Meanwhile, Uttara, entertained with
sweet perfumes of diverse kinds and decked with floral chaplets, slowly
entered the city, received with respect by the citizens, the women, and
the people of the provinces. And approaching the gate of the palace he
sent the news of his arrival to his father. And the porter then,
approaching the king, said, 'Thy son Uttara, waiteth at the gate with
Vrihannala as his companion.' And the Matsya king, with a cheerful
heart, said unto him, 'Do thou usher both, as I am very anxious to see
them.' Then Yudhishthira, the king of the Kurus, gently whispered unto
the ears of the warder, 'Let Uttara enter alone; Vrihannala must not
come in. Such is the vow of that hero of mighty arms that whoever
causeth a wound on my person or sheddeth my blood except in battle,
shall not live. Inflamed with rage he will never bear patiently to see
me bleeding, but will slay Virata even now with his counsellors and
troops and steeds.'"
SECTION LXVIII
Vaisampayana said, "Then Bhuminjaya, the eldest son of the king,
entered, and having worshipped the feet of his father approached Kanka.
And he beheld Kanka covered with blood, and seated on the ground at one
end of the court, and waited upon by the _Sairindhri_. And seeing this,
Uttara asked his father in a hurry, saying, 'By whom, O king, hath this
one been struck? By whom hath this sinful act been perpetrated?'
"Virata said, 'This crooked Brahmana hath been struck by me.
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