Vaisampayana said, "Hearing those words of Dhritarashtra, Sakuni, when
the opportunity presented itself, aided by Karna, 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 tributary 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."