Vaisampayana said, “Hearing those words of Dhritarashtra, Sakuni, when
the opportunity presented itself, aided by Kama, spoke unto Duryodhana
these words, ‘Having exiled the heroic Pandavas by thy own prowess, O
Bharata, rule thou this earth without a rival like the slayer of Samvara
ruling the heaven! O monarch, the kings of the east, the south, the west,
and the north, have all been made tributory to thee! O lord of earth,
that blazing Prosperity which had before paid her court to the sons of
Pandu, hath now been acquired by thee along with thy brothers! That
blazing Prosperity, O king, which we not many days ago saw with heavy
hearts in Yudhishthira at Indraprastha, is today seen by us to be owned
by thee, she having, O mighty-armed monarch, been snatched by thee from
the royal Yudhishthira by force of intellect alone. O slayer of hostile
heroes, all the kings of the earth now living in subjection to thee,
await thy commands, as they did before under Yudhishthira, awaiting his.
O monarch, the goddess Earth with her boundless extent with girth of
seas, with her mountains and forests, and towns and cities and mines, and
decked with woodlands and hills is now thine! Adored by the Brahmanas and
worshipped by the kings, thou blazest forth, O king, in consequence of
thy prowess, like the Sun among the gods in heaven! Surrounded by the
Kurus, O king, like Yama by the Rudra, or Vasava by the Maruts, thou
shinest, O monarch, like the Moon among the stars! Let us, therefore, O
king, go and look at the sons of Pandu--them who are now divested of
prosperity, them who never obeyed commands, them who never owed
subjection! It hath been heard by us, O monarch, that the Pandavas are
now living on the banks of the lake called Dwaitavana, with a multitude
of Brahmanas, having the wilderness for their home. Go thither, O king,
in all thy prosperity, scorching the son of Pandu with a sight of thy
glory, like the Sun scorching everything with his hot rays! Thyself a
sovereign and they divested of sovereignty, thyself in prosperity and
they divested of it, thyself possessing affluence and they in poverty,
behold now, O king, the sons of Pandu. Let the sons of Pandu behold thee
like Yayati, the son of Nahusha, accompanied by a large train of
followers and enjoying bliss that is great. O king, that blazing
Prosperity which is seen by both one’s friends and foes, is regarded as
well-bestowed! What happiness can be more complete than that which he
enjoyeth who while himself in prosperity, looketh upon his foes in
adversity, like a person on the hill top looking down upon another
crawling on the earth? O tiger among kings, the happiness that one
derives from beholding his foes in grief, is greater than what one may
derive from the acquisition of offering or wealth or kingdom! What
happiness will not be his who, himself in affluence, will cast his eyes
on Dhananjaya attired in barks and deer-skins? Let thy wife dressed in
costly robes look at the woeful Krishna clad in barks and deer-skins, and
enhance the latter’s grief! Let the daughter of Drupada reproach herself
and her life, divested as she is of wealth, for the sorrow that she will
feel upon beholding thy wife decked in ornaments will be far greater than
what she had felt in the midst of the assembly (when Dussasana had
dragged her there)!”
Vaisampayana continued, “Having thus spoken unto the king, Karna and
Sakuni both remained silent, O Janamejaya, after their discourse was
over.”