and long arms might wed this daughter of his according to the ordinance. If that bath become possible, nothing could be better : nothing more beneficial; nothing more conductive to fame and virtue, so far as Drupada is concerned.'
"Having said this, the priest remained silent and humbly waited for an answer. Beholding him sitting thus, the king Yudhishthira command ed Bhima who sat near, saying.--"Let water to wash his feet with and the Arghya be offered unto this Brahmana. He is king Drupada's priest and, therefore, worthy of great respect. We should worship him with more than ordinary reverence. Then. O monarch, Bhima did as directed. Accepting the worship thus offered unto him, the Brahmana with a joyous heart sat at his ease. Then Yudhishthira addressed him and said, -The king of the Panchalas hath, by fixing a special kind of dower, given away his daughter according to the practice of his order and not freely. This hero bath, by satisfying that demand, won the princess. King Drupada, therefore, hath nothing now to say in regard to the race, tribe, family and dispositioa of him who hath performed that feat. Indeed, all his queries have been answered by the stringing of the bow and the shooting down of the mark. It is by doing what he had directed that this illustrious hero hath brought away Krishna from among the assembled monarchs. Under these circumstances, the king of the Lunar race should not indulge in any regrets which can only make him unhappy without mending matters in the least. The desire that king Drupada hath all along cherished will be accomplished for bis handsome princess beareth, I think, every auspicious mark. None that is weak in strength could string that bow, and none of mean birth and unaccomplished in arms could have shot down the mark. It behoveth not, therefore, the king of the Panchalas to grieve for his daughter today. Nor can anybody in the world unto that act of shooting down the mark. Therefore the king should not grieve for what must take its course.'
"While Yudhishthira was saying all this, another messenger from the king of the Panchalas, coming thither in haste, said. "The (nuptial) feast is ready."
Thus,ends the hundred and ninety-fifth section in the Vaivahika Parva of the Adi Parva.
