Chapter 125

“Yudhishthira said, ‘Thou hast said, O grandsire, that behaviour is thefirst (of requisites for a man). Whence, however, does Hope arise? Tellme what it is. This great doubt has taken possession of my mind. There isno other person than thee, O subjugator of hostile towns, who can removeit. O grandsire, I had great hope in respect of Suyodhana that when, abattle was about to ensue (in consequence of his own obstinacy), hewould, O lord, do what was proper. In every man hope is great. When thathope is destroyed, great is the grief that succeeds, and which, withoutdoubt, is equal to almost death itself. Fool that I am, Dhritarashtra’swicked-souled son, Duryodhana, destroyed the hope I had cherished.Behold, O king, the foolishness of my mind! I think that hope is vasterthan a mountain with all its trees. Or, perhaps, it is vaster than thefirmament itself. Or, perhaps, O king, it is really immeasurable. Hope, Ochief of the Kurus, is exceedingly difficult of being understood andequally difficult of being subdued. Beholding this last attribute ofHope, I ask, what else is so unconquerable as this?’

“Bhishma said, ‘I shall narrate to thee, O Yudhishthira, in thisconnection, the discourse between Sumitra and Rishabha that took place inolden times. Listen to it. A royal sage of the Haihaya race, Sumitra byname, went out a hunting. He pursued a deer, having pierced it with astraight shaft. Possessed of great strength, the deer ran ahead, with thearrow sticking to him. The king was possessed of great strength, andaccordingly pursued with great speed his prey. The animal, endued withfleetness, quickly cleared a low ground and then a level plain. The king,young, active and strong, and armed with bow and sword and cased in mail,still pursued it. Unaccompanied by anybody, in chasing the animal throughthe forest the king crossed many rivers and streams and lakes and copses.Endued with great speed, the animal, at its will, showing itself now andthen to the king, ran on with great speed. Pierced with many shafts bythe king, that denizen of wilderness, O monarch, as if in sport,repeatedly lessened the distance between itself and the pursuer.Repeatedly putting forth its speed and traversing one forest afteranother, it now and then showed itself to the king at a near point. Atlast that crusher of foes, taking a very superior shaft, sharp, terrible,and capable of penetrating into the very vitals, fixed it on hisbowstring. The animal then, of huge proportions, as if laughing at thepursuer’s efforts suddenly distanced him by reaching a point full fourmiles ahead of the range of the shaft. That arrow of blazing splendouraccordingly fell on the ground. The deer entered a large forest but theking still continued the chase.'”