Chapter 31

“Sanjaya said, ‘After those three car-warriors had left that spot, thePandavas arrived at that lake within which Duryodhana was restinghimself. Having reached the banks of the Dvaipayana lake, O chief ofKuru’s race, they beheld that receptacle of waters enchanted by thy son.Then Yudhishthira, addressing Vasudeva, said, “Behold, the son ofDhritarashtra hath applied his power of illusion to these waters! Havingenchanted the waters, he lieth within them. He can have now no fear (ofinjury) from man! Having invoked a celestial illusion, he is now withinthe waters! By an act of deception, that wight conversant with everydeception hath sought this refuge! He shall not, however, escape me withlife! Even if the wielder of the thunderbolt himself aid him in battle,people, O Madhava, shall yet behold him slain today!’

“‘Vasudeva said, “With thy own powers of illusion, O Bharata, destroythis illusion of Duryodhana who is an adept in it! One conversant withillusion should be slain with illusion! This is the truth, OYudhishthira! With acts and means and applying thy power of illusion tothese waters, slay, O chief of the Bharatas, this Suyodhana, who is thevery soul of illusion! With acts and means Indra himself slew the Daityasand the Danavas! Vali himself was bound by that high-souled one(Upendra), with the aid of many acts and means! The great AsuraHiranyaksha, as also that other one, Hiranyakasipu, was slain by the aidof many acts and means. Without doubt, O king, Vritra also was slain bythe aid of acts! Similarly was the Rakshasa Ravana of Pulastya’s race,with his relatives and followers, slain by Rama! Relying upon acts andcontrivances, do thou also display thy powers! Those two ancient Daityas,Taraka and Viprachitti of great energy, were in ancient times, O king,slain by the aid of acts and means! Similarly, Vatapi and Ilwala, andTrisiras, O lord, and the Asuras Sunda and Upasunda, were all slain bythe aid of means! Indra himself enjoys heaven by the aid of acts andmeans! Acts are very efficacious, O king, and nothing else so, OYudhishthira! Daityas and Danavas and Rakshasas and kings had been slainby the aid of acts and means. Do thou take therefore, the help of act!”‘

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Thus addressed by Vasudeva, Pandu’s son of rigidvows, smiling the while, addressed, O monarch, thy son of great might,who, O Bharata, was then within the waters of that lake, saying, “Why, OSuyodhana, hast thou entered these waters, after having caused all theKshatriyas to perish and after having, O king, caused thy own race to beannihilated? Why hast thou entered into this lake today, wishing to savethy own life? Arise, O king, and fight us, O Suyodhana! Where, O foremostof men, hath that pride and that sense of honour which thou hadst nowgone, since, O king, thou hast enchanted these waters and art now lyingwithin them? All men speak of thee in assemblies as a hero. All that,however, is entirely untrue, I think, since thou art now concealed withinthese waters! Arise, O king, and fight, for thou art a Kshatriya born ofa noble race! Thou art Kauraveya in particular! Remember thy birth! Howcanst thou boast of thy birth in Kuru’s race when thou concealest thyselfwithin the depths of this lake, having fled away from battle in fear?This is not the eternal duty of a Kshatriya, staying away from battle!Flight from battle, O king, is not the practice of those that arehonourable, nor does it lead to heaven! How is it that without havingattained to the end of this war, inspired though thou wert with thedesire of victory, thou stayest now within this lake, after having causedand witnessed the slaughter of thy sons and brothers and sires andrelatives and friends and maternal uncles and kinsmen? Ever boastful ofthy courage, thou art, however, not a hero! Falsely dost thou describethyself, O Bharata, when thou sayst in the hearing of all men that thouart a hero, O thou of wicked understanding! They that are heroes neverfly away at sight of foes! Or, tell us, O hero, about (the nature of)that courage in consequence of which thou hast fled from battle! Arise, Oprince, and fight, casting off thy fears! Having caused all thy troopsand thy brothers to be slain, O Suyodhana, thou shouldst not, if thou artinspired with righteous motives, think now of saving thy life! One likethee, O Suyodhana, that has adopted Kshatriya duties, should not act inthis way! Relying upon Karna, as also upon Shakuni the son of Subala,thou hadst regarded thyself immortal and hadst, from folly, failed tounderstand thy own self! Having perpetrated such grievous sin, fight now,O Bharata! How dost that flight from battle recommend itself to one likethee? Surely, thou forgettest thyself! Where is that manliness of thine,O sire, and where, O Suyodhana, is that pride cherished by thee! Wherehath that prowess of thine now gone, and where also that swelling andgreat energy which thou hadst? Where is that accomplishment of thine inweapons? Why dost thou lie within this lake now? Arise, O Bharata, andfight, observing the duties of a Kshatriya! Either rule the wide earthafter vanquishing us, or sleep, O Bharata, on the bare ground, slain byus! Even this is thy highest duty, as laid down by the illustriousCreator himself! Act as it has been laid down truly in the scriptures,and be a king, O great car-warrior!”‘

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Thus addressed, O monarch, by the intelligent son ofDharma, thy son answered him from within the waters in these words.

