Mahabharata Vol. 1 (Penguin Translated Texts) (5 page)

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that, in the presence of all the kings, Krishna
³⁷
was taken, when the wonderful bow was drawn and pierced, the target fell to the ground.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Subhadra of the Madhu lineage was forcibly carried away by Arjuna and married in Dvaraka and when the two heroes
³⁸
of the Vrishni lineage set out for Indraprastha.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna had satisfied Agni by giving him the Khandava forest and when he used his divine arrows to check the downpour brought down by the king of the gods.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Yudhishthira had been defeated in the game of dice by Soubala
³⁹
and deprived of his kingdom, though his powerful brothers were still in attendance.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Droupadi, with protectors but as if no protectors existed, was dragged to court at the time of her period, with a single garment on and with tears in her throat.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the grieving and righteous Pandava brothers left for the forest, suffering out of love for the eldest.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that thousands of
snataka
s
⁴⁰
and great Brahmanas who lived on alms followed Dharmaraja
⁴¹
to the forest.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna had pacified in combat the god of the gods, Shiva, who appeared before him in the disguise of a hunter, and obtained from him the great weapon Pashupata.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna, bound by his promise, had gone to heaven and learnt properly from Indra the use of celestial weapons.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Bhima and the other sons of Kunti, accompanied by Vaishravana,
⁴²
had gone to the land that is inaccessible to humans.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that my sons, spurred by Karna’s advice, had gone on a cattle-related expedition and been captured by the gandharvas, and then freed by Arjuna.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Dharma had appeared before Dharmaraja
⁴³
in the disguise of a yaksha and posed him questions that were correctly answered.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that when the great-spirited Arjuna lived in the kingdom of Virata, my best had been destroyed by Arjuna on a single chariot.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the king of Matsya
⁴⁴
had with great honour bestowed his daughter Uttara on Arjuna and he had accepted her for his son.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Yudhishthira, defeated, wealth-less, exiled, separated from friends and relatives, had been able to raise seven
akshouhini
s.
⁴⁵

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard Narada declare that Krishna and Arjuna were Nara and Narayana and that he had truly seen them thus in the world of Brahma.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Krishna of the Madhu lineage, who had covered the world with one foot,
⁴⁶
had been engaged on the side of the Pandavas.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Karna and Duryodhana had plotted to revile Keshava,
⁴⁷
but he had shown himself in many forms.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Pritha
⁴⁸
had been consoled by Keshava, when she had stood in front of his chariot, weeping in sorrow at his departure.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Vasudeva had become their advisor and Shantanu’s son Bhishma and Bharadvaja
⁴⁹
had pronounced blessings on them.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Karna had told Bhishma that he wouldn’t fight if Bhishma fought, and saying this, had gone away.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Vasudeva, Arjuna and the immeasurable Gandiva bow had come together, a threesome of fearful energy.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna,
overcome by lassitude, had sunk down on his chariot, and Krishna had shown him all the worlds within his own body.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Bhishma, the great destroyer of enemies, was killing tens of thousands
⁵⁰
of charioteers every day, but had not killed a single warrior of note.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna, having placed Shikhandi in front of him, had vanquished the infinitely courageous Bhishma, unconquered in many battles.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the old warrior Bhishma, after killing the
somaka
⁵¹
warriors until only a few remained, was lying on a bed of arrows, wounded by an arrow with a multicoloured feathered tip.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Shantanu’s son Bhishma was lying there and was thirsty and Arjuna pierced the ground to slake his thirst.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Shukra
⁵²
and Surya
⁵³
united to bring victory to the sons of Kunti and fierce beasts of prey were always around us.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Drona displayed the paths of many weapons in the course of battle, but failed to kill a single one of the chief Pandavas.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the great warriors,
⁵⁴
the
sanshaptaka
s,
⁵⁵
who had been placed so as to kill Arjuna, were all killed by him.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Subhadra’s brave son
⁵⁶
had single-handedly penetrated our secret
battle formation, impenetrable to others and guarded by the well-armed son of Bharadvaja
⁵⁷
himself.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that all our great warriors, unable to defeat Arjuna, combined to surround and kill the boy Abhimanyu and then rejoiced.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the mindless warriors of Dhritarashtra cheered with delight at killing Abhimanyu and the furious Arjuna took his vow about the king of Sindhu.
⁵⁸

