Aswatthama, Drona's son and Kripa's nephew, could not hear unmoved this sneer at the venerable teachers. He said sternly to Karna: "We have not yet taken the king back to' Hastinapura, and the battle is yet to be won. Your brag is idle vainglory.

It may be that we are not kshatriyas and that we belong to the class that recites the Vedas and the sastras, but I have notbeen able to find in any sastra that it is honour able for kings to seize kingdoms by cheating at dice.

Even those, who fight and conquer king- doms, do not crow too loudly about it, and I cannot see what you have done to be proud of. The fire is silent and yet cooks the food. The sun shines but not on him.

Likewise, Mother earth sustains all things, movable and immovable, and supports her burden without so much as a whisper. What claim to praise has a Kshatriya who has unlawfully seized another's kingdom at a game of dice?

To have cheated the Pandavas of their kingdom is no more a matter of glory than to have spread traps for unsuspecting birds.