Mahabharata: Volume 8 (19 page)

Vaishampayana said, ‘They reached the auspicious Ganga, desired by pious people. It had large lakes and beautiful banks, with large wetlands and large forests. They took off their ornaments and upper garments and offered oblations to fathers, grandsons, brothers and relatives. The noble women of the Kuru lineage offered water to their sons and all the others. They wept in great sorrow. Those who knew about dharma performed the rite of offering water for their well-wishers. The wives of heroes offered water for heroes. The Ganga had excellent passages to the water and seemed to extend
out even more. The banks of the Ganga were beautiful, full of these wives of heroes. It was like a giant expanse of water. But it was not at all pleasant.

‘O great king! Kunti was suddenly overcome by grief. She wept. In a soft voice, she spoke these words to her sons. “There was a brave and great archer. He was a leader of leaders of rathas. He was marked with the auspicious signs of a hero and was killed by Arjuna in the battle. O Pandavas! You thought of him as the son of a suta and as Radheya.
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In the midst of the formations, the lord was as radiant as the sun. Staying at the front, he fought against all of you and your followers. He roamed around, gathering all of Duryodhana’s troops behind him. There was no one on earth who was his equal in valour. He was devoted to the truth. He was brave. He did not retreat from a battle. The one with unblemished deeds was your brother. Perform the water-rites for him. He was your eldest brother, born from the sun god. He possessed earrings and armour.
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He was brave. He was like the sun in his radiance.” All the Pandavas heard these unpleasant words spoken by their mother. They sorrowed over Karna and became even more distressed.

‘Sighing like a serpent, the brave Yudhishthira, Kunti’s son, spoke to his mother. “No one but Dhananjaya could withstand his shower of arrows. How did he earlier become your son, born from a god? All of us were tormented by the strength of his arms. He was like a fire inside a garment. How did you hide him? The strength of his arms was fierce and the sons of Dhritarashtra worshipped him. No one but Kunti’s son, ratha among rathas,
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could have taken that away from Karna. He was supreme among all the wielders of weapons. He was our eldest brother! How did you, earlier, give birth to someone with such extraordinary valour? Alas! By keeping this a secret, you have killed us now. We had been afflicted on account of our relatives and Karna’s death has added to that. Abhimanyu was destroyed. Droupadi’s sons were killed. The Panchalas were destroyed and the
Kurus were brought down. But this sorrow, that touches us now, is a hundred times greater than that. Sorrowing over Karna, it is as if I am being consumed by a fire. There is nothing that we could not have obtained, not even something that is in heaven. This fierce destruction that has enveloped the Kurus would not have occurred.” In this way, Dharmaraja Yudhishthira lamented a lot. O king! Having lamented, loudly and softly, the lord performed the water-rites. All the men and women there, on both his sides, cried violently as he performed the water-rites. Out of affection for his brother, Yudhishthira, the wise lord of the Kurus, had Karna’s wives, attired in their garments, brought there. Then, with them, the one with dharma in his soul performed the funeral rites. Having done this, with his senses in a whirl, he emerged from the waters of the Ganga.’

This ends Stri Parva.

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having offered water to all the well-wishers, the descendants of the Pandu lineage, Vidura, Dhritarashtra and all the women of the Bharata lineage, dwelt there. The great-souled sons of the Kuru lineage wished to spend a month of mourning outside the city.
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When King Dhritarashtra, with dharma in his soul, had performed the water-rites, the great-souled siddhas, supreme brahmarshis, Dvaipayana, Narada, the great rishi Devala, Devsthana and Kanva, with their supreme disciples, and many other brahmanas who were accomplished in wisdom and learned in the Vedas and all the
snataka
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in the householder stage, came to see the supreme among the Kuru lineage. When they came, the great-souled one
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worshipped them, in accordance with the prescribed rites. The maharshis seated themselves on extremely expensive seats. They accepted the honours that were appropriate for the occasion.
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In due order, they seated themselves around Yudhishthira. The king was on the sacred banks of the Bhagirathi and his senses were overcome with grief. Hundreds and thousands of brahmanas consoled him.

