National Epics Part 5

They seemed to understand that, war once declared, there could be no compromise, but that it must be a war for extinction. But the Kauravas received their proposals of peace with taunts, and heaped insults upon their emissary.

When the Pandavas found that there was no hope of peace, they endeavored to win to their side Karna, who was really a son of Kunti, and hence their half-brother, though this fact had not been made known to him until he had long been allied with the Kauravas. In antic.i.p.ation of this war, the G.o.ds, by a bit of trickery, had robbed Karna of his G.o.d-given armor and weapons.

However, neither celestial artifice, the arguments of Krishna, nor the entreaties of Kunti were able to move Karna from what he considered the path of duty, though he promised that while he would fight with all his strength, he would not slay Yudhi-sthira, Bhima, and the twins.

The forces of the two armies were drawn up on the plain of Kuruk-shetra.

The army of the Kauravas was under the command of the terrible Bhishma, the uncle of Pandu and Dhrita-rashtra, who had governed the country during the minority of Pandu.

Each side was provided with billions and billions of infantry, cavalry, and elephants; the warriors were supplied with weapons of the most dangerous sort. The army of the Kauravas was surrounded by a deep trench fortified by towers, and further protected by fireb.a.l.l.s and jars full of scorpions to be thrown at the a.s.sailants.

As night fell, before the battle, the moon's face was stained with blood, earthquakes shook the land, and the images of the G.o.ds fell from their places.

The next morning, when Arjuna, from his chariot, beheld the immense army, he was appalled at the thought of the bloodshed to follow, and hesitated to advance. Krishna insisted that it was unnecessary for him to lament, setting forth his reasons in what is known as the Bhagavat-gita, the divine song, in which he said it was no sin to slay a foe, since death is but a transmigration from one form to another. The soul can never cease to be; who then can destroy it? Therefore, when Arjuna slew his cousins he would merely remove their offensive bodies; their souls, unable to be destroyed, would seek other habitations. To further impress Arjuna, Krishna boasted of himself as embodying everything, and as having pa.s.sed through many forms. Faith in Krishna was indispensable, for the G.o.d placed faith above either works or contemplation. He next exhibited himself in his divine form to Arjuna, and the warrior was horror-stricken at the terrible divinity with countless arms, hands, and heads, touching the skies. Having been thus instructed by Krishna, Arjuna went forth, and the eighteen days' battle began.

The slaughter was wholesale; no quarter was asked or given, since each side was determined to exterminate the other. Flights of arrows were stopped in mid-air by flights of arrows from the other side. Great maces were cut in pieces by well-directed darts. Bhima, wielding his great club with his prodigious strength, wiped out thousands of the enemy at one stroke, and Arjuna did the same with his swift arrows. Nor were the Kauravas to be despised. Hundreds of thousands of the Pandavas' followers fell, and the heroic brothers were themselves struck by many arrows.

Early in the battle the old Bhishma was pierced by so many arrows that, falling from his chariot, he rested upon their points as on a couch, and lay there living by his own desire, until long after the battle.

After eighteen days of slaughter, during which the field reeked with blood and night was made horrible by the cries of the jackals and other beasts of prey that devoured the bodies of the dead, the Kauravas were all slain, and the five Pandavas, reconciled to the blind Raja, accompanied him back to Hastinapur, where Yudhi-sthira was crowned Raja, although the Raj was still nominally under the rule of his old uncle.

Yudhi-sthira celebrated his accession to the throne by the performance of the great sacrifice, which was celebrated with the utmost splendor. After several years the unhappy Dhrita-rashtra retired with his wife to a jungle on the banks of the Ganges, leaving Yudhi-sthira in possession of the kingdom. There the Pandavas visited him, and talked over the friends who had fallen in the great war. One evening the sage Vyasa instructed them to bathe in the Ganges and then stand on the banks of the river. He then went into the water and prayed, and coming out stood by Yudhi-sthira and called the names of all those persons who had been slain at Kuruk-shetra.

