Chapter 17

“Kunti said, ‘It is even so, O mighty-armed son of Pandu, as thou sayest.Ye kings, formerly when ye were cheerless, it was even in this way that Iexcited you all. Yes, seeing that your kingdom was wrested from you by amatch at dice, seeing that you all fell from happiness, seeing that youwere domineered over by kinsmen, I instilled courage and high thoughtsinto your minds. Ye foremost of men, I encouraged you in order that theythat were the sons of Pandu might not be lost, in order that their famemight not be lost. You are all equal to Indra. Your prowess resemblesthat of the very gods. In order that you might not live, watching thefaces of others, I acted in that way.[34] I instilled courage into thyheart in order that thou who art the foremost of all righteous persons,who art equal to Vasava, might not again go into the woods and live inmisery. I instilled courage into your hearts in order that this Bhima whois possessed of the strength of ten thousand elephants and whose prowessand manliness are widely known, might not sink into insignificance andruin. I instilled courage into your hearts in order that this Vijaya, whowas born after Bhimasena, and who is equal unto Vasava himself might notbe cheerless. I instilled courage into your hearts in order that Nakulaand Sahadeva, who are always devoted to their seniors, might not beweakened and rendered cheerless by hunger. I acted in that way in orderthat this lady of well-developed proportions and of large expansive eyesmight not endure the wrongs inflicted on her in the public hall withoutbeing avenged. In the very sight of you all, O Bhima, Dussasana, throughfolly, dragged her trembling all over like a plantain plant, during theperiod of her functional illness, and after she had been won at dice, asif she were a slave. All this was known to me. Indeed, the race of Panduhad been subjugated (by foes). The Kurus, viz., my father-in-law andothers, were cheerless when she, desirous of a protector, uttered loudlamentations like a she-osprey. When she was dragged by her fair locks bythe sinful Dussasana with little intelligence, I was deprived of mysenses, O king. Know, that for enhancing your energy, I instilled thatcourage into your hearts by reciting the words of Vidula, O my sons. Iinstilled courage into your hearts, O my sons, in order that the race ofPandu, represented by my children, might not be lost. The sons andgrandsons of that person who brings a race to infamy never succeed inattaining to the regions of the righteous. Verily, the ancestors of theKaurava race were in danger of losing those regions of felicity which hadbecome theirs. As regards myself, O my sons, I, before this, enjoyed thegreat fruits of that sovereignty which my husband had acquired. I madelarge gifts. I duly drank the Soma juice in sacrifice.[35] It was not formy own sake that I had urged Vasudeva with the stirring words of Vidula.It was for your sake that I had called upon you to follow that advice. Omy sons, I do not desire the fruits of that sovereignty which has beenwon by my children. O thou of great puissance, I wish to attain, by mypenances, to those regions of felicity which have been acquired by myhusband. By rendering obedient service to my father-in-law andmother-in-law both of whom wish to take up their abode in the woods, andby penances, I desire, O Yudhishthira, to waste my body. Do thou cease tofollow me, O foremost one of Kuru’s race, along with Bhima and others.Let thy understanding be always devoted to righteousness. Let thy mind bealways great.'”