Chapter 223

“Vaisampayana said, ‘When the heroes of the Vrishni race began to speakrepeatedly in this strain, Vasudeva uttered these words pregnant withdeep import and consistent with true morality. Gudakesa (the conqueror ofsleep or he of the curly hair), by what he hath done, hath not insultedour family.

He hath without doubt, rather enhanced our respect. Parthaknoweth that we of the Satwata race are never mercenary. The son of Pandualso regardeth a self-choice as doubtful in its results. Who also wouldapprove of accepting a bride in gift as if she were an animal? What managain is there on earth that would sell his offspring? I think Arjuna,seeing these faults in all the other methods took the maiden away byforce, according to the ordinance. This alliance is very proper. Subhadrais a renowned girl. Partha too possesseth renown. Perhaps, thinking ofall this, Arjuna hath taken her away by force. Who is there that wouldnot desire to have Arjuna for a friend, who is born in the race ofBharata and the renowned Santanu, and the son also of the daughter ofKuntibhoja? I do not see, in all the worlds with Indra and the Rudras,the person that can by force vanquish Partha in battle, except thethree-eyed god Mahadeva. His car is well-known. Yoked thereunto are thosesteeds of mine. Partha as a warrior is well-known; and his lightness ofhand is well-known. Who shall be equal to him? Even this is my opinion:go ye cheerfully after Dhananjaya and by conciliation stop him and bringhim back. If Partha goes to his city after having vanquished us by force,our fame will be gone. There is no disgrace, however, in conciliation.’Hearing, O monarch, those words of Vasudeva, they did as he directed.Stopped by them, Arjuna returned to Dwaraka and was united in marriagewith Subhadra. Worshipped by the sons of Vrishni’s race, Arjuna, sportingthere as he pleased, passed a whole year in Dwaraka. The last year of hisexile the exalted one passed at the sacred region of Pushkara. After thetwelve years were complete he came back to Khandavaprastha. He approachedthe king first and then worshipped the Brahmanas with respectfulattention. At last the hero went unto Draupadi. Draupadi, from jealousy,spoke unto him, saying, ‘Why tarriest thou here, O son of Kunti? Go wherethe daughter of the Satwata race is! A second tie always relaxeth thefirst one upon a faggot!’ And Krishna lamented much in this strain. ButDhananjaya pacified her repeatedly and asked for her forgiveness. Andreturning soon unto where Subhadra, attired in red silk, was staying,Arjuna, sent her into the inner apartments dressed not as a queen but inthe simple garb of a cowherd woman. But arrived at the palace, therenowned Subhadra looked handsomer in that dress. The celebrated Bhadraof large and slightly red eyes first worshipped Pritha. Kunti from excessof affection smelt the head of that girl of perfectly faultless features,and pronounced infinite blessing upon her. Then that girl of face likethe full moon hastily went unto Draupadi and worshipped her, saying, ‘Iam thy maid!’ Krishna rose hastily and embraced the sister of Madhavafrom affection, and said, ‘Let thy husband be without a foe!’ Bhadrathen, with a delighted heart, said unto Draupadi, ‘So be it!’ From thattime, O Janamejaya, those great warriors, the Pandavas, began to livehappily, and Kunti also became very happy.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘When that scorcher of foes, viz., Kesava ofpure soul and eyes, like lotus-petals, heard that the foremost of thePandavas, viz., Arjuna, had reached his own excellent city ofIndraprastha, he came thither accompanied by Rama and the other heroesand great warriors of the Vrishni and the Andhaka tribes, and by hisbrothers and sons and many other brave warriors. And Saurin cameaccompanied by a large army that protected him. And there came withSaurin, that oppressor of foes, viz., the exceedingly liberal Akrura ofgreat intelligence and renown, the generalissimo of the brave Vrishnihost. And there also came Anadhrishti of great prowess, and Uddhava ofgreat renown, of great intelligence, of great soul, and a disciple ofVrihaspati himself. And there also came Satyaka and Salyaka andKritavarman and Satwata; and Pradyumna and Samva and Nisatha and Sanku;and Charudeshna, and Jhilli of great prowess, and Viprithu also andSarana of mighty arms and Gada, the