‘At that time, Narada consulted the sages and spoke words that were appropriate for the occasion to Yudhishthira, with dharma in his soul. “O Yudhishthira! Through the valour of your arms and the favours of Madhava, you have resorted to dharma and have conquered the entire earth. It is through good fortune that you have escaped from this battle, which was fearful for the worlds. O Pandava! It is perhaps because you are devoted to the dharma of kshatriyas that you have not rejoiced. O king! Once you have slain your enemies, will you not please your well-wishers? Having obtained this prosperity, I hope that grief is not standing in the way.”

‘Yudhishthira replied, “Resorting to the strength of Krishna’s arms, the favours of the brahmanas and the strength of Bhima and Arjuna, I have conquered the entire earth. But this great grief is always circulating in my heart. Because of my avarice, I have caused a great carnage of my relatives. I have caused the death of Subhadra’s son and Droupadi’s beloved sons. O illustrious one! To me, this victory seems to be a defeat. What will my sister-in-law, Varshneyi,
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tell me? When Hari Madhusudana returns, what will the residents of Dvaraka tell Krishna? With her sons slain and her relatives killed, Droupadi is distressed. She has always been engaged in our welfare. This is grieving me exceedingly. O illustrious one! O Narada! Let me tell you about something else. Kunti kept this as a secret and this is also a reason for my sorrow. He possessed the strength of ten thousand elephants and on this earth, was an atiratha in battle. His gait was like that of a sporting lion. He was wise and compassionate. He was generous and endeavoured
about his vows. He was the refuge of the sons of Dhritarashtra. He was proud and fierce in his valour. He was intolerant and always arrogant. From one encounter to another, he flung us away. He was swift in the use of weapons and colourful in fighting. He was accomplished and extraordinary in his prowess. He was secretly born from Kunti’s womb. He was our brother, from the same womb. When the water-rites were performed, Kunti said that he was the son of the sun god. He possessed all the qualities, and in earlier times, was cast into the water. The world thought of him as Radheya, the son of a suta. But he was Kunti’s eldest son and our brother from the same mother. Greedy for the kingdom, I have ignorantly caused him to be killed in the battle. This is consuming my limbs, like a mass of cotton in a fire. Partha, the one with the white horses, did not know that he was a brother. Nor did Bhima and the twins know this. However, the one who was excellent in his vows knew this. We have heard that Pritha went to him earlier.
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She wished to ensure our welfare and told him, ‘You are my son.’ But that great-souled one did not listen to Pritha’s wishes. Much later, we have heard that he spoke these words to his mother. ‘I am incapable of abandoning King Duryodhana in the battle. If I do that, I will be ignoble, cruel and an ingrate. If I act according to your wishes and conclude an alliance with Yudhishthira, people will say that I am frightened of the one with the white steeds in a battle. Having defeated Vijaya
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and Keshava in the battle, I will then conclude an agreement of peace with Dharma’s son.’ This is what we heard. Pritha again spoke to the one with the broad chest. ‘Then fight with Phalguna, but grant me safety for my other four sons.’ The intelligent one joined his hands in salutation and told his trembling mother, ‘Even if the other four sons come under my control, I will not kill them. O mother! Whether Partha is slain by Karna, or whether I am slain by Arjuna, it is certain that you will continue to have five sons.’ Out of great affection for her sons, the mother told the son, ‘As you desire their safety, ensure the safety of
your brothers.’ Having said this, Pritha took his leave and returned home. Our brave brother has been slain by Arjuna, a brother by a brother. O sage. Neither Pritha, nor he, ever divulged the secret. The brave and great archer was brought down by Partha. O supreme among brahmanas! I only got to know later that he was our brother. O lord! Pritha told us that Karna was our eldest brother. I have caused my brother to be slain and this is greatly paining my heart. Had Karna and Arjuna both been my aides, I would have been able to defeat even Vasudeva. When I was oppressed by the evil-souled sons of Dhritarashtra in the assembly hall, my anger was suddenly pacified on seeing Karna. This is despite the harsh and bitter words we heard from him in the assembly hall at the time of the gambling match, spoken for the sake of bringing Duryodhana pleasure. When I glanced at his feet, my wrath was destroyed. It seemed to me that Karna’s feet were like those of Kunti’s. I wished to determine the reason for this similarity between Pritha and him. But in spite of thinking about this, I did not understand. During the battle, why did the earth swallow up the wheel of his chariot? Why was my brother cursed? You should tell me this. O illustrious one! I wish to hear everything, exactly as it happened. You know everything that is to be known in this world, that which has happened, and that which will occur.”’