Chapter 196

“Dhritarashtra said, ‘That illustrious person who had duly studied theVedas with all their branches, he, in whom the entire science of arms andmodesty had dwelt, he through whose grace many foremost of men are stillcapable of achieving superhuman feats which the very gods cannot achievewith care, alas, when he, viz., that Drona, that son of a great Rishi wasinsulted in the sight of all by the low, wicked, mean minded and sinfulDhrishtadyumna, that slayer of his own preceptor, was there no Kshatriyawho felt called upon to display his wrath? Fie on the Kshatriya order,and fie on wrath itself! Tell me, O Sanjaya, what the sons of Pritha, asalso all the other royal bowmen in the world, hearing of Drona’sslaughter, said unto the prince of Panchala.’

“Sanjaya said, ‘Hearing these words of Drupada’s son, of crooked deeds,all the persons present there, O monarch, remained perfectly silent.Arjuna, however, casting oblique glances upon Prishata’s son, seemed,with tears and sighs, to reproach him, saying, ‘Fie, fie.’ Yudhishthiraand Bhima and the twins and Krishna and the others stood bashfully.Satyaki, however, O king, said these words, ‘Is there no man here thatwould, without delay, slay this sinful wight, this lowest of men, who isuttering such evil speeches? The Pandavas are all condemning thee forthis sinful act of thine, like Brahmanas condemning a person of theChandala class. Having committed such a heinous act, having incurred thecensures of all honest men, art thou not ashamed to open thy lips in themidst of such a respectable assembly? O despicable wretch, why did notthy tongue and head split into a hundred fragments while thou wert aboutto slay thy own preceptor? Why wert thou not struck down by that act ofsin? Since, having perpetrated such a sinful act, again applaudingthyself in the midst of human beings, thou incurrest the censures of theParthas and all the Andhakas and the Vrishnis. Having perpetrated such anatrocious act, thou art again displaying such hatred towards thepreceptor. For this thou deservest death at our hands. There is no use inkeeping thee alive for even a single moment. Who is there, save thee, Owretch, that would cause the death of the virtuous preceptor, seizing himby his locks? Having obtained thee, O wretch, thy ancestors, for sevengenerations and thy descendants also for seven generations, deprived offame, have sunk into hell, Thou hast charged Partha, that bull among men,with the slaughter of Bhishma. The latter, however, viz., thatillustrious personage, himself accomplished his own death. Trulyspeaking, the uterine brother, (viz., Sikhandin), that foremost of allsinners, was the cause of Bhishma’s death. There is none in the worldthat is more sinful than the sons of the Panchala king. Thy father hadcreated Sikhandin for the destruction of Bhishma. As regards Arjuna, hehad only, protected Sikhandin while Sikhandin became the cause of theillustrious Bhishma’s death. Having got thee that is condemned by allrighteous men, and thy brother, amongst them, the Panchalas have fallenoff from righteousness, and stained with meanness, have become haters offriends and preceptors. If thou again speakest such words in my presence,I shall then break with this mace of mine that is as strong as thethunderbolt. Beholding thee that art the slayer of a Brahmana, since thouart guilty of nothing less than the slaughter of a Brahmana., people haveto look at the sun for purifying themselves. Thou wretch of a Panchala, Othou of wicked conduct, speaking all of my preceptor first and then of mypreceptor’s preceptor, art thou not ashamed?[265] Wait, wait! Bear thoubut one stroke of this my mace! I myself will bear many strokes ofthine.’ Thus rebuked by the Satwata hero, Prishata’s son, filled withrage, smilingly addressed the angry Satyaki in these harsh words.’

