Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (11 page)

‘“The mighty-armed son of the chastiser of Paka
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spoke to Krishna. ‘Comfort your sister, Subhadra, together with her daughter-in-law.
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O Madhava! Dispel the sorrow from the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law. O lord! Comfort them with truthful words and assure them with what you say.’ Thus addressed, with a distressed mind, Vasudeva went to Arjuna’s house. He comforted his distressed sister, who was overcome with grief on account of her son. ‘O one born in the Varshneya lineage! Do not grieve, together with your daughter-in-law, for the sake of your son. O timid one! All beings have an end that is determined by destiny. This is especially true of kshatriyas who are born in brave lineages. Your son has attained a death like that. Do not sorrow. This was good fortune for the brave maharatha who was like his father in valour. He has attained the objective decreed for kshatriyas, one that brave ones desire. He has conquered many enemies and sent them to their death. He has gone to the eternal worlds that satisfy all desire, those obtained by those with meritorious deeds. These are obtained by those with austerities,
brahmacharya
, learning and wisdom. The virtuous go there and your son has obtained them. You are the mother of a hero. You are the wife of a hero. Your father-in-law is a hero and so are your kin. O fortunate one! Do not grieve over a son who has attained the supreme objective. The inferior Saindhava, the slayer of a child, together with his well-wishers, followers and relatives, will reap the fruits of his insolent deeds. O one with the beautiful hips! As soon as night has passed, he will suffer for his wicked acts. Even if he goes to Amaravati,
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he will not be able to escape from Partha. Tomorrow, you will hear that Saindhava’s head has been severed in the battle, in the vicinity of Samantapanchaka.
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Dispel your sorrow and do not
weep. Having placed the dharma of kshatriyas at the forefront, the brave one has attained the virtuous end. We, all the others whose livelihood is based on arms, will also attain that. He was broad in his chest. He possessed mighty arms. He did not retreat from battle. He killed the best. O one with the beautiful hips! Your son has gone to heaven. Overcome your fever. The valiant one obeyed his fathers and those on his mother’s side. Having killed a thousand enemies, the brave maharatha has been slain. O queen! O kshatriya lady! Comfort your daughter-in-law and do not sorrow grievously. O one who brings delight!
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You will hear extremely pleasant news tomorrow. Be free from sorrow. Partha accomplishes whatever he pledges. It cannot be otherwise. Whatever your husband wishes is never unsuccessful. Even if men, serpents, pishachas, wanderers of the night, birds, gods and asuras come to the aid of the king of Sindhu in the battle in the morning, he will no longer exist.’”’