Immediately the water began to foam and boil, and to the great surprise and terror of all, the warriors lost in the great battle appeared in their chariots, at perfect peace with one another, and cleansed of all earthly stain. Then the living were happy with the dead; long separated families were once more united, and the hearts that had been desolate for fifteen long years were again filled with joy. The night sped quickly by in tender conversation, and when morning came, all the dead mounted into their chariots and disappeared. Those who had come to meet them prepared to leave the river, but with the permission of Vyasa, the widows drowned themselves that they might rejoin their husbands.

Not long after his return to Hastinapur, Yudhi-sthira heard that the old Raja and his wife had lost their lives in a jungle-fire; and soon after this, tidings came to him of the destruction of the city of the Yadavas, the capital of Krishna, in punishment for the dissipation of its inhabitants.

Yudhi-sthira's reign of thirty-six years had been a succession of gloomy events, and he began to grow weary of earth and to long for the blessings promised above. He therefore determined to make the long and weary pilgrimage to Heaven without waiting for death. According to the MahA-BhArata, the earth was divided into seven concentric rings, each of which was surrounded by an ocean or belt separating it from the next annular continent. The first ocean was of salt water; the second, of the juice of the sugar-cane; the third, of wine; the fourth, of clarified b.u.t.ter; the fifth, of curdled milk; the sixth, of sweet milk; the seventh, of fresh water. In the centre of this vast annular system Mount Meru rose to the height of sixty-four thousand miles.

Upon this mountain was supposed to rest the heaven of the Hindus, and thither Yudhi-sthira proposed to make his pilgrimage. His brothers and their wife Draupadi insisted on going with him, for all were equally weary of the world. Their people would fain have accompanied them, but the princes sent them back and went unaccompanied save by their faithful dog.

They kept on, fired by their high resolves, until they reached the long and dreary waste of sand that stretched before Mount Meru. There Draupadi fell and yielded up her life, and Yudhi-sthira, never turning to look back, told the questioning Bhima that she died because she loved her husbands better than all else, better than heaven. Next Sahadeva fell, then Nakalu, and afterwards Arjuna and Bhima. Yudhi-sthira, still striding on, informed Bhima that pride had slain the first, self-love the second, the sin of Arjuna was a lie, and Bhima had loved too well the good things of earth.

Followed by the dog, Yudhi-sthira pushed across the barren sand until he reached the mount and stood in the presence of the G.o.d. Well pleased with his perseverance, the G.o.d promised him the reward of entering into heaven in his own form, but he refused to go unless the dog could accompany him.

After vainly attempting to dissuade him, the G.o.d allowed the dog to a.s.sume its proper form, and lo! it was Dharma, the G.o.d of justice, and the two entered heaven together.

But where were Draupadi and the gallant princes, her husbands?

Yudhi-sthira could see them nowhere, and he questioned only to learn that they were in h.e.l.l. His determination was quickly taken. There could be no heaven for him unless his brothers and their wife could share it with him.

He demanded to be shown the path to h.e.l.l, to enter which he walked over razors, and trod under foot mangled human forms. But joy of joys! The lotus-eyed Draupadi called to him, and his brothers cried that his presence in h.e.l.l brought a soothing breeze that gave relief to all the tortured souls.

Yudhi-sthira's self-sacrifice sufficiently tested, the G.o.ds proclaimed that it was all but an illusion shown to make him enjoy the more, by contrast, the blisses of heaven. The king Yudhi-sthira then bathed in the great river flowing through three worlds, and, washed from all sins and soils, went up, hand in hand with the G.o.ds, to his brothers, the Pandavas, and

"Lotus-eyed and loveliest Draupadi, Waiting to greet him, gladdening and glad."

SELECTIONS FROM THE MAHA-BHARATA.

SAVITRI, OR LOVE AND DEATH.

The beautiful princess SAvitri of her own choice wedded the prince Satyavan, son of a blind and exiled king, although she knew that he was doomed by the G.o.ds to die within a year. When the year was almost gone, she sat for several days beneath a great tree, abstaining from food and drink, and imploring the G.o.ds to save him from death. On the fateful day she accompanied him to the forest to gather the sacred wood for the evening sacrifice. As he struck the tree with the axe he reeled in pain, and exclaiming, "I cannot work!" fell fainting.

Thereon that n.o.ble lady, hastening near.

