O bull of the Bharata race, how much more, therefore, should they be
protected that are endued with every virtue and are humbly expectant of
thy favours? Favour thou the heroic sons of Pandu, O monarch, and let a
few villages be assigned to them for their maintenance. By acting thus, O
king, fame will be thine in this world. Thou art old; thou shouldst,
therefore, control thy sons. I should say what is for thy good. Know me
as one that wishes well to thee. He that desireth his own good should
never quarrel, O sire, with his relatives. O bull of the Bharata race,
happiness should ever be enjoyed with one's relatives, and not without
them, to eat with one another, to talk with one another, and to love one
another, are what relatives should always do. They should never quarrel.
In this world it is the relatives that rescue, and the relatives that
ruin (relatives). Those amongst them that are righteous rescue; while
those that are unrighteous sink (their brethren). O king, be thou, O
giver of honours, righteous in thy conduct towards the sons of Pandu.
Surrounded by them, thou wouldst be unconquerable by thy foes. If a
relative shrinks in the presence of a prosperous relative, like a deer at
sight of a hunter armed with arrows, then the prosperous relative hath to
take upon himself all the sins of the other. O best of men, repentance
will be thine (for this thy inaction at present) when in future thou wilt
hear of the death of either the Pandavas or thy sons. O, think of all
this. When life itself is unstable, one should in the very beginning
avoid that act in consequence of which one would have to indulge in
regrets having entered the chamber of woe. True it is that a person other
than Bhargava, the author of the science of morality is liable to commit
actions that go against morality. It is seen, however, that a just notion
of consequence is present in all persons of intelligence. Thou art an
aged scion of Kuru's race. If Duryodhana inflicted these wrongs on the
sons of Pandu, it is thy duty, O king of men, to undo them all.
Re-instating them in their position, thou wilt, in this world, be