“‘Duryodhana said, “It is not at all a matter of surprise, O king, thatfear should enter the hearts of living creatures. As regards myself,however, O Bharata, I have not fled from the field of battle actuated bythe fear of life! My car was destroyed, my quivers were gone, and myParshni drivers were killed! I was alone, without a single follower tostand by me in battle! It was for this that I desired a little rest! Itwas not for the sake of saving my life, it was not from fear, it was notfrom grief, O king, that I entered these waters! It was only inconsequence of fatigue that I did so! Do thou, O son of Kunti, rest awhile with those that follow thee! Rising from this lake I will certainlyfight all of you in battle!”

“‘Yudhishthira said, ‘All of us have rested sufficiently. For a longwhile we were engaged in a search after thee! Rise then, even now, OSuyodhana, and give us battle! Either slaying the Parthas in battle makethis kingdom that swelleth with prosperity thy own, or slain by us inbattle, proceed to those regions that are reserved for heroes!”

“‘Duryodhana said, “They amongst the Kurus, O son of Kurus’ race, forwhose sake I desired sovereignty, that is, those brothers of mine, Oking, all lie dead on the field! I do not, again, like to enjoy anylonger the earth that is now shorn of wealth and reft of superiorKshatriyas, and that hath, therefore, become like a widowed lady! I,however, still hope to vanquish thee, O Yudhishthira, after curbing thepride, O bull of Bharata’s race, of the Pancalas and the Pandus! Thereis, however, no longer any need for battle when Drona and Karna have beenquieted and when our grandsire Bhishma hath been slain! This shorn earth,O king, now exists for thee! What king is there that would like to rule akingdom divested of friends and allies? Having caused friends such as Ihad to be slain and even sons and brothers and sires, and seeing mykingdom wrested by you, who is there like myself that would like to live?Clad in deer-skins I would retire into the woods! I have no desire forkingdom, deprived as I am of friends and allies, O Bharata! Reft almostentirely of friends and allies, of heroes and elephants, this earthexists for thee, O king! Do thou enjoy her now cheerfully! As for myself,clad in deerskins, I shall go to the woods! Friendless as I am, I have nodesire, O lord, for even life! Go, O monarch, and rule the earthdestitute of lords, without warriors, reft of wealth, and withoutcitadels, as thou choosest!”‘

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Hearing these words of poignant grief theillustrious Yudhishthira addressed thy son Duryodhana who was stillwithin those waters, saying, “Do not utter such ravings of sorrow, Osire, from within the waters! I do not, like Shakuni, feel any compassionfor thee, O king, for such words as these! Thou mayest now, O Suyodhana,be willing to make a gift of the earth to me. I, however, do not wish torule the earth thus given by thee! I cannot sinfully accept this earthfrom thee! Acceptance of a gift, O king, is not the duty laid down for aKshatriya! I do not, therefore, wish to have the wide earth thus givenaway by thee! I shall, on the other hand, enjoy the earth aftervanquishing thee in battle! Thou art now the lord of the earth! Why thendost thou desire to make a gift of that over which thou hast no dominion?Why, O king, didst thou not then give us the earth when we, observant ofthe rules of righteousness and desirous of the welfare of our race, hadbegged thee for our portion? Having first refused the request of themighty Krishna, why dost thou now desire to give away the earth? What isthis folly of thine? What king is there, who, assailed by foes, wouldwish to give away his kingdom? O son of Kuru’s race, today thou art notcompetent to give away the earth! Why then dost thou wish to make a giftof that over which thou hast no power? Vanquishing me in battle, rulethou this earth! Thou didst not formerly agree to give me even that muchof the earth which would be covered by the point of a needle! How then, Omonarch, dost thou make me a gift of the whole earth? How is it thatthou, who couldst not formerly abandon even that much of land which thepoint of a needle would cover, now wishest to abandon the whole earth?What fool is there that would, after having obtained such prosperity andruled the entire earth, think of making a gift of that earth to hisenemies? Stupefied by folly, thou seest not the impropriety of this!Although thou desirest to give away the earth, thou shalt not yet escapeme with life! Either rule the earth after having vanquished us, or go toregions of blessedness after being slain by us! If both of us, that is,thyself and myself, be alive, then all creatures will remain in doubtabout to whom the victory belongs. Thy life, O thou of limited foresight,now depends upon me! If I like, I can suffer thee to live, but thou artnot capable of protecting thy own life! Thou hadst at one time especiallyendeavoured to burn us to death and to take our lives by means of snakesand other kinds of poison and by drowning us! We were also wronged bythee, O king, by the deprivation of our kingdom, by the cruel wordsspoken by thee, and by thy maltreatment of Draupadi! For these reasons, Owretch, thy life must be taken! Rise, rise, and fight us! That willbenefit thee!”‘

“Sanjaya continued, ‘In this strain, O king, those heroes, the Pandavas,flushed with victory, repeatedly spoke there (rebuking and mockingDuryodhana).'”