Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (4 page)

Bibek Debroy

This parva has 755 shlokas and twenty-eight chapters.

Chapter 833(170): 22 shlokas
Chapter 834(171): 9 shlokas
Chapter 835(172): 23 shlokas
Chapter 836(173): 18 shlokas
Chapter 837(174): 26 shlokas
Chapter 838(175): 30 shlokas
Chapter 839(176): 42 shlokas
Chapter 840(177): 24 shlokas
Chapter 841(178): 38 shlokas
Chapter 842(179): 31 shlokas
Chapter 843(180): 39 shlokas
Chapter 844(181): 36 shlokas
Chapter 845(182): 16 shlokas
Chapter 846(183): 27 shlokas
Chapter 847(184): 18 shlokas
Chapter 848(185): 23 shlokas
Chapter 849(186): 36 shlokas
Chapter 850(187): 40 shlokas
Chapter 851(188): 18 shlokas
Chapter 852(189): 18 shlokas
Chapter 853(190): 23 shlokas
Chapter 854(191): 20 shlokas
Chapter 855(192): 30 shlokas
Chapter 856(193): 66 shlokas
Chapter 857(194): 22 shlokas
Chapter 858(195): 20 shlokas
Chapter 859(196): 19 shlokas
Chapter 860(197): 21 shlokas

Upakhyana
is a short tale or episode and this section is so named because it has the short account of Amba, who was reborn as Shikhandi. This section ends Udyoga Parva and everything is set for the war.

‘Duryodhana asked, “O foremost among the Bharata lineage! When you see Shikhandi in the field of battle, with arrows raised and ready to slay you, what is the reason for you not to kill him? O mighty-armed one! You said earlier that you would kill the Panchalas and the Somakas. O Gangeya! O grandfather! Tell me the reason for this.”
¹

‘Bhishma replied, “O Duryodhana! Together with the lords of the earth, listen to the reason why I will not kill Shikhandi when I see him in the field of battle. My father, King Shantanu, was a bull among the Bharata lineage and had dharma in his soul. O bull among men! In course of time, he met his destiny. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! I then fulfilled my promise. I consecrated my brother Chitrangada as the great king. When he died, abiding by the instructions of Satyavati and in accordance with the decreed rites, I instated Vichitravirya as the king. O Indra among kings! Though he was young, he was consecrated by me in accordance with dharma. Vichitravirya had dharma in his soul and glanced towards me for everything. O son!
²
I desired to obtain brides for him and reflected on those who would be equal in beauty and lineage. O mighty-armed one! At that time, I heard that the three daughters of the king of Kashi would be given away in a
svayamvara
.
³
All of them were unrivalled in beauty and their names were Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. O bull among the Bharata lineage! All the kings of the earth had been summoned there. O Indra among kings! Amba was the eldest and Ambika was the one in the middle, while Ambalika was the youngest princess. On a single chariot, I went to the capital of the lord of Kashi. O mighty-armed one! O lord of the earth! I saw the three ornamented maidens there and the kings, the lords of the earth, who had assembled there. Established in battle, I challenged
all those kings. O bull among the Bharata lineage! I raised those maidens onto my chariot. Knowing that they were being offered as
viryashulka
,
⁴
I raised them onto my chariot and told all the lords of the earth who had assembled there, ‘Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, is taking these maidens away by force.’ I repeated the challenge. ‘O kings! Use the limits of your strength to set them free. O lords of men! I am forcibly abducting them, in front of your eyes.’ At this, all those lords of the earth arose, with weapons upraised. Enraged, they instructed their charioteers to yoke the chariots. Some were on chariots that were like the clouds. Others were on elephants and were warriors who fought on elephants. Other lords of the earth were on the backs of horses. They arose, with weapons upraised. O lord of the earth! Those lords of the earth surrounded me from all directions. With a great mass of chariots, they attacked me from all sides. I repulsed them with a great shower of arrows. I vanquished all those kings, like the king of the gods against the
danava
s. I brought down their colourful and gold-embellished standards. With a single arrow each, I brought them down on the ground. O bull among men! I laughed and used my flaming arrows to bring down their horses, elephants and chariots in that battle. On seeing the dexterity of my palms, they were shattered and retreated. After vanquishing those lords of the earth, I returned to Hastinapura. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O mighty-armed one! I recounted my deed to Satyavati and handed over the maidens for my brother.”’

