perform my duties deftly. Let thy heart's fever be dispelled. Formerly I
was frequently employed to look after thy kine, and, O Lord of earth, I
have a particular knowledge of that work. And, O monarch, I am
well-acquainted with the nature of kine, as also with their auspicious
marks and other matters relating to them. I can also discriminate bulls
with auspicious marks, the scent of whose urine may make even the barren
being forth child. Even thus will I live, and I always take delight in
work of this kind. Indeed, no one will then be able to recognise me, and
I will moreover gratify the monarch.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'This is our beloved wife dearer to us than our
lives. Verily, she deserveth to be cherished by us like a mother, and
regarded like an elder sister. Unacquainted as she is with any kind of
womanly work, what office will Krishna, the daughter of Drupada,
perform? Delicate and young, she is a princess of great repute. Devoted
to her lords, and eminently virtuous, also, how will she live? Since her
birth, she hath enjoyed only garlands and perfumes and ornaments and
costly robes.'

"Draupadi replied, 'There is a class of persons called _Sairindhris_,[5]
who enter the services of other. Other females, however (that are
respectable) do not do so. Of this class there are some. I shall give
myself out as a _Sairindhri_, skilled in dressing hair. And, O Bharata,
on being questioned by the king, I shall say that I served as a waiting
woman of Draupadi in Yudhishthira's household. I shall thus pass my days
in disguise. And I shall serve the famous Sudeshna, the wife of the
king. Surely, obtaining me she will cherish me (duly). Do not grieve so,
O king.'

[5] An independent female artisan working in another person's