudhishthira said, "And what office
will be performed by that mighty descendant of the Kurus, Dhananjaya, the son
of Kunti, that foremost of men possessed of long arms, invincible in fight, and
before whom, while he was staying with Krishna, the divine Agni himself
desirous of consuming the forest of Khandava had formerly appeared in the guise
of a Brahmana? What office will be performed by that best of warriors, Arjuna, who
proceeded to that forest and gratified Agni, vanquishing on a single car and
slaying huge Nagas and Rakshasas, and who married the sister of Vasuki himself,
the king of the Nagas? Even as the sun is the foremost of all heat-giving
bodies, as the Brahmana is the best of all bipeds, as the cobra is the foremost
of all serpents, as Fire is the first of all things possessed of energy, as the
thunderbolt is the foremost of all weapons, as the humped bull is the foremost
of all animals of the bovine breed, as the ocean is the foremost of all watery
expanses, as clouds charged with rain are the foremost of all clouds, as Ananta
is the first of all Nagas, as Airavata is the foremost of all elephants, as the
son is the foremost of all beloved objects, and lastly, as the wife is the best
of all friends, so, O Vrikodara, is the youthful Gudakesa, the foremost of all bowmen.
And O Bharata, what office will be performed by Vibhatsu, the wielder of
Gandiva, whose car is drawn by white horses, and who is not inferior to Indra
or Vasudeva Himself? What office will be performed by Arjuna who, dwelling for
five years in the abode of the thousand-eyed Deity (Indra) shining in celestial
lustre, acquired by his own energy the science of superhuman arms with all
celestial weapons, and whom I regard as the tenth Rudra, the thirteenth Aditya,
the ninth Vasu, and the tenth Graha, whose arms, symmetrical and long, have the
skin hardened by constant strokes of the bowstring and cicatrices which
resemble those on the humps of bulls,--that foremost of warriors who is as
Himavat among mountains, the ocean among expanses of water, Sakra among the
celestial, Havya-vaha (fire) among the Vasus, the tiger among beasts, and
Garuda among feathery tribes!"
Arjuna replied, "O lord of the Earth,
I will declare myself as one of the neuter sex. O monarch, it is, indeed difficult
to hide the marks of the bowstring on my arms. I will, however, cover both my
cicatrized arms with bangles. Wearing brilliant rings on my ears and
conch-bangles on my wrists and causing a braid to hang down from my head, I
shall, O king, appear as one of the third sex, Brihannala by name. And living
as a female I shall (always) entertain the king and the inmates of the inner apartments
by reciting stories. And, O king, I shall also instruct the women of Virata's
palace in singing and delightful modes of dancing and in musical instruments of
diverse kinds. And I shall also recite the various excellent acts of men and
thus conceal myself, O son of Kunti, by feigning disguise. And, O Bharata should
the king enquire, I will say that, I lived as a waiting maid of Draupadi in
Yudhishthira's palace. And, O foremost of kings, concealing myself by this
means, as fire is concealed by ashes, I shall pass my days agreeably in the
palace of Virata."
Vaisampayana continued, "Having said
this, Arjuna, that best of men and foremost of virtuous persons, became silent.
Then the king addressed another brother of his."[2]
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