‘Bhisma said, “O best of the Bharata lineage! I approached my mother, the mother of brave ones and saluting her, told the
daughter of the Dasha lineage,
⁵
‘I have vanquished the kings and have obtained these daughters of the lord of Kashi for Vichitravirya. I have abducted them in accordance with the norms of viryashulka.’ O king! She inhaled the fragrance of my head. With her eyes filled with tears, Satyavati told me, ‘O son! It is through good fortune that you have obtained victory.’ With Satyavati’s permission, a date was fixed for the marriage. The eldest daughter of the lord of Kashi spoke these bashful words. ‘O Bhishma! You are knowledgeable about dharma and you are skilled in all the sacred texts. You should listen to my words and then act towards me in accordance with dharma. In my mind, I had earlier chosen the lord of Shalva as my groom. Without this being known to my father, he had also chosen me in secret. I desire someone else. O king! O Bhishma! Especially because you are a Kourava, how can you, who have studied the sacred texts, make someone like that live in this household? O bull among the Bharata lineage! Now that you know this, make up your mind about what should be done. O mighty-armed one! You should do that which is appropriate. O lord of the earth! It is evident that King Shalva is waiting for me. O mighty-armed one! O supreme among those who uphold dharma! You should take pity on me. O brave one! We have heard that you are famous in this world for being truthful to your vows.’”’

‘Bhishma said, “O lord of men! I then informed Kali
⁶
Satyavati, the advisers, the brahmanas and the priests and allowed the eldest maiden, Amba, to leave. On obtaining the permission, the maiden went to the capital of the lord of Shalva. She was protected by aged brahmanas and accompanied by her nurse. Travelling the
entire distance, she went to that lord of men and told King Shalva these words. ‘O mighty-armed one! O immensely radiant one! I have arrived here, before you.’ O lord of the earth! But the lord of Shalva smiled and told her, ‘O one with the beautiful complexion! You have belonged to another one before this and I do not wish you as my wife. O fortunate one! Therefore, return again to the descendant of the Bharata lineage! After you have been forcibly abducted by Bhishma, I do not desire you. You were won by Bhishma and seemed to be delighted then. He defeated all the lords of the earth in a great battle. O one with the beautiful complexion! You have gone to another one before. I am a king who is instructed by dharma and am skilled in knowledge. How can I accept as my wife a lady who has gone to someone else before? O fortunate one! Go wherever you wish. Do not waste your time here.’ O king! Amba was struck by the arrows of the god of love and told him, ‘O lord of the earth! Do not speak in this fashion. I wasn’t happy when I was abducted by Bhishma, the destroyer of enemies. After driving away the lords of the earth, he used force on me and I was weeping. O lord of Shalva! I love you. Love me back in return. I am an innocent maiden. Dharma does not approve of the abandoning of those who love you. I have come here after obtaining the permission of Gangeya, who never retreats from the field of battle. I have obtained his permission and have come here before you. O lord of the earth! The mighty-armed Bhishma does not want me. I have heard that all Bhishma’s exertions were for the sake of his brother. O king! Gangeya has given my sisters, Ambika and Ambalika, whom he had also abducted, to his younger brother Vichitravirya. O lord of Shalva! I have never desired any man other than you. O tiger among men! I swear on my head that I have not thought of anyone but you. O Indra among kings! I have come before you and I have not gone to any other man earlier. O Shalva! I am telling you the truth. I swear on my own self that this is the truth. O one with the large eyes! Love me. A maiden has come to you of her own accord. I have not been to any other man earlier. O Indra among kings! I desire your favours.’ O foremost among the Bharata lineage! But though she spoke in this way, Shalva abandoned the daughter of the king of Kashi, the way a snake discards its old skin.
She sought his favours with these and many other words. O bull among the Bharata lineage! But the king who was the lord of Shalva did not show her his favours. Then the eldest daughter of the king of Kashi was overcome by anger. With tears in her eyes and with her voice choking with tears, she said, ‘O lord of the earth! Having been discarded by you, I will go wherever I wish. I will go to the virtuous. It has been rightly said that where there is virtue, there is truth.’ O Kouravya! The maiden spoke in this way and lamented piteously. But the lord of Shalva abandoned her and Shalva repeatedly said, ‘O one with the beautiful hips. Go. Go from here. I am frightened of Bhishma. You are Bhishma’s property.’ She was thus addressed by Shalva, who was not far-sighted. She departed wretchedly from the city, weeping like a female osprey.”’

‘Bhishma said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As she departed from the city, she thought to herself. ‘There is no young woman on earth who faces such a difficult situation as me. I have been separated from my relatives. I have been treated badly by Shalva. I am incapable of returning to the city of Varanasahrya.
⁷
Bhishma granted me permission because I wished to go to Shalva. Will I blame myself or the unassailable Bhishma? Or should it be my foolish father who arranged for the svayamvara? Is it my own fault that I did not jump down from Bhishma’s chariot? When that terrible war raged on earlier, should I have descended and run away to Shalva? The consequences are that I have to endure the fruits of this conduct, like a foolish person. Shame on Bhishma. Shame on my evil father, whose intelligence is foolish. He offered me as viryashulka, as if I am a woman who can be offered at a price. Shame on me. Shame
on King Shalva. Shame on the creator. It is because of everyone’s bad sentiments that I now confront this calamity. In every way, a man must endure what destiny has determined. But Shantanu’s son, Bhishma, is the chief reason for my hardship. I see that I now have to exact vengeance on Bhishma, through austerities and fighting. It is my view that he is the reason behind my misery. But which lord of the earth is capable of withstanding Bhishma in battle?’ Having reflected in this way, she left the city.

‘“She went to the hermitages of great-souled ascetics who were sacred in their conduct. Surrounded by those ascetics, she spent a night there. O mighty-armed one! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The one with the sweet smiles told them everything about herself and the details of what had happened, the abduction, the release and the abandonment by Shalva. A great brahmana named Shaikhavatya lived there. He was rigid in his vows and aged in his austerities. He was a preceptor in the sacred texts and in the
aranyaka
s.
⁸
Shaikhavatya, the great ascetic and sage, spoke to the distressed maiden, who was sighing and was overcome by grief and misery. ‘O fortunate one! Now that this has happened, what can ascetics do for you? We are immensely fortunate ones who live in hermitages. We are great souls engaged in austerities.’ O king! But she told him, ‘Show me a favour. I wish to wander around and perform extremely difficult austerities. Because of my stupidity, I must have performed deeds in earlier bodies. I have must acted in evil ways and this must certainly be the fruit. O ascetics! I am not interested in returning to my relatives. I have been rejected. I am unhappy. I have been wronged by Shalva. O ascetics! O those who are devoid of sin! I wish to be instructed here. You are the equals of the gods. Be compassionate towards me.’ He then consoled the maiden with examples, sacred knowledge and reasons. Together with the other brahmanas, he comforted her and promised that he would act accordingly.”’

‘Bhishma said, “Then all the ascetics engaged themselves in their respective tasks. The ones who followed dharma wondered about the maiden and thought, ‘What will we do?’ A few among those ascetics said, ‘We should take her back to her father’s residence.’ Others thought that I
⁹
should be censured. Some others thought of going to the lord of Shalva and asking him to take her back. Others said no to this, because she had been rejected by him. All the ascetics, rigid in their vows, again said, ‘O fortunate one! This having occurred, what can we learned ones do? O fortunate one! Listen to these beneficial words. There is no need for you to wander around. O fortunate one! Depart from here and go to your father’s residence. The king, your father, will know what should be done next. You possess all the qualities. O fortunate one! Go and dwell there happily. O fortunate one! You have no refuge other than your father. O one with the beautiful complexion! For any
arya
lady, the husband or the father is the refuge. A husband is the refuge when things are smooth. A father is the refuge when things are rough. Roaming around is extremely difficult, especially for someone who is delicate. O beautiful one! Being a princess, you are naturally delicate. O fortunate one! O one with the beautiful complexion! There are many taints associated with dwelling in a hermitage. There will be none in your father’s residence.’ The brahmanas spoke these words to the ascetic lady. ‘On seeing you alone in this deserted and dense forest, kings will solicit you. Therefore, do not set your mind on this.’