2o8 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM
me what is the boon that thou demandest of Me I "
<< Even that in battle I may defeat the five Pandavas, standing each in his chariot of war ! " answered the man.
But Siva smiled and shook His head. ^* The thing that thou askest, O mortal, is impossible. Listen, and I will tell unto thee," said He, '^ who is Arjuna."
And then the Great God revealed to His worshipper the true nature of the hero Arjuna. He was, He said, the twin soul, Nara, of Krishna, the incarnation of Narayan Himself. And as to Krishna, said Mahadeva, ^^ It is even for the de- struction of the wicked and for the preservation of religion that He hath taken His birth among men in this warrior race. It is no other than Vishnu the Preserver, Who goeth amongst men by the name of Krishna. Hear, O thou mortal, the nature of Him Whom all the worlds worship, Him whom the learned describe as without be- ginning and without end, unborn and divine ! They call Him ' Krishna the Unconquerable, armed with conch-shell, discus, and mace, adorned with the emblem of a curl of hair, divine, clad in silken robes of yellow hue, and chief of all those who are versed in the art of war.' Arjuna the Pandava is protected by this Krishna. That glorious being, of the lotus eyes and of infinite
