"Duryodhana said, 'Fear not, O king. Nor shouldest thou grieve for us. O monarch, O lord, we are quite able to vanquish the foe in battle. When the Parthas had been exiled to the woods, there came unto them the slayer of Madhu with a vast army in battle array and capable of crushing hostile kingdoms; and there also came unto them the Kekayas, and Dhrishtaketu, and Dhrishtadyumna of Pritha's race and numerous other kings in their train; and all those great car-warriors were assembled in a place not far from Indraprastha; and having assembled together they censured thee and all the Kurus. And O Bharata, all those warriors with Krishna at their head paid their homage unto Yudhishthira clad in deerskin and seated in their midst. And all those kings then suggested to Yudhishthira that he should take back the kingdom. And all of them desired to slay thee with all the followers. And hearing of all this, O bull of the Bharata race, I addressed Bhishma and Drona and Kripa, struck with fear, O king, at the prospect of the ruin that threatened our kindred. And I said unto them, 'I think the Pandavas will not abide by the agreement made by them; Vasudeva desireth our utter extinction. I think also that with the exception of Vidura all of you will be slain, although the chief of the Kurus, Dhritarashtra, conversant with morality, will not be included in the slaughter, O sire, effecting our complete destruction, Janardana wisheth to bestow upon Yudhishthira the entire kingdom of the Kurus. What should be done? Shall we surrender, or fly, or shall we fight the foe giving up every hope of life? If, indeed, we stand up against them, our defeat is certain, for all the kings of the earth are under Yudhishthira's command. The people of the realm are all annoyed with us, and all our friends also are angry with us. All the kings of the earth are speaking ill of us, and especially all our friends and relatives. There can be no fault in our surrender, for from time immemorial, the weaker
