And O Bharata, what
office will be performed by Vibhatsu, the wielder of _Gandiva_, whose
car is drawn by white horses, and who is not inferior to Indra or
Vasudeva Himself? What office will be performed by Arjuna who, dwelling
for five years in the abode of the thousand-eyed Deity (Indra) shining
in celestial lustre, acquired by his own energy the science of
superhuman arms with all celestial weapons, and whom I regard as the
tenth _Rudra_, the thirteenth _Aditya_, the ninth _Vasu_, and the tenth
_Graha_, whose arms, symmetrical and long, have the skin hardened by
constant strokes of the bowstring and cicatrices which resemble those on
the humps of bulls,--that foremost of warriors who is as Himavat among
mountains, the ocean among expanses of water, Sakra among the celestial,
Havyavaha (fire) among the Vasus, the tiger among beasts, and Garuda
among feathery tribes!'
"Arjuna replied, 'O lord of the Earth, I will declare myself as one of
the neuter sex. O monarch, it is, indeed difficult to hide the marks of
the bowstring on my arms. I will, however, cover both my cicatrized arms
with bangles. Wearing brilliant rings on my ears and conch-bangles on my
wrists and causing a braid to hang down from my head, I shall, O king,
appear as one of the third sex, Vrihannala by name. And living as a
female I shall (always) entertain the king and the inmates of the inner
apartments by reciting stories. And, O king, I shall also instruct the
women of Virata's palace in singing and delightful modes of dancing and
in musical instruments of diverse kinds.
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