foremost of learned men. These andmany other Vrishnis and Bhojas, and Andhakas came to Indraprastha,bringing with them many nuptial presents. King Yudhishthira, hearing thatMadhava had arrived, sent the twins out to receive him. Received by them,the Vrishni host of great prosperity entered Khandavaprastha well-adornedwith flags and ensigns. The streets were well-swept and watered anddecked with floral wreaths and bunches. These were, again, sprinkled overwith sandalwood water that was fragrant and cooling. Every part of thetown was filled with the sweet scent of burning aloes. And the city wasfull of joyous and healthy people and adorned with merchants and traders.That best of men, viz., Kesava of mighty arms, accompanied by Rama andmany of the Vrishnis, Andhakas and Bhojas, having entered the town, wasworshipped by the citizens and Brahmanas by thousands. At last Kesavaentered the palace of the king which was like unto the mansion of Indrahimself. Beholding Rama, Yudhishthira received him with due ceremonies.The king smelt the head of Kesava and embraced him. Govinda, gratifiedwith the reception, humbly worshipped Yudhishthira. He also paid homageunto Bhima, that tiger among men. Yudhishthira the son of Kunti thenreceived the other principal men of the Vrishni and the Andhaka tribeswith due ceremonies. Yudhishthira reverentially worshipped some as hissuperiors, and welcomed others as equals. And some he received withaffection and by some he was worshipped with reverence. Then Hrishikesaof great renown gave unto the party of the bridegroom much wealth. Andunto Subhadra he gave the nuptial presents that had been given to her byher relatives. Krishna gave unto the Pandavas a thousand cars of goldfurnished with rows of bells, and unto each of which were put four steedsdriven by well-trained charioteers. He also gave unto them ten thousandcows belonging to the country of Mathura, and yielding much milk and allof excellent colour. Well-pleased, Janardana also gave them a thousandmares with gold harnesses and of colour white as the beams of the moon.He also gave them a thousand mules, all well-trained and possessing thespeed of the wind, of white colour with black manes. And he of eyes likelotus-petals also gave unto them a thousand damsels well-skilled inassisting at bathing and at drinking, young in years and virgins allbefore their first-season, well-attired and of excellent complexion, eachwearing a hundred pieces of gold around her neck, of skins perfectlypolished, decked with every ornament, and well-skilled in every kind ofpersonal service. Janardana also gave unto them hundreds of thousands ofdraft horses from the country of the Valhikas as Subhadra’s excellentdower. That foremost one of Dasarha’s race also gave unto Subhadra as herpeculium ten carrier-loads of first class gold possessing the splendourof fire, some purified and some in a state of ore. And Rama having theplough for his weapon and always loving bravery gave unto Arjuna, as anuptial present, a thousand elephants with secretions flowing in threestreams from the three parts of their bodies (the temple, the ears, andthe anus) each large as a mountain summit, irresistible in battle, deckedwith coverlets and bells, well-adorned with other golden ornaments, andequipped with excellent thrones on their backs. And that large wave ofwealth and gems that the Yadavas presented, together with the cloths andblankets that represented its foam, and the elephants its alligators andsharks, and the flags its floating weeds swelling into large proportions,mingled with the Pandu ocean and filled it to the brim, to the greatsorrow of all foes. Yudhishthira accepted all those presents andworshipped all those great warriors of the Vrishni and the Andhaka races.Those illustrious heroes of the Kuru, the Vrishni, and the Andhaka racespassed their days in pleasure and merriment there like virtuous men(after death) in the celestial regions. The Kurus and the Vrishnis withjoyous hearts amused themselves there, setting up at times loud shoutsmingled with clappings of the hand. Spending many days in sports andmerriment there, and worshipped by the Kurus all the while, the Vrishniheroes endued with great energy then returned to the city of Dwaravati.And the great warriors of the Vrishni and the Andhaka races set out withRama in the van, carrying with them those