Chapter 8

Janamejaya said, “Having heard of Karna’s fall and the slaughter of hissons, what, O foremost of regenerate ones, did the king say, after he hadbeen a little comforted? Indeed, poignant was the grief that heexperienced, arising from the calamity that befell his sons! Tell me, Iask thee, all that the king said on that occasion!”

Vaishampayana said, “Hearing of the slaughter of Karna that wasincredible and astounding, that was dreadful and capable of paralysingthe senses of all creatures, that looked like the downfall of Meru, or anever-to-be-believed clouding of the intellect of the wise Shukra, or thedefeat of Indra of terrible feats at the hands of his foes, or thefalling down on the Earth of the resplendent Sun from the firmament, or ascarcely-to-be-comprehended drying up of the ocean, that receptacle ofinexhaustible waters, or the annihilation, perfectly astounding, of theearth, the firmament, the points of the compass, and the waters, or thefruitlessness of acts both virtuous and sinful, king Dhritarashtra,having earnestly reflected for some time on it, thought that his army hadbeen annihilated. Thinking that other creatures also, as unslayable asKarna, would meet with a similar fate, king Dhritarashtra the son ofAmbika, scorched with grief and sighing like a snake, with limbs almostpalsied, long breaths, highly cheerless, and filled with melancholy,began to lament, saying, ‘Oh!’ and ‘Alas!’ And the king said, ‘O Sanjaya,the heroic son of Adhiratha was endued with the prowess of the lion orthe elephant! His neck was as thick as that of a bull, and his eyes,gait, and voice were like the bull’s! Of limbs as hard as thethunderbolt, that young man, like a bull never flying away from a bull,never desisted from battle even if his foe happened to be the great Indrahimself! At the sound of his bow-string and palms and at the whizz of hisarrowy showers men and steeds and cars and elephants fled away frombattle. Relying upon that mighty-armed one, that slayer of large bands offoes, that warrior of unfading glory, Duryodhana had provoked hostilitieswith those mighty car-warriors, the sons of Pandu! How then could Karna,that foremost of car-warriors, that tiger among men, that hero ofirresistible onset, be forcibly slain by Partha in battle? Relying on themight of his own arms, he always disregarded Keshava of unfading glory,and Dhananjaya, and the Vrishnis, and all other foes! Often did he use tosay unto the foolish, avaricious crestfallen, kingdom-coveting, andafflicted Duryodhana even such words as these, “Alone, I shall, inbattle, throw down from their foremost of cars, those two invinciblewarriors united together, the wielder of sarnga and the wielder ofgandiva!” He had subjugated many invincible and mighty foes–theGandharas, the Madrakas, the Matsyas, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, theKhasas, the Pancalas, the Videhas, the Kulindas, the Kasi-kosalas, theSuhmas, the Angas, the Nishadhas, the Pundras, the Kichakas, the Vatsas,the Kalingas, the Taralas, the Asmakas, and the Rishikas. Subjugating allthese brave races, by means of his keen and whetted arrows equipped withkanka feathers, that foremost of car-warriors, Radha’s son, had causedall of them to pay tribute to us for the aggrandisement of Duryodhana.Alas, how could that warrior acquainted with celestial weapons, thatprotector of armies, Karna the son of Vikartana, called also Vrisha, ofmighty energy, be slain in battle by his foes, the heroic and mighty sonsof Pandu? As Indra is the foremost of gods, Karna was the foremost ofmen. In the three worlds no third person has been heard of by us to belike them. Amongst steeds, Uccaisravas is the foremost; amongst Yakshas,Vaishravana is the foremost; amongst celestials, Indra is the foremost;amongst smiters, Karna was the foremost. Unvanquished by even the mostheroic and the mightiest of monarchs, he had, Duryodhana’saggrandisement, subjugated the whole earth. The ruler of Magadha, havingby conciliation and honours obtained Karna for a friend, had challengedall the Kshatriyas of the world, except the Kauravas and the Yadavas, tobattle. Hearing that Karna hath been slain by Savyasaci in single combat,I am plunged in an ocean of woe like a wrecked vessel in the vast deep!Indeed, hearing that that foremost of men, that best of car-warriors,hath been slain in single combat, I am sinking in an ocean of grief likea person without a raft in the sea! When, O Sanjaya, I do not die of suchgrief, I think my heart is impenetrable and made of something harder thanthe thunderbolt. Hearing of the defeat and humiliation of kinsmen andrelatives and allies, who else in the world, O Suta, save my wretchedself, would not yield up his life? I desire to have poison or fire or afall from the summit of a mountain, I am unable, O Sanjaya, to bear thisheavy load of grief!'”