clouds and possessed of a face beautiful as the full moon, king Virata
addressed his counsellors and the twice-born ones and the charioteers
and the Vaisyas and others, saying, 'Enquire ye who it is, so like a
king that looketh on my court for the first time. He cannot be a
Brahmana. Methinks he is a man of men, and a lord of earth. He hath
neither slaves, nor cars, nor elephants with him, yet he shineth like
the very Indra. The marks on his person indicate him to be one whose
coronal locks have undergone the sacred investiture. Even this is my
belief. He approacheth me without any hesitation, even as an elephant in
rut approacheth an assemblage of lotuses!'

"And as the king was indulging in these thoughts, that bull among men,
Yudhishthira, came before Virata and addressed him, saying, 'O great
king, know me for a Brahmana who, having lost his all hath come to thee
for the means of subsistence. I desire, O sinless one, to live here
beside thee acting under thy commands,[11] O lord.' The king then,
well-pleased, replied unto him saying, 'Thou art welcome. Do thou then
accept the appointment thou seekest!' And having appointed the lion
among kings in the post he had prayed for, king Virata addressed him
with a glad heart, saying, 'O child, I ask thee from affection, from the
dominions of what king dost thou come hither? Tell me also truly what is
thy name and family, and what thou hast a knowledge of.'

[11] _Kamachara_ is explained by Nilakantha thus, although in
other places it bears a quite different meaning.

"Yudhishthira said, 'My name is Kanka, and I am a Brahmana belonging to
the family known by the name of _Vaiyaghra_. I am skilled in casting
dice, and formerly I was a friend of Yudhishthira.'