‘Sanjaya said, “On hearing these words of the great-souled Keshava, Subhadra was extremely miserable and lamented, because of grief over her son. ‘Alas, my son! I am unfortunate! You were equal to your father in valour. O son! Having gone forth to fight, how could you have been slain? Your face was as dark as a blue lotus.
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It possessed beautiful teeth and beautiful eyes. O son! It is now seen to be covered with the dust raised by battle. You were brave and did not retreat from battle. You possessed an excellent head, neck and arms. Your chest was broad. Your stomach was
flat. All your limbs were decorated with ornaments. You possessed excellent eyes. You are now mangled with wounds from weapons. On seeing you fall, there is no doubt that all the beings are glancing at you, as if at a rising moon. Earlier, your bed used to be covered with white and expensive sheets. You were used to happiness. Pierced by arrows, how can you sleep on the bare ground now? The brave and mighty-armed one used to be served by supreme women earlier. How can he now have been brought down on the field of battle, served by jackals? Earlier, you used to be delighted by bards, raconteurs and minstrels. You are now served by masses of carnivorous and fierce creatures that are howling. O lord! You had the Pandavas and the brave Vrishnis as your protectors. There were also the brave Panchalas. How could you have been slain, like one without a protector? O son! O unblemished one! I have not been satisfied from looking at you. I am wretched. It is evident that I will have to go to Yama’s eternal abode now. You possessed large eyes. The tips of your hair were excellent. Your words were pleasant and fragrant. Your face was without any blemishes. O son! When will I see it again? Shame on Bhimasena. Shame on Partha, supreme among archers. Shame on the valour of the brave Vrishnis. Shame on the strength of the Panchalas. Shame on the Kekayas, the Chedis, the Matsyas and the Srinjayas. When you went to fight, they did not know how to prevent the fall of the brave one. Today, I see the earth to be empty, bereft of its beauty. Without being able to see Abhimanyu, my eyes are full of sorrow. You were the son of Vasudeva’s sister and that of the wielder of Gandiva. O brave one! How can I see you bereft of your chariot, and brought down by others? Alas, brave one! You are like riches seen in a dream, which have been destroyed now. Man is transient, as temporary as a bubble in water. This is your young wife. She is overcome with grief on your account. How will I comfort her? I am myself like a cow that has lost her calf. O son! You have left me at a wrong time, when you were about to accomplish great things. You have departed without reaping the fruits. I am yearning to see you. There is no doubt that the ways of destiny are extremely difficult to fathom, even by those who are wise. You had Keshava as your protector. But in the battle, you were like one without a
protector. There are those who perform sacrifices, donate and are of good conduct. There are brahmanas who control their souls. There are those who follow brahmacharya and bathe in sacred places of pilgrimage. There are those who are grateful and generous. There are those who serve their preceptors. There are those who give a thousand
dakshina
s. All these attain their ends. These ends are obtained by brave ones who fight without retreating. These ends are obtained by brave ones who are slain on the field of battle. May you attain those ends. There are ends obtained by those who donate a thousand cows or perform sacrifices with donations. There are ends for those who give away acceptable houses as gifts. May those ends be yours. Sages, rigid in their vows, attain ends through brahmacharya. There are ends for women with a single husband. O son! Go to those ends. Kings with good conduct attain eternal ends and those who purify and protect themselves and follow the four sacred
ashrama
s in due order.
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There are those who are always compassionate towards the miserable and divide everything equally.
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They refrain from wicked tendencies. O son! May you attain those ends. There are those who follow good conduct and observe dharma. There are those who serve their seniors and do not leave their guests dissatisfied. O son! May you go to those ends. Intelligent ones have intercourse with their own wives at the right season. They do not serve the wives of others. O son! May you go to those ends. There are those who look on all beings peacefully. They are devoid of malice and attain ends. There are those who do not cause injury and forgive. They attain ends. There are those who abstain from liquor, meat, vanity and falsehood and those who do not cause pain to others. O son! May you attain those ends. There are those who are modest and learned in all the sacred texts. They are satisfied and have controlled their senses. There are ends obtained by those who are righteous. O son!
May you attain those ends.’ Distressed and overcome by sorrow, Subhadra lamented in this way.

‘“At this time, Panchali and Virata’s daughter arrived there.
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They wept a lot and lamented in great misery. O king! They were mad with grief and fell down on the ground, bereft of their senses. Krishna was himself extremely miserable. But he sprinkled water on them and spoke these beneficial words, when they had regained their senses, but were still lamenting and weeping. Pundarikaksha
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spoke these words to his sister. ‘O Subhadra! Do not sorrow. O Panchali! Comfort Uttara. Abhimanyu, bull among the kshatriyas, has attained an objective that is extremely desired. O ones with beautiful faces! Let other virtuous ones from our lineage also attain that. All of us will go to the end that the illustrious Abhimanyu has achieved. All of us, with all our well-wishers, wish to accomplish the kind of deed that he has achieved. Your son, the maharatha, has accomplished this alone.’ Having comforted his sister, Droupadi and Uttara in this way, the mighty-armed scorcher of enemies returned to Partha’s side. O king! Krishna and the lord
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took the permission of the kings and the relatives and retired to their inner quarters. The others also went to their own abodes.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “The lord Pundarikaksha entered Arjuna’s unmatched abode. He touched water and spread out an excellent bed on the plain and auspicious floor. It was made out of
darbha
grass, with the complexion of lapis lazuli. He duly adorned it with garlands, parched grain, fragrances and auspicious objects and surrounded the bed with supreme weapons. Partha also touched
water. Humble servants produced sacrifices
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offered every night to Tryambaka.
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Partha delightedly adorned Madhava with fragrances and garlands and tendered the nightly offerings.
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Govinda smiled and spoke to Phalguna. ‘O Partha! O fortunate one! Lie down. For the sake of your welfare, I will leave.’ He placed gatekeepers there and other well-armed men for the sake of protection. With Daruka
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following him, the handsome one then went to his own camp. He laid himself down on his white bed and thought about the many things that needed to be done.