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna had taken a vow to kill the king of Sindhu and kept his vow in the midst of all his enemies.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that on finding the horses of Dhananjaya
⁵⁹
exhausted, Vasudeva unyoked them in the field of battle, gave them water to drink and then re-yoking them, drove on.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Arjuna, on his chariot, fended off all warriors with his Gandiva bow, when the horses that drew his chariot were indisposed.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Yuyudhana
⁶⁰
of the Vrishni race threw Drona’s army into disorder with the strength of his unassailable elephant and returned to where Krishna and Partha
⁶¹
were.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Karna, with Bhima in his power, spared his life with some abusive words and dragged the warrior with the tip of his bow.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Drona, Kritavarma, Kripacharya, Karna, Drona’s son
⁶²
and the brave king of Madra
⁶³
allowed the king of Sindhu
⁶⁴
to be killed in their presence.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the celestial spear, given by the king of the gods,
⁶⁵
was diverted by Madhava,
⁶⁶
to the demon Ghatotkacha, of terrible form.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that in the fight between Karna and Ghatotkacha, the spear that would have killed Savyasachi
⁶⁷
in battle, was unleashed by the son of the charioteer.
⁶⁸

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Dhrishtadyumna, violating all norms of what was right, killed Drona, while he was alone on his chariot, insensate and bent on dying.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Nakula, the son of Madri, engaged the son of Drona
⁶⁹
in a chariot duel before all the people and proved himself to be equal in war.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that after Drona’s death, Drona’s son misused the celestial weapon
narayana
, but failed to kill the Pandavas.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the exceedingly brave Karna, unconquerable in war, was killed by Arjuna in a fraternal war that was beyond comprehension even to the gods.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the son of Drona,
⁷⁰
the brave warrior Duhshasana and the fearsome Kritavarma failed to defeat Dharmaraja Yudhishthira.

‘“O Sanjaya! O Bard! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Yudhishthira killed the king of Madra,
⁷¹
who always taunted Krishna in battle.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that evil Soubala,
⁷²
the cause of the game of dice and the quarrel, though armed by magic, was killed in battle by the Pandava Sahadeva.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Duryodhana, weakened in strength, without a chariot, fatigued, and with his pride broken, went to a pond and lay down in its waters.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the Pandavas, accompanied by Vasudeva, stood at that pond of the Ganga and addressed my quarrelsome son with contempt.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that, in the battle of the clubs, despite displaying various marvellous circuits,
⁷³
he was unjustly killed through the advice of Vasudeva.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the son of Drona
⁷⁴
and others committed a horrible and infamous act by killing the Panchalas
⁷⁵
and the sons of Droupadi while they slept.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that, pursued by Bhimasena and angered, Ashvatthama discharged the greatest of weapons named
aishika
, which killed the unborn in the womb.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the weapon
brahmashira
, was discharged by Ashvatthama and repelled with another weapon by Arjuna, which he then pacified, but Ashvatthama had to surrender the jewel on his head.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that the son of Drona
⁷⁶
killed the unborn in the womb of the daughter of Virata
⁷⁷
through a great weapon, and that the son of Drona was cursed jointly by Dvaipayana and Keshava.

‘“Alas! Woe to Gandhari who has lost her sons, grandsons, friends, fathers, brothers and relatives. The Pandavas have accomplished a difficult feat. They have again gained a kingdom without a rival.

‘“Alas! I have heard that only ten people have survived this difficult war, three on our side and seven on the side of the Pandavas. In that fearful war of Kshatriyas, eighteen armies
⁷⁸
have been slain. I see extended and extreme darkness all around me. Delusion overcomes me. O Suta! Consciousness is leaving me, my mind is delirious.”’

