"Vasudeva continued, 'O king, afflicted with the arrows of Salwa, when
Pradyumna became senseless the Vrishnis who had come to the fight were
all disheartened and filled with grief! And the combatants of the Vrishni
and Andhaka races burst into exclamations of Oh! and Alas! while great
joy was felt by the enemy and beholding him thus deprived of sense, his
trained charioteer, the son of Daruka, soon carried him off the field by
the help of his steeds. The car had not gone far when that best of
warriors regained his senses, and taking up his bow addressed his
charioteer, saying, 'O son of the Suta tribe, what hast thou done? Why
dost thou go leaving the field of battle? This is not the custom of the
Vrishni heroes in battle! O son of a Suta, hast thou been bewildered at
the sight of a Salwa in that fierce encounter? Or hast thou been
disheartened, beholding the fight? O! tell me truly thy mind!' The
charioteer answered. 'O son of Janardana, I have not been confounded, nor
hath fear taken possession of me. On the other hand, O son of Kesava, the
task, I ween, of vanquishing Salwa is difficult for thee! Therefore, O
hero, I am slowly retiring from the field. This wretch is stronger than
thou art! It behoveth a charioteer to protect the warrior on the car,
however, when he is deprived of his senses! O thou gifted with length of
days, thou shouldst always be protected by me, even as it behoveth thee
to protect me! Thinking that the warrior on the car should always be
protected (by his charioteer), I am carrying thee away! Further, O thou
of mighty arms, thou art alone, while the Danavas are many. Thinking, O
son of Rukmini, that thou art not equal to them in the encounter, I am
going away!'

"Vasudeva continued, 'When the charioteer had spoken thus, he, O
Kauravya, who hath the makara for his mark replied unto him, saying,
'Turn the car! O son of Daruka, never do so again; never, O Suta, turn
thou from the fight, while I am alive! He is no son of the Vrishni race
who forsaketh the field or slayeth the foe fallen at his feet and crying
I am thine! or killeth a woman, a boy, or an old man, or a warrior in
distress, deprived of his car or with his weapons broken! Thou art born
in the race of charioteers and trained to thy craft! And, O son of
Daruka, thou art acquainted with the customs of the Vrishnis in battle!
Versed as thou art with all the customs of the Vrishnis in battle, do
thou, O Suta, never again fly from the field as thou hast done! What will
the irrepressible Madhava, the elder brother of Gada, say to me when he
heareth that I have left the field of battle in bewilderment or that I
have been struck on the back—a run-away from the combat! What will the
elder brother of Kesava, the mighty-armed Baladeva, clad in blue and
inebriate with wine, say, when he returneth? What also, O Suta, will that
lion among men, the grand-son of Sini (Satyaki), that great warrior, say
on hearing that I have forsaken the fight? And, O charioteer, what will
the ever-victorious Shamva, the irrepressible Charudeshna. and Gada, and
Sarana, and Akrura also of mighty arms, say unto me! What also will the
wives of the Vrishni heroes when they meet together, say of me who had
hitherto been considered as brave and well-conducted, respectable and
possessed of manly pride? They will even say This Pradyumna is a coward
who cometh here, leaving the battle! Fie on him! They will never say,
Well done! Ridicule, with exclamation of Fie, is to me or a person like
me O Suta, more than death! Therefore, do thou never again leave the
field of battle! Reposing the charge on me, Hari the slayer of Madhu,
hath gone to the sacrifice of the Bharata lion (Yudhishthira)! Therefore,
I cannot bear to be quiet now! O Suta, when the brave Kritavarman was
sallying out to encounter Salwa, I prevented him, saying I will resist
Salwa. Do thou stay! For honouring me the son of Hridika desisted! Having
left the field of battle, what shall I say unto that mighty warrior when
I meet him? When that irrepressible one of mighty arms—the holder of the
conch, the discus, and the mace—returneth, what shall I say unto him of
eyes like lotus leaves? Satyaki, and Valadeva, and others of the Vrishni
and Andhaka races always boast of me! What shall I say unto them? O Suta,
having left the field of battle and with wounds of arrows on my back
while being carried away by thee, I shall, by no means, be able to live!
Therefore, O son of Daruka, turn that car speedily, and never do so again
even in times of greatest danger! I do not, O Suta, think life worth
much, having fled from the field like a coward, and my back pierced, with
the arrows (of the enemy)! Hast thou ever seen me. O son of Suta, fly in
fear from the field of battle like coward? O son of Daruka, it behoved
thee not to forsake the battle, while my desire of fight was not yet
gratified! Do thou, therefore, go back to the field.'"