Chapter 7

Vaisampayana said, “The righteous-souled Yudhishthira, with an agitatedheart and burning with sorrow, began to grieve for that mightycar-warrior Karna. Sighing repeatedly, he addressed Arjuna, saying, ‘If,O Arjuna, we had led a life of mendicancy in the cities of the Vrishnisand the Andhakas, then this miserable end would not have been ours inconsequence of having exterminated our kinsmen. Our foes, the Kurus, havegained in prosperity, while we have become divested of all the objects oflife, for what fruits of righteousness can be ours when we have beenguilty of self-slaughter?[4] Fie on the usages of Kshatriyas, fie onmight and valour, and fie on wrath, since through these such a calamityhath overtaken us. Blessed are forgiveness, and self-restraint, andpurity, with renunciation and humility, and abstention from injury, andtruthfulness of speech on all occasions, which are all practised byforest-recluses. Full of pride and arrogance, ourselves, however, throughcovetousness and folly and from desire of enjoying the sweets ofsovereignty, have fallen into this plight. Beholding those kinsmen ofours that were bent on acquiring the sovereignty of the world slain onthe field of battle, such grief hath been ours that one cannot gladden usby giving the sovereignty of even the three worlds. Alas, having slain,for the sake of the earth, such lords of earth as deserved not to beslain by us, we are bearing the weight of existence, deprived of friendsand reft of the very objects of life. Like a pack of dogs fighting oneanother for a piece of meat, a great disaster has overtaken us! Thatpiece of meat is no longer dear to us. On the other hand, it shall bethrown aside. They that have been slain should not have been slain forthe sake of even the whole earth or mountains of gold, or all the horsesand kine in this world. Filled with envy and a hankering for all earthlyobjects, and influenced by wrath and pleasure, all of them, betakingthemselves to the highway of Death, have repaired to the regions of Yama.Practising asceticism and Brahmacharya and truth and renunciation, sireswish for sons endued with every kind of prosperity. Similarly, by fastsand sacrifices and vows and sacred rites and auspicious ceremoniesmothers conceive. They then hold the foetus for ten months. Passing theirtime in misery and in expectation of fruit, they always ask themselves inanxiety, ‘Shall these come out of the womb safely? Shall these live afterbirth? Shall they grow in might and be objects of regard on earth? Shallthey be able to give us happiness in this and the other world?’ Alas,since their sons, youthful in years and resplendent with ear-rings, havebeen slain, therefore, those expectations of theirs rendered fruitless,have been abandoned by them. Without having enjoyed the pleasure of thisworld, and without having paid off the debts they owed to their sires andthe gods, they have repaired to Yama’s abode. Alas, O mother, those kingshave been slain just at that time when their parents expected to reap thefruits of their might and wealth.[5] They were always fitted with envyand a hankering after earthly objects, and were exceedingly subject toanger and joy. For this, they could not be expected to enjoy at any timeor any place the fruits of victory.[6] I think that they among thePanchalas and the Kurus that have fallen (in this battle) have been lost,otherwise he that has slain would, by that act of his, obtain all regionsof bliss.[7] We are regarded as the cause of the destruction that hasovertaken the world. The fault, however, is really ascribable to the sonsof Dhritarashtra. Duryodhana’s heart was always set upon guile. Alwayscherishing malice, he was addicted to deception. Although we neveroffended him, yet he always behaved falsely towards us. We have notgained our object, nor have they gained theirs. We have not vanquishedthem, nor have they vanquished us. The Dhartarashtras could not enjoythis earth, nor could they enjoy women and music. They did not listen tothe counsels of ministers and friends and men learned in the scriptures.They could not, indeed, enjoy their costly gems and well-filled treasuryand vast territories. Burning with the hate they bore us, they could notobtain happiness and peace. Beholding our aggrandisement, Duryodhanabecame colourless, pale and emaciated. Suvala’s son informed kingDhritarashtra of this. As a father full of affection for his son,Dhritarashtra tolerated the evil policy his son pursued. Without doubt,by disregarding Vidura and the high-souled son of Ganga, and inconsequence of his neglect in restraining his wicked and covetous son,entirely governed by his passions, the king has met with destruction likemy poor self. Without doubt, Suyodhana, having caused his uterinebrothers to be slain and having east this couple into burning grief, hathfallen off from his blazing fame. Burning with the hate he bore to usDuryodhana was always of a sinful heart. What other kinsman of high birthcould use such language towards kinsmen as he, from desire of battle,actually used in the presence of Krishna? We also have, throughDuryodhana’s fault, been lost for eternity, like suns burning everythingaround them with their own energy. That wicked-souled wight, thatembodiment of hostility, was our evil star. Alas, for Duryodhana’s actsalone, this race of ours has been exterminated. Having slain those whomwe should never have slain, we have incurred the censures of the world.King Dhritarashtra, having installed that wicked-souled prince of sinfuldeeds, that exterminator of his race, in the sovereignty, is obliged togrieve today. Our heroic foes have been slain. We have committed sin. Hispossessions and kingdom are gone. Having slain them, our wrath has beenpacified. But grief is stupefying me. O Dhananjaya, a perpetrated sin isexpiated by auspicious acts, by publishing it wildly, by repentance, byalms-giving, by penances, by trips to tirthas after renunciation ofeverything, by constant meditation on the scriptures. Of all these, hethat has practised renunciation is believed to be incapable of committingsins anew. The Srutis declare that he that practises renunciation escapesfrom birth and death, and obtaining the right rood, that person of fixedsoul attains to Brahma. I shall, therefore, O Dhananjaya, go to thewoods, with your leave, O scorcher of foes, disregarding all the pairs ofopposites, adopting the vow of taciturnity, and walking in the waypointed out by knowledge.[8] O slayer of foes, the Srutis declare it andI myself have seen it with my eyes, that one who is wedded to this earthcan never obtain every kind Of religious merit. Desirous of obtaining thethings of this earth, I have committed sin, through which, as the Srutisdeclare, birth and death are brought about. Abandoning the whole of mykingdom, therefore, and the things of this earth, I shall go to thewoods, escaping from the ties of the world, freed from grief, and withoutaffection for anything. Do thou govern this earth, on which peace hasbeen restored, and which has been divested of all its thorns. O best ofKuru’s race, I have no need for kingdom or for pleasure.’ Having saidthese words, king Yudhishthira the just stopped. His younger brotherArjuna then addressed him in the following words.