"But Yudhishthira, holding fixed his eyes,-- That changeless, faithful, all-wise king,--replied: 'Yea, but he erred. The godlike form he wore Beguiled him to believe none like to him, And he alone desirable, and things Unlovely to be slighted. Self-love slays Our noble brother. Bhíma, follow! Each Pays what his debt was.'
"Which Arjuna heard, Weeping to see them fall; and that stout son Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes, That prince, who drove through crimson waves of war, In old days, with his chariot-steeds of milk, He, the arch-hero, sank! Beholding this,-- The yielding of that soul unconquerable, Fearless, divine, from Sákra's self derived, Arjuna's,--Bhíma cried aloud: 'O king! This man was surely perfect. Never once, Not even in slumber when the lips are loosed, Spake he one word that was not true as truth. Ah, heart of gold, why art thou broke? O King! Whence falleth he?'
"And Yudhishthira said, Not pausing: 'Once he lied, a lordly lie! He bragged--our brother--that a single day Should see him utterly consume, alone, All those his enemies,--which could not be. Yet from a great heart sprang the unmeasured speech. Howbeit, a finished hero should not shame Himself in such wise, nor his enemy, If he will faultless fight and blameless die: This was Arjuna's sin. Follow thou me!'
"So the king still went on. But Bhíma next Fainted, and stayed upon the way, and sank; Yet, sinking cried, behind the steadfast prince: 'Ah, brother, see! I die! Look upon me, Thy well-beloved! Wherefore falter I, Who strove to stand?'
"And Yudhishthira said: 'More than was well the goodly things of earth Pleased thee, my pleasant brother! Light the offence, And large thy virtue; but the o'er-fed flesh Plumed itself over spirit. Pritha's son, For this thou failest, who so near didst gain.'
"Thenceforth alone the long-armed monarch strode, Not looking back,--nay! not for Bhíma's sake,-- But walking with his face set for the Mount: And the hound followed him,--only the hound.
"After the deathly sands, the Mount! and lo! Sákra shone forth,--the God, filling the earth And heavens with thunder of his chariot-wheels. 'Ascend,' he said, 'with me, Pritha's great son!' But Yudhishthira answered, sore at heart For those his kinsfolk, fallen on the way: 'O Thousand-eyed, O Lord of all the Gods, Give that my brothers come with me, who fell! Not without them is Swarga sweet to me. She too, the dear and kind and queenly,--she Whose perfect virtue Paradise must crown,-- Grant her to come with us! Dost thou grant this?'