Chapter 195

“Sanjaya said, ‘Hearing these words of Arjuna, the mighty car-warriorspresent there said not a single word, O monarch, agreeable ordisagreeable, unto Dhananjaya. Then the mighty-armed Bhimasena, filledwith wrath, O bull of Bharata’s race, reproaching Kunti’s son, Arjuna,said these words, ‘Thou preachest truths of morality like an anchoriteliving in the woods or a Brahmana of rigid vows and senses under completecontrol. A person is called a Kshatriya because he rescues others fromwounds and injuries. Being such, he must save himself from wounds andinjuries. Showing forgiveness towards the three that are good (viz., thegods, the Brahmanas, and preceptor), a Kshatriya, by doing his duties,soon wins the earth as also piety and fame and prosperity.[262] Thou, Operpetuator of thy race, art endued with every attribute of a Kshatriya.It does not, therefore, look well for thee to speak like an ignorantwight. O son of Kunti, thy prowess is like that of Sakra himself, thelord of Sachi. Thou dost not transgress the bounds of morality like theocean that never transgresses its continents. Who is there that would notworship thee, seeing that thou seekest virtue, having abandoned the wrathcherished by thee for thirteen years? By good luck, O sire, thy hearttoday followeth in the wake of virtue. O thou of unfading glory, by goodluck, thy understanding inclineth towards compassion. Though, however,thou art inclined to adopt the path of virtue, thy kingdom was snatchedfrom thee most unrighteously. Dragging the wife Draupadi to the assembly,thy foes insulted her. Clad in barks of trees and skins of animals, allof us were exiled to the woods, and though we were undeserving of thatplight, our foes nevertheless compelled us to endure it for thirteenyears. O sinless one, thou hast forgiven all these circumstances, everyone of which demands the exhibition of wrath. Wedded as thou art toduties of a Kshatriya, thou hast quietly borne these. Remembering allthose acts of unrighteousness, I came here with thee for avenging myselfof them. (When, however, I see that thou art so indifferent, why), Imyself will slay those low wretches that despoiled us of our kingdom.Thou hadst formerly said these words, viz., Addressing ourselves tobattle, we will exert to the utmost extent of our abilities. Today,however, thou reproachest us. Thou now seekest, virtue. Those words,therefore, that thou saidst formerly were untrue. We are alreadyafflicted with fear. Thou cuttest, however, the very core of our heartswith these thy words, O crusher of foes, like one pouring acid upon thesores of wounded men. Afflicted with thy wordy darts, my heart isbreaking. Thou art virtuous, but thou dost not know in what righteousnesstruly consists, since thou applaudest neither thyself nor us, though allof us are worthy of applause. When Kesava himself is here, praisest thouthe son of Drona, a warrior that does not come up to even a sixteenthpart of thyself, O Dhanajaya, confessing thy own faults, why dost thounot feel shame? I can rend asunder this earth in rage, or split the verymountains in whirling that terrible and heavy mace of mine, decked withgold. Like the tempest, I can break down gigantic trees looking likehills. I can, with my arrows, rout the united celestials with Indra attheir head, together with all the Rakshasas, O Partha, and the Asuras,the Uragas and human beings. Knowing me, thy brother, to be such, O bullamong men, it behoveth thee not, O thou of immeasurable prowess, toentertain any fear about Drona’s son. Or, O Vibhatsu, stand thou here,with all these bulls amongst men. Alone and unsupported, I shall, armedwith my mace, vanquish this one in great battle.’ After Bhima had ended,the son of the Panchala king, addressing Partha, said these words, likeHiranyakasipu (the leader of the Daityas) unto the enraged and roaringVishnu,[263] ‘O Vibhatsu, the sages have ordained these to be the dutiesof Brahmanas, viz., assisting at sacrifices, teaching, giving away,performance of sacrifices, receiving of gifts, and study as the sixth. Towhich of these six was that Drona devoted who has been stain by me?Fallen off from the duties of his own order and practising those of theKshatriya order, that achiever of wicked deeds used to stay us by meansof superhuman weapons. Professing himself to be a Brahmana, he was in thehabit of using irresistible illusion. By an illusion itself hath he beenslain today. O Partha, what is there that is improper in this? Dronahaving been thus punished by me, if his son, from rage, uttereth loudroars, what do you lose by that? I do not think it at all wonderful thatDrona’s son, urging the Kauravas to battle, will cause them to be slain,unable to protect them himself. Thou art acquainted with morality. Whythen dost thou say that I am a slayer of my preceptor? It was for thisthat I was born as a son to the king of the Panchalas, having sprung fromthe (sacrificial) fire. How, O Dhananjaya, you call him a Brahmana orKshatriya, with whom, while engaged in battle, all acts, proper andimproper, were the same? O foremost of men, why should not he be slain,by any means in our power, who, deprived of his senses in wrath, used toslay with the Brahma weapons even those that were unacquainted withweapons? He that is unrighteous is said by those that are righteous to beequal to poison. Knowing this, O thou that art well versed with thetruths of morality, why dost thou, O Arjuna, reproach me? That cruelcar-warrior was seized and slain by me. I have done nothing that isworthy of reproach. Why then, O Vibhatsu, dost thou not congratulate me?O Partha, I have cut off that terrible head, like unto the blazing sun orvirulent poison or the all-destroying Yuga fire, of Drona. Why then dostthou not applaud an act that is worthy of applause? He had slain inbattle only my kinsmen and not those of any one else. I say that havingonly cut off his head, the fever of my heart hath not abated. The verycore of my heart is being pierced for my not having thrown that headwithin the dominion of the Nishadas, like that of Jayadratha![264] Ithath been heard, O Arjuna, that one incurreth sin by not slaying hisfoes. Even this is the duty of a Kshatriya, viz., to slay or be slain.Drona was my foe. He hath been righteously slain by me in battle, O sonof Pandu, even as thou hast slain the brave Bhagadatta, thy friend.Having slain thy grandsire in battle, thou regardest that act to berighteous. Why then shouldst thou regard it unrighteous in me for myhaving slain my wretched foe? In consequence of our relationship, OPartha, I cannot raise my head in thy presence and am like a prostrateelephant with a ladder against his body (for helping puny creatures toget on his back). It, therefore, behoveth thee not to reproach me. Iforgive all the faults of thy speech, O Arjuna, for the sake of Draupadiand Draupadi’s children and not for any other reason. It is well knownthat my hostility with the preceptor has descended from sire to son. Allpersons in this world know it. Ye sons of Pandu, are ye not acquaintedwith it? The eldest son of Pandu hath not been untruthful in speech. Imyself, O Arjuna, am not sinful. The wretched Drona was a hater of hisdisciples. Fight now. Victory will be thine.'”