Stayed him that would have fallen, with quick arms; And, sitting on the earth, laid her lord's head Tenderly in her lap. So bent she, mute, Fanning his face, and thinking 't was the day-- The hour--which Narad named--the sure fixed date Of dreadful end--when, lo! before her rose A shade majestic. Red his garments were, His body vast and dark; like fiery suns The eyes which burned beneath his forehead-cloth; Armed was he with a noose, awful of mien.

This Form tremendous stood by Satyavan, Fixing its gaze upon him. At the sight The fearful Princess started to her feet.

Heedfully laying on the gra.s.s his head,

Up started she, with beating heart, and joined Her palms for supplication, and spake thus In accents tremulous: "Thou seem'st some G.o.d; Thy mien is more than mortal; make me know What G.o.d thou art, and what thy purpose here."

And Yama said (the dreadful G.o.d of death): "Thou art a faithful wife, O SAvitri, True to thy vows, pious, and dutiful; Therefore I answer thee. Yama I am!

This Prince thy lord lieth at point to die; Him will I straightway bind and bear from life; This is my office, and for this I come."

Then SAvitri spake sadly: "It is taught Thy messengers are sent to fetch the dying; Why is it, Mightiest, thou art come thyself?"

In pity of her love, the Pityless Answered--the King of all the Dead replied: "This was a Prince unparalleled, thy lord; Virtuous as fair, a sea of goodly gifts, Not to be summoned by a meaner voice Than Yama's own: therefore is Yama come."

With that the gloomy G.o.d fitted his noose And forced forth from the Prince the soul of him-- Subtile, a thumb in length--which being reft, Breath stayed, blood stopped, the body's grace was gone, And all life's warmth to stony coldness turned.

Then, binding it, the Silent Presence bore Satyavan's soul away toward the South.

But SAvitri the Princess followed him; Being so bold in wifely purity, So holy by her love; and so upheld, She followed him.

Presently Yama turned.

"Go back," quoth he. "Pay for him funeral dues.

Enough, O SAvitri, is wrought for love; Go back! Too far already hast thou come."

Then SAvitri made answer: "I must go Where my lord goes, or where my lord is borne; Naught other is my duty. Nay, I think, By reason of my vows, my services, Done to the Gurus, and my faultless love, Grant but thy grace, I shall unhindered go.

The sages teach that to walk seven steps One with another, maketh good men friends; Beseech thee, let me say a verse to thee:--

_"Be master of thyself, if thou wilt be Servant of Duty. Such as thou shall see Not self-subduing, do no deeds of good In youth or age, in household or in wood.

But wise men know that virtue is best bliss, And all by some one way may reach to this.

It needs not men should pa.s.s through orders four To come to knowledge: doing right is more Than any learning; therefore sages say Best and most excellent is Virtue's way."_

Spake Yama then: "Return! yet I am moved By those soft words; justly their accents fell, And sweet and reasonable was their sense.

See now, thou faultless one. Except this life I bear away, ask any boon from me; It shall not be denied."

SAvitri said: "Let, then, the King, my husband's father, have His eyesight back, and be his strength restored, And let him live anew, strong as the sun."

"I give this gift," Yama replied. "Thy wish, Blameless, shall be fulfilled. But now go back; Already art thou wearied, and our road Is hard and long. Turn back, lest thou, too, die."

The Princess answered: "Weary am I not, So I walk near my lord. Where he is borne, Thither wend I. Most mighty of the G.o.ds, I follow wheresoe'er thou takest him.

A verse is writ on this, if thou wouldst hear:--

_"There is naught better than to be With n.o.ble souls in company: There is naught better than to wend With good friends faithful to the end.

This is the love whose fruit is sweet, Therefore to bide within is meet."_

Spake Yama, smiling: "Beautiful! thy words Delight me; they are excellent, and teach Wisdom unto the wise, singing soft truth.

Look, now! Except the life of Satyavan, Ask yet another--any--boon from me."

SAvitri said: "Let, then, the pious King, My husband's father, who hath lost his throne, Have back the Raj; and let him rule his realm In happy righteousness. This boon I ask."

"He shall have back the throne," Yama replied, "And he shall reign in righteousness: these things Will surely fall. But thou, gaining thy wish, Return anon; so shalt thou 'scape sore ill."