Chapter 128

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Reflecting (for a moment), with eyes red in anger,he, of Dasarha’s race, addressing Duryodhana in that assembly of theKurus, then said these words, ‘Wishest thou for a bed of heroes? Verily,thou shalt have it, with thy consellors. Wait (for a short while), agreat slaughter will ensue. Thou thinkest, O thou of littleunderstanding, that thou hast committed no offence against the Pandavas?Let the (assembled) monarchs judge. Grieved at the prosperity of thehigh-souled Pandavas, thou conspirest, O Bharata, with Suvala’s son aboutthe gambling match. O sire, how could those virtuous, honest, andsuperior kinsmen of thine (otherwise) engage in such a wicked act withthe deceitful Sakuni? O thou that art endued with great wisdom, gamblingrobs even the good of their understanding, and as regards the wicked,disunion and dire consequence spring from it. It was thou who hadstdevised with thy wicked counsellors, that terrible source of calamity inthe form of the gambling match, without consulting with persons ofrighteous behaviour. Who else is there, capable of insulting a brother’swife in the way thou didst or of dragging her into the assembly andaddressing her in language thou hadst used towards Draupadi? Of nobleparentage, and endued with excellent behaviour, and dearer to them thantheir very lives, the queen-consort of Pandu’s sons was treated even thusby thee. All the Kauravas know what words were addressed in theirassembly by Dussasana unto those chastisers of foes,–the sons ofKunti,–when they were about to set out for the woods. Who is therecapable of behaving so