Chapter 66

“‘Yudhishthira said, “Welcome, O thou that hast Devaki for thy mother,and welcome to thee, O Dhananjaya! The sight of both of you, O Acyuta andArjuna, is exceedingly agreeable! I see that without being woundedyourselves, you two, his foes, have slain the mighty car-warrior Karna!He was in battle like unto a snake of virulent poison. He wasaccomplished in all weapons. The leader of all the Dhartarashtras, he wastheir armour and protector! While fighting he was always protected byVrishasena and by Sushena, both of whom are great bowmen! Of greatenergy, he had received lessons from Rama in weapons! He was invinciblein battle! The foremost one in all the world, as a car-warrior he wascelebrated throughout all the worlds. He was the saviour of theDhartarashtras, and the proceeder in their van! A slayer of hostiletroops, he was the crusher of large bands of foes. Ever engaged inDuryodhana’s good, he was always prepared to inflict woe on us! He wasinvincible in battle by the very gods with Vasava at their head. Inenergy and might he was equal unto the god of fire and the god of wind.In gravity he was unfathomable as the Nether world. The enhancer of thejoys of friends, he was like the Destroyer himself unto foes! Havingslain Karna (who was even so) in dreadful battle, by good luck it is thatyou two have come, like a couple of celestials after vanquishing anAsura! Today, O Acyuta and Arjuna, a great battle was fought betweenmyself exerting with might and that hero resembling the Destroyerhimself, while seeking to exterminate all creatures! My standard was cutdown, and my two Parshni drivers also were slain by him. I was also madesteedless and carless by him in the very sight of Yuyudhana, ofDhrishtadyumna, of the twins (Nakula and Sahadeva), of the heroicShikhandi, as also in the very sight of the sons of Draupadi, and all thePancalas! Having vanquished those innumerable foes, Karna of mightyenergy then vanquished me, O thou of mighty arms, although I exertedmyself resolutely in battle! Pursuing me then and without doubt,vanquishing all my protectors, that foremost of warriors addressed me indiverse harsh speeches. That I am still alive, O Dhananjaya, is due tothe prowess of Bhimasena. What more need I say? I am unable to bear thathumiliation! For thirteen years, O Dhananjaya, through fear of Karna, Idid not obtain any sleep by night or any comfort by day! Filled withhatred of Karna, I burn, O Dhananjaya! Like the bird Vaddhrinasa I fledfrom Karna, knowing that the time for my own destruction had come. Thewhole of my time had passed in the thought as to how I would accomplishthe destruction of Karna in battle! Awake or asleep, O son of Kunti, Ialways beheld Karna (with my mind’s eye). Wherever I was, the universeappeared to me to be full of Karna! Inspired with the fear of Karna,wherever I used to go, O Dhananjaya, thither I beheld Karna standingbefore my eyes! Vanquished in battle, with my steeds and car, by thathero who never retreated from battle, alive I was let off by him! Whatuse have I of life or of kingdom either, since Karna, that ornament ofbattle, today cried fie on me? That which I had never before met with atthe hands of Bhishma or Kripa or Drona in battle, that I met with todayat the hands of the Suta’s son, that mighty car-warrior! It is for this,O son of Kunti, that I ask thee today about thy welfare! Tell me indetail how thou hast slain Karna today! In battle Karna was equal untoSakra himself. In prowess he was equal unto Yama. In weapons he was equalunto Rama. How then hath he been slain? He was regarded as a mightycar-warrior, conversant with all modes of warfare. He was the foremost ofall bowmen, and the one man amongst all men! O prince, the son of Radhawas always worshipped by Dhritarashtra and his son, for thy sake! Howthen hath he been slain by thee? In all engagements, Dhritarashtra’s son,O Arjuna, used to regard Karna as thy death, O bull among men! How then,O tiger among men, hath that Karna been slain by thee in battle? Tell me,O son of Kunti, how that Karna hath been slain by thee! How, while he wasengaged in battle, didst thou, O tiger among men, strike off his head inthe very sight of all his friends like a tiger tearing off the head of aruru deer? That Suta’s son who in battle searched all the points of thecompass for finding thee, that Karna who had promised to give a car withsix bulls of elephantine proportions unto him that would point thee out,I ask: doth that Karna of wicked soul lie today on the bare ground, slainwith thy keen arrows equipped with kanka feathers? Having slain theSuta’s son in battle, thou hast accomplished a deed highly agreeable tome! Encountering him in battle, hast thou really slain that Suta’s son,who, filled with arrogance and pride and bragging of his heroism, used tosearch everywhere on the field of battle for thee? Hast thou, O sire,really slain in battle that sinful wretch who used to always challengethee and who was desirous for thy sake of giving unto others amagnificent car, made of gold along with a number of elephants and bullsand steeds? Hast thou really slain today that sinful wight who wasexceedingly dear to Suyodhana, and who, intoxicated with pride ofheroism, used always to brag in the assembly of the Kurus? Encountered inbattle, doth that wretch lie today on the field, his limbs exceedinglymangled with sky-ranging shafts sped by thee from thy bow and all steepedin blood? Have the two arms of Dhritarashtra’s son been (at last) broken?Have those words been unfulfilled, uttered from folly by him who, filledwith pride, used to always boast in the midst of the kings for gladdeningDuryodhana, saying, ‘I will slay Phalguna’? O son of Indra, hath thatKarna of little understanding been slain by thee today, that Suta’s sonwho made the vow that he would not wash his feet as long as Partha lived?That Karna of wicked understanding who in the assembly; before the Kuruchiefs, had addressed Krishna, saying, ‘Why, O Krishna, dost thou notabandon the Pandavas that are divested of might, exceedingly weak, andfallen?’ That Karna who had vowed for thy sake, saying that he would notreturn from battle without having slain Krishna and Partha. I ask, doththat Karna of sinful understanding lie today on the field, his bodypierced with shafts? Thou knowest the nature of the battle that tookplace when the Srinjayas and the Kauravas encountered each other, thebattle in which I was brought to that distressful plight. Encounteringthat Karna, hast thou slain him today? O Savyasaci, hast thou today, withblazing shafts sped from gandiva, cut off from the trunk of that Karna ofwicked understanding his resplendent head decked with earrings? Piercedwith Karna’s shafts today, I had, O hero, thought of thee (that thouwouldst slay him)! Hast thou then, by the slaughter of Karna, made thatthought of mine true? In consequence of the protection granted him byKarna, Suyodhana, filled with pride, always recked us little. Displayingthy prowess, hast then today destroyed that refuge of Suyodhana? ThatSuta’s son of wicked soul, that Karna of great wrath, who had formerly,in the presence of the Kauravas and in the midst of the assembly calledus sesame seeds without kernel, encountering that Karna in battle, hastthou slain him today? That Suta’s son of wicked soul who had, laughingthe while, commanded Duhshasana to forcibly drag Yajnasena’s daughter wonin gambling by Subala’s son, hath he been slain today by thee? That Karnaof little understanding who, having been counted as only half acar-warrior during the tale of rathas and atirathas, had upbraided thatforemost of all wielders of weapons on Earth, our grandsire Bhishma, hathhe been slain by thee? Extinguish, O Phalguna, this fire in my heart thatis born of vindictiveness and is fanned by the wind of humiliation, bytelling me that thou hast slain Karna today, having encountered him inbattle! The news of Karna’s slaughter is exceedingly agreeable to me.Tell me, therefore, how the Suta’s son hath been slain! Like the divineVishnu waiting for the arrival of Indra with the intelligence of Vritra’sslaughter, I had so long waited for thee, O hero!”‘”