Chapter 27

Vaisampayana said, “Exiled to the woods the sons of Pritha with Krishnaseated in the evening, conversed with one another afflicted with sorrowand grief. And the handsome and well informed Krishna dear unto her lordsand devoted to them, thus spake unto Yudhishthira, Then sinful, cruel,and wicked-minded son of Dhritarashtra certainly feeleth no sorrow forus, when, O king, that evil-hearted wretch having sent thee with myselfinto the woods dressed in deer-skin feeleth no regret! The heart of thatwretch of evil deeds must surely be made of steel when he could at thattime address thee, his virtuous eldest brother, in words so harsh! Havingbrought thee who deservest to enjoy every happiness and never such woe,into such distress, alas, that wicked-minded and sinful wretch joyethwith his friends! O Bharata, when dressed in deer-skin thou hast set outfor the woods, only four persons, O monarch, viz., Duryodhana, Karna, theevil-minded Sakuni, and Dussasana that bad and fierce brother ofDuryodhana, did not shed tears! With the exception of these, O thou bestof the Kurus, all other Kurus filled with sorrow shed tears from theireyes! Beholding this thy bed and recollecting what thou hadst before, Igrieve, O king, for thee who deservest not woe and hast been brought upin every luxury! Remembering that seat of ivory in thy court, decked withjewels and beholding this seat of kusa grass, grief consumeth me, O king!I saw thee, O king, surrounded in thy court by kings! What peace can myheart know in not beholding thee such now? I beheld thy body, effulgentas the sun, decked with sandal paste! Alas, grief depriveth me of mysenses in beholding thee now besmeared with mud and dirt! I saw theebefore, O king, dressed in silken clothes of pure white! But I now beholdthee dressed in rags? Formerly, O king, pure food of every kind wascarried from thy house on plates of gold for Brahmanas by thousands! And,O king, food also of the best kind was formerly given by thee untoascetics both houseless and living in domesticity! Formerly, living indry mansion thou hadst ever filled with food of every kind plates bythousands, and worshipped the Brahmanas gratifying every wish of theirs!What peace, O king, can my heart know in not beholding all this now? And,O great king, these thy brothers, endued with youth and decked withear-rings, were formerly fed by cook with food of the sweet flavour anddressed with skill! Alas, O king, I now behold them all, so undeservingof woe, living in the woods and upon what the wood may yield! My heart, OKing knoweth no peace! Thinking of this Bhimasena living in sorrow in thewoods, doth not thy anger blaze up, even though it is time? Why doth notthy anger, O king, blaze up upon beholding the illustrious Bhimasena whoever performeth everything unaided, so fallen into distress, thoughdeserving of every happiness? Why, O king, doth not thy anger blaze up onbeholding that Bhima living in the woods who was formerly surrounded withnumerous vehicles and dressed in costly apparel? This exalted personageis ready to slay all the Kurus in battle. He beareth, however, all thissorrow, only because he waiteth for the fufilment of thy promise! ThisArjuna, O king, though possessed of two hands, is equal, for thelightness of his hand in discharging shafts, to (Kartavirya) Arjuna of athousand arms! He Is even (to foes), like unto Yama himself at the end ofthe Yuga! It was by the prowess of his weapons that all the kings of theearth were made to wait upon the Brahmanas at thy sacrifice? Beholdingthat Arjuna that tiger among men worshipped by both the celestials andthe Danavas so anxious, why, O king, dost thou not feel indignant? Igrieve, O Bharata, that thy wrath doth not blaze up at sight of that sonof Pritha in exile, that prince who deserveth not such distress and whohath been brought up in every luxury! Why doth not thy wrath blaze up atsight of that Arjuna in exile, who, on a single car, hath vanquishedcelestials and men and serpents? Why, O king, doth not thy wrath blaze upat sight of that Arjuna in exile who, honoured with offerings of cars andvehicles of various forms and horses and elephants, forcibly took fromthe kings of the earth their treasures, who is the chastiser of all foes,and who at one impetus can throw full five hundred arrows? Why, O king,doth not thy wrath blaze up at sight of Nakula, in exile, who so fair andable-bodied and young, is the foremost of all swordsmen? Why, O king,dost thou pardon the foe. O Yudhishthira, at sight of Madri’s son, thehandsome and brave Sahadeva in exile? Why doth not thy anger blaze up, Oking, it sight of both Nakula and Sahadeva overwhelmed with grief, thoughso undeserving of distress? Why also, O king, dost thou pardon the foe atsight of myself in exile who, born in the race of Drupada and, therefore,the sister of Dhrishtadyumna, am the daughter-in-law of the illustriousPandu and the devoted wife of heroes? Truly, O thou best of the Bharatas,thou hast no anger, else why is it that thy mind is not moved at sight ofthy brothers and myself (in such distress)? It is said that there is noKshatriya in the world who is bereft of anger. I now behold in thee,however, a refutation of the proverb! That Kshatriya, O son of Pritha,who discovereth not his energy when the opportunity cometh, is everdisregarded by all creatures! Therefore, O king, thou shouldst not extendthy forgiveness to the foe. Indeed, with thy energy, without doubt, thou,mayst slay them all! So also, O king, that Kshatriya who is not appeasedwhen the time for forgiveness cometh, becometh unpopular with everycreature and meeteth with destruction both in this and the other world!'”