SECTION IX

"Dhritarashtra said, 'O holy one, I did not like this business of
gambling, but, O Muni, I think, I was made to consent to it drawn by
fate! Neither Bhishma, nor Drona, nor Vidura, nor Gandhari liked this
game at dice. No doubt, it was begot of folly. And, O thou who
delightest in the observance of vows, O illustrious one, knowing
everything yet influenced by paternal affection, I am unable to cast off
my senseless son, Duryodhana!'

"Vyasa said, 'O king, O son of Vichitravirya, what thou sayest is true!
We know it well that a son is the best of all things and that there is
nothing that is so good as a son. Instructed by the tears of Suravi,
Indra came to know that the son surpasseth in worth other valuable
possessions. O monarch, I will, in this connection, relate to thee that
excellent and best of stories, the conversation between Indra and
Suravi. In days of yore, Suravi, the mother of cows was once weeping in
the celestial regions. O child, Indra took compassion upon her, and
asked her, saying, "O auspicious one! why dost thou weep? Is everything
well with the celestials? Hath any misfortune, ever so little, befallen
the world of men or serpents?" Suravi replied, "No evil hath befallen
thee that I perceive. But I am aggrieved on account of my son, and it is
therefore, O Kausika, that I weep! See, O chief of the celestials,
yonder cruel husbandman is belabouring my weak son with the wooden
stick, and oppressing him with the (weight of the) plough, in
consequence of which my child agitated with agony is falling upon the
ground and is at the point of death. At sight of this, O lord of the
celestials, I am filled with compassion, and my mind is agitated! The