gems of the purest rays thathad been given them by those foremost ones of Kuru’s race. And, OBharata, the high-souled Vasudeva remained there with Arjuna in thedelightful city of Indraprastha. And the illustrious one wandered overthe banks of the Yamuna in search of deer. And he sported with Arjunapiercing with his shafts deer and wild boars. Then Subhadra, thefavourite sister of Kesava, gave birth to an illustrious son, likePuloma’s daughter, (the queen of heaven) bringing forth Jayanta. And theson that Subhadra brought forth was of long arms, broad chest, and eyesas large as those of a bull. That hero and oppressor of foes came to becalled Abhimanyu. And the son of Arjuna, that grinder of foes and bullamong men, was called Abhimanyu because he was fearless and wrathful. Andthat great warrior was begotten upon the daughter of the Satwata race byDhananjaya, like fire produced in a sacrifice from within the sami woodby the process of rubbing. Upon the birth of this child, Yudhishthira,the powerful son of Kunti, gave away unto Brahmanas ten thousand cows andcoins of gold. The child from his earliest years became the favourite ofVasudeva and of his father and uncles, like the moon of all the people ofthe world. Upon his birth, Krishna performed the usual rites of infancy.The child began to grow up like the Moon of the bright fortnight. Thatgrinder of foes soon became conversant with the Vedas and acquired fromhis father the science of weapon both celestial and human, consisting offour branches and ten divisions.

“Endued with great strength, the child also acquired the knowledge ofcounteracting the weapons hurled at him by others, and great lightness ofhand and fleetness of motion forward and backward and transverse andwheeling. Abhimanyu became like unto his father in knowledge of thescriptures and rites of religion. And Dhananjaya, beholding his son,became filled with joy. Like Maghavat beholding Arjuna, the latter beheldhis son Abhimanyu and became exceedingly happy. Abhimanyu possessed thepower of slaying every foe and bore on his person every auspicious mark.He was invisible in battle and broad-shouldered as the bull. Possessing abroad face as (the hood of) the snake, he was proud like the lion.Wielding a large bow, his prowess was like that of an elephant in rut.Possessed of a face handsome as the full-moon, and of a voice deep as thesound of the drum or the clouds, he was equal unto Krishna in bravery andenergy, in beauty and in features. The auspicious Panchali also, from herfive husbands, obtained five sons all of whom were heroes of the foremostrank and immovable in battle like the hills. Prativindhya byYudhishthira, Sutasoma by Vrikodara, Srutakarman by Arjuna, Satanika byNakula, and Srutasena by Sahadeva,–these were the five heroes and greatwarriors that Panchali brought forth, like Aditi bringing forth theAdityas. And the Brahmanas, from their foreknowledge, said untoYudhishthira that as the son of his would be capable of bearing like theVindhya mountains the weapons of the foe, he should be calledPrativindhya. And because the child that Draupadi bore to Bhimasena wasborn after Bhima had performed a thousand Soma sacrifices, he came to becalled Sutasoma. And because Arjuna’s son was born upon his return fromexile during which he had achieved many celebrated feats, that child cameto be called Srutakarman. While Nakula named his son Satanika after aroyal sage of that name, in the illustrious race of Kuru. Again the sonthat Draupadi bore to Sahadeva was born under the constellation calledVahni-daivata (Krittika), therefore was he called after the generalissimoof the celestial host, Srutasena (Kartikeya). The sons of Draupadi wereborn, each at the interval of one year, and all of them became renownedand much attached to one another. And, O monarch, all their rites ofinfancy and childhood, such as Chudakarana and Upanayana (first shave ofthe head and investiture with the sacred threads) were performed byDhaumya according to the ordinance. All of them, of excellent behaviourand vows, after having studied the Vedas, acquired from Arjuna aknowledge of all the weapons, celestial and human. And, O tiger amongkings, the Pandavas, having obtained sons all of whom were equal unto thechildren of the celestials and endued with broad chests, and all of whombecame great warriors, were filled with joy.'”