The son said: "O mother, your heart seems forged of black iron: you are merciless, you think like an enemy, and you have no patience for weakness. Ah, what manner of kshatriya custom is this, that you, honored one, speak such words to me, your only son, as though to a stranger! If you cannot see me, what use is the whole earth to you? What use are ornaments, pleasures, or life itself?" The mother said: "All undertakings of the wise, my son, are carried out for the sake of dharma and gain. It was with this in mind, O Sanjaya, that I have been urging you. This decisive moment has come in its proper order; if, now that this time has come, you do not take up the task, you will do something monstrously cruel and unworthy."