“Dhrishtadyumna said, ‘I have heard thy words, O thou of Madhu’s race,but I have forgiven thee. Being thyself unrighteous and sinful, desirestthou to rebuke them that are righteous and honest? Forgiveness isapplauded in the world. Sin, however, does not deserve forgiveness. Hethat is of sinful soul regards the forgiving person powerless. Thou art awretch in thy behaviour. Thou art of sinful soul. Thou art wedded tounrighteousness. Thou art censurable in every respect, from the tip ofthy toe to the end of their hair. Desirest thou still to speak ill ofothers? What can be more sinful than that act of thine, viz., thyslaughter of the armless Bhurisravas while sitting in Praya, althoughthou wert with the aid of celestial weapons. He had laid aside hisweapons and I slew him. O thou of crooked heart, what is there in thatact that is improper? How can he, O Satyaki, blame such an act whohimself has in Praya like an ascetic, and whose arms had been cut off byanother? That valiant enemy of thine had displayed his prowess havingstruck thee with his foot and thrown thee down on the earth. Why didstthou not then slay him, showing thy manliness? When Partha, however, hadalready vanquished him, it was then that thou, acting most unrighteously,didst kill the brave and valiant Somadatta’s son. When Drona had soughtto rout the forces of the Pandavas, then I proceeded, shooting thousandsof arrows. Having thyself acted in such a way, like a Chandala, andhaving thyself become worthy of reproach, desirest thou to reproach me insuch harsh words? Thou art a perpetrator of evil deeds, and not I, Owretch the Vrishni race! Thou art the abode of all sinful deeds. Do notagain blame me. Be silent. It behoveth thee. Don’t say anything unto meafter this. This is the reply I give thee with my lips. Don’t sayanything more. If, from folly, thou repeatest such harsh words, I shallthen, in battle, despatch thee, with my arrows, to Yama’s abode. Byrighteousness alone, O fool, one cannot vanquish his enemies. Listen nowto the unrighteous acts of the Kurus also. Pandu’s son, Yudhishthira wassome time back unrighteously deceived by them. O Satyaki, Draupadi alsowas persecuted by them unrighteously. The Pandavas, with Krishna in theircompany, were also exiled and they were robbed of their all, O fool, mostunrighteously. By an act of unrighteousness, again, has the ruler of theMadras been withdrawn from us by the enemy. By an act of unrighteousnessalso was the son of Subhadra slain. On this side, it was by an act ofunrighteousness that Bhishma, the Kuru grandsire, was slain. Bhurisravas,too, was, by an act of unrighteousness, slain by thee that art soacquainted with righteousness. Even thus have the enemy, as also thePandavas, acted in this battle. Possessed of courage and acquainted withmorality, all of them, O Satwata, have acted thus, for gaining victory.High morality is difficult of ascertainment. Similarly, immorality alsocan with difficulty be comprehended. Fight now with the Kauravas, withoutreturning to the home of thy fathers.’

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Hearing these harsh and cruel words (fromDhrishtadyumna’s lips), the blessed Satyaki began to tremble from head tofoot. With rage his eyes assumed the hue of copper. Keeping his bow thenupon his car, he grasped his mace, sighing like a Snake. Rushing, then,towards the prince of the Panchalas, he said unto him in great wrath, ‘Iwill not speak harshly to thee, but I will slay thee, deserving as thouart of slaughter.’ Seeing the mighty Satyaki rushing, from wrath anddesire of revenge, at the Panchala prince, like Yama against one like hisown self, the mighty Bhima, urged by Vasudeva, quickly jumped down fromhis car and seized him with his arms. Endued with great strength,Satyaki, who was rushing in great wrath, proceeded for a few steps,forcibly dragging after him the mighty son of Pandu who was endeavouringto hold him back. Then Bhima firmly planting his feet stopped at thesixth step that foremost of strong men, viz., that bull of Sini’s race.Then Sahadeva, O king, jumping down from his own car, addressed Satyaki,thus held fast by the strong arms of Bhima, in these words, ‘O tigeramong men, O thou of Madhu’s race, we have no friends dearer to us thanthe Andhakas, the Vrishnis and the Panchalas. So also the Andhakas andthe Vrishnis, particularly Krishna, cannot have any friends dearer thanourselves. The Panchalas, also, O thou of Vrishni’s race, even if theysearch the whole world to the confines of the sea, have no friends dearerto them than the Pandavas and the Vrishnis. Thou art even such a friendto this prince; and he also is a similar friend to thee. Ye all are to useven as we are to you. Acquainted as thou art with all duties,remembering now the duties thou owest to friends, restrain this wrath ofthine, that has the prince of the Panchalas for its object. Be calm, Oforemost one of Sini’s race! Forgive the son of Prishata, and letPrishata’s son also forgive thee. Ourselves also will practiseforgiveness. What is there that is better than forgiveness?’

“While the scion of Sini, O sire, was thus being pacified by Sahadeva,the son of the Panchala king, smiling, said these words, ‘Release Sini’sgrandson, O Bhima who is so proud of his prowess in battle. Let him comeat me like the wind assailing the mountains, till, with my keen arrows, Oson of Kunti, I quell his rage and desire for battle and take his life.Yonder come the Kauravas. I shall (after staying Satyaki) achieve thisgreat task of the Pandavas that has presented itself. Or let Phalgunaresist all the enemies in battle. As regards myself, I will fell thisone’s head with my arrows. He taketh me for the armless Bhurisravas inbattle. Release him. Either I will slay him or he will slay me.’ Hearingthese words of the Panchala prince, the mighty Satyaki held fast inBhima’s clasp, sighing like a snake, began to tremble. Both of them,endued with great might and possessed of powerful arms, began to roarlike a couple of bulls. Then Vasudeva, O sire, and king Yudhishthira thejust, with great effort, succeeded in pacifying those heroes. Havingpacified those two great bowmen, those two heroes, whose eyes had becomeblood-red with rage, all the Kshatriyas (of the Pandava) army proceededagainst the warriors of the hostile army for battle.’