Maha-bharata Part 13

May these eyes again behold thee in Hastina's ancient town, Conqueror of earthly trials, crowned with virtue's heavenly crown!"

Spake Vidura to the brothers, and they felt their might increase, Bowed to him in salutation, filled with deeper, holier peace,

Bowed to Bhishma and to Drona, and to chiefs and elders all, Exiles to the pathless jungle left their father's ancient hall!

VI

Pritha's Lament

In the inner palace chambers where the royal ladies dwell, Unto Pritha, came Draupadi, came to speak her sad farewell,

Monarch's daughter, monarch's consort, as an exile she must go, Pritha wept and in the chambers rose the wailing voice of woe!

Heaving sobs convulsed her bosom as a silent prayer she prayed, And in accents choked by anguish thus her parting words she said:

"Grieve not, child, if bitter fortune so ordains that we must part, Virtue hath her consolations for the true and loving heart!

And I need not tell thee, daughter, duties of a faithful wife, Drupad's and thy husband's mansions thou hast brightened by thy life!

n.o.bly from the sinning Kurus thou hast turned thy righteous wrath, Safely, with a mother's blessing, tread the trackless jungle path!

Dangers bring no woe or sorrow to the true and faithful wife, Sinless deed and holy conduct ever guard her charmed life!

Nurse thy lord with woman's kindness, and his brothers, where ye go, Young in years in Sahadeva, gentle and unused to woe!"

"Thy fond blessings help me, mother," so the fair Draupadi said, "Safe in righteous truth and virtue, forest paths we fearless tread!"

Wet her eyes and loose her tresses, fair Draupadi bowed and left, Ancient Pritha weeping followed of all earthly joy bereft,

As she went, her duteous children now before their mother came, Clad in garments of the deer-skin, and their heads were bent in shame!

Sorrow welling in her bosom choked her voice and filled her eye, Till in broken stifled accents faintly thus did Pritha cry:

"Ever true to path of duty, n.o.ble children void of stain, True to G.o.ds, to mortals faithful, why this unmerited pain,

Wherefore hath untimely sorrow like a darksome cloud above, Cast its pale and deathful shadow on the children of my love?

Woe to me, your wretched mother, woe to her who gave you birth, Stainless sons, for sins of Pritha have ye suffered on this earth!

Shall ye range the pathless forest dreary day and darksome night, Reft of all save native virtue, clad in native, inborn might?

Woe to me, from rocky mountains where I dwelt by Pandu's side, When I lost him, to Hastina wherefore came I in my pride?

Happy is your sainted father; dwells in regions of the sky, Sees nor feels these earthly sorrows gathering on us thick and high!

Happy too is faithful Madri; for she trod the virtuous way, Followed Pandu to the bright sky, and is now his joy and stay!

Ye alone are left to Pritha, dear unto her joyless heart, Mother's hope and widow's treasure, and ye may not, shall not part!

Leave me not alone on wide earth, loving sons, your virtues prove, Dear Draupadi, loving daughter, let a mother's tear-drops move!

Grant me mercy, kind Creator, and my days in mercy close, End my sorrows, kind VIDHATA, end my life with all my woes!

Help me, pious-hearted Krishna, friend of friendless, wipe my pain, All who suffer pray unto thee and they never pray in vain!

Help me, Bhishma, warlike Drona, Kripa ever good and wise, Ye are friends of truth and virtue, righteous truth ye ever prize!

Help me from thy starry mansions, husband, wherefore dost thou wait, Seest thou not thy G.o.dlike children exiled by a bitter fate!

Part not, leave me not, my children, seek ye not the trackless way, Stay but one, if one child only, as your mother's hope and stay!

Youngest, gentlest Sahadeva, dearest to this widowed heart, Wilt thou watch beside thy mother, while thy cruel brothers part?"

Whispering words of consolation, Pritha's children wiped her eye, Then unto the pathless jungle turned their steps with bitter sigh!

Kuru dames with fainting Pritha to Vidura's palace hie, Kuru queens for weeping Pritha raise their voice in answering cry,

Kuru maids for fair Draupadi fortune's fitful will upbraid, And their tear-dewed lotus-faces with their streaming fingers shade!

Dhrita-rashtra, ancient monarch, is by sad misgivings pained, Questions oft with anxious bosom what the cruel fates ordained.

BOOK V

PATIVRATA-MAHATMYA

(Woman's Love)

True to their word the sons of Pandu went with Draupadi into exile, and pa.s.sed twelve years in the wilderness; and many were the incidents which checkered their forest life. Krishna, who had stood by Yudhishthir in his prosperity, now came to visit him in his adversity; he consoled Draupadi in her distress, and gave good advice to the brothers. Draupadi with a woman's pride and anger still thought of her wrongs and insults, and urged Yudhishthir to disregard the conditions of exile and recover his kingdom. Bhima too was of the same mind, but Yudhishthir would not be moved from his plighted word.

The great _ris.h.i.+_ Vyasa came to visit Yudhishthir, and advised Arjun, great archer as he was, to acquire celestial arms by penance and wors.h.i.+p. Arjun followed the advice, met the G.o.d SIVA in the guise of a hunter, pleased him by his prowess in combat, and obtained his blessings and the _pasupata_ weapon. Arjun then went to INDRA'S heaven and obtained other celestial arms.

In the meanwhile Duryodhan, not content with sending his cousins to exile, wished to humiliate them still more by appearing before them in all his regal power and splendour. Matters how ever turned out differently from what he expected, and he became involved in a quarrel with some _gandharvas_, a cla.s.s of aerial beings. Duryodhan was taken captive by them, and it was the Pandav brothers who released him from his captivity, and allowed him to return to his kingdom in peace. This act of generosity rankled in his bosom and deepened his hatred.

Jayadratha, king of the Sindhu or Indus country, and a friend and ally of Duryodhan, came to the woods, and in the absence of the Pandav brothers carried off Draupadi. The Pandavs however pursued the king, chastised him for his misconduct, and rescued Draupadi.

Still more interesting than these various incidents are the tales and legends with which this book is replete. Great saints came to see Yudhishthir in his exile, and narrated to him legends of ancient times and of former kings. One of these beautiful episodes, the tale of Nala and Damayanti, has been translated into graceful English verse by Dean Milman, and is known to many English readers. The legend of Agastya who drained the ocean dry; of Parasu-Rama a Brahman who killed the Kshatriyas of the earth; of Bhagiratha who brought down the Ganges from the skies to the earth; of Manu and the universal deluge; of Vishnu and various other G.o.ds; of Rama and his deeds which form the subject of the Epic _Ramayana_;--these and various other legends have been inter woven in the account of the forest-life of the Pandavs, and make it a veritable storehouse of ancient Hindu tales and traditions.

Among these various legends and tales I have selected one which is singular and striking. The great truth proclaimed under the thin guise of an eastern allegory is that a True Woman's Love is not conquered by Death. The story is known by Hindu women high and low, rich and poor, in all parts of India; and on a certain night in the year millions of Hindu women celebrate a rite in honour of the woman whose love was not conquered by death. Legends like these, though they take away from the unity and conciseness of the Epic, impart a moral instruction to the millions of India the value of which cannot be overestimated.

The portion translated in this Book forms Sections ccxcii. And ccxciii., a part of Section ccxciv. and Sections ccxcv. and ccxcvi.

of Book iii. of the original text.

I