Souti said, ‘Having uttered these words in greatest sorrow and lamented his fate, Dhritarashtra became unconscious. On recovering, he addressed Sanjaya in these words.

‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! Since this has happened, I wish to give up my life immediately. I see not consolation nor profit in being alive any longer.”’

Souti said, ‘Then the wise son of Gavalgana
⁷⁹
addressed these words full of meaning to that wretched and lamenting king of the earth.

‘Sanjaya said, “From wise Narada and Dvaipayana you have heard of many kings, those who had great enterprise and great strength. They were born in great royal dynasties and possessed great virtues. They knew the use of celestial weapons and were equal to Shakra
⁸⁰
in energy. Having conquered the earth with righteous conduct and performed sacrifices with appropriate offerings, they obtained fame in this world and then succumbed to the forces of time. Such men were the great warrior Vainya, the brave Srinjaya who won through blessings, Suhotra, Rantideva, Kakshivanta, Oushija, Balhika, Damana, Shaivya, Sharyati, Ajita, Jita, Vishvamitra, the slayer of enemies and Ambarisha, of great strength, Marutta, Manu, Ikshvaku, Gaya, Bharata, Rama, the son of Dasharatha, Shashabindu, Bhagiratha and Yayati of good deeds, to whom the gods themselves sacrificed and who has left the habitable and inhabitable regions of the earth adorned with sacrificial sheds and stakes. In ancient times, when Shaivya was afflicted with the loss of his son, these were the twenty-four kings whose acts were cited by the royal sage Narada. But there were other kings who came and went before, with more power, great warriors, great souls and blessed with all the good qualities. They were Puru, Kuru, Yadu, Shura, Vishvagashva of great endurance, Anena, Yuvanashva, Kakutstha, the brave Raghu, the invincible Vitihotra, Bhava, Shveta, Brihadguru, Ushinara, Shataratha, Kanka, Duliduha, Druma, Dambhodbhava, Para, Vena, Sagara, Sankriti, Nimi, Ajeya, Parashu, Pundra, Shambhu, the pure Devavridha, Devahavya, Supratima, Supratika, Brihadratha,
Mahotsaha, Vinitatma, Nala of the
nishada
s,
⁸¹
Satyavrata, Shantabhaya, Sumitra, the lord Subala, Janujangha, Anaranya, Arka, Priyabhritya, Shubhavrata, Balabandu, Niramarda, Ketushringa, Brihadbala, Dhrishtaketu, Brihatketu, Diptaketu, Niramaya, Avikshita, Prabala, Dhurta, Kritabandhu, Dridheshudhi, Mahapurana, Sambhavya, Pratyanga, Parahan and Shruti. These kings and hundreds of others, as many as lotuses, have been heard of. Giving up immense wealth and pleasure, these great, powerful and wise kings attained death, as did your sons. Even those, performers of celestial deeds, great souls who had valour, generosity, truth, purity, pity, magnanimity, faith and simplicity and whose abundance of good qualities and riches have been described for the world in the Puranas by superior poets of great learning, they too went to their death. Your sons were wicked, envious, greedy, driven by passion and evil. Do not mourn for them. O Dhritarashtra! You are knowledgeable in the shastras and characterized by intelligence and wisdom. Those whose understanding follows the norms of the shastras do not succumb to delusion. O king of men! You know the good fortune and misfortune of fate. You know the extreme sentiments you succumbed to in protecting your sons. You should not sorrow for that which was bound to happen. Those who are wise do not feel sorry over fate. Even with the greatest wisdom, that which is ordained will happen. No one can transgress the path that has been laid down. Time brings existence and non-existence, pleasure and pain. Time creates all elements and time destroys all beings. Time burns all subjects and it is time that extinguishes the fire. Time alone is awake when everything is asleep. Time cannot be conquered. Time walks in all elements, pervasive and impartial. Knowing that everything, past, present and future, is created by time, it is not appropriate that you should be consumed by grief.”’