‘“No one in the Pandava camp slept during that night. O lord of the earth! Everyone was awake. ‘Because he was overcome by sorrow on account of his son, the great-souled wielder of Gandiva has suddenly taken an oath to slay the king of Sindhu. How will Vasava’s mighty-armed son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, make his pledge successful? The pledge that the great-souled Pandava has taken is an extremely difficult one. He has taken this great vow because he was tormented by sorrow over his son. His
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brothers are valiant and his forces are numerous. All of Dhritarashtra’s sons will serve his
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cause. May Dhananjaya return, after having killed Saindhava in battle. Let Arjuna accomplish his pledge and vanquish masses of the enemy. If he does not kill the king of Sindhu, he will enter the fire. Partha Dhananjaya will never do something that is false. If Arjuna is dead, what will be the state of the king who is Dharma’s son? All his hopes of victory are based on Pandava.
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If we have performed any good deeds, if we have offered donations and oblations, because of all those great fruits, let Savyasachi be triumphant.’ O lord! Thus
did they converse, desiring victory. O king! That great and difficult night began to pass.

‘“When it was the middle of the night, Janardana woke up. He remembered Partha’s oath and spoke to Daruka. ‘Because he was oppressed at the death of a relative, Arjuna has taken an oath. O Daruka! He has said that he will kill Jayadratha before tomorrow is over. Having heard this, Duryodhana will consult his advisers, so that Partha cannot kill Jayadratha in the battle. Several of his akshouhinis will protect Jayadratha. Drona and his son are skilled in the use of all weapons. If someone is protected by Drona, not even the brave thousand-eyed one,
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the oppressor of daityas and danavas, ventures to kill him. Tomorrow, I will act so that Arjuna, Kunti’s son, can kill Jayadratha before the sun has set. My wives, my friends, my relatives and my kin are not dearer to me than Arjuna, Kunti’s son, is. O Daruka! Bereft of Arjuna, I will not be able to look at the world even for an instant. Therefore, it shall not be that way.
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For Arjuna’s sake, I will slay the standard-bearers of the enemy, with their horses, chariots and elephants, with Karna and Suyodhana. In the great battle tomorrow, let the three worlds witness my valour. O Daruka! For Dhananjaya’s sake, I will show my valour in the battle. O Daruka! Tomorrow, I will rout thousands of kings and hundreds of princes, with their horses, elephants and chariots. Tomorrow, you will witness the army of kings shattered by my chakra. For the sake of Pandava, I will angrily bring them down in the battle. Tomorrow, the gods, the gandharvas, the pishachas, the serpents, the rakshasas and all the worlds will know me as Savyasachi’s well-wisher. He who hates him, hates me too. He who follows him, follows me too. Use your intelligence to comprehend that Arjuna is half of my body. When night is over and morning has dawned, prepare and yoke my supreme chariot according to the rites decreed in the sacred texts. O suta! Place the divine club Koumodaki,
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lances, the chakra, bow and arrows. Stock the chariot with all implements. Make room on
the floor of the chariot for the standard and for Vinata’s brave son,
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the adornment of the chariot in battle. Place the golden umbrella and make the horses don divine armour created by Vishvakarma, as radiant as the sun and the fire. Yoke the supreme horses Balahaka, Meghapushpa, Sainya and Sugriva.
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O Daruka! Armour and station yourself. You will swiftly come to me when you hear the loud and terrible sound of Panchajanya fill everything with the
bhairava
note.
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O Daruka! I will alone angrily dispel all the reasons for misery that have afflicted my brother, the son of my paternal aunt.
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While the sons of Dhritarashtra look on, I will make every effort so that Bibhatsu can kill Jayadratha in the battle. O charioteer! I assure you that his victory is certain.’ Daruka replied, ‘His victory is certain. How can he be defeated? O tiger among men! You have yourself agreed to be his charioteer. As for me, I will do what you have asked me to. This night will give way to an excellent morning that will bring Vijaya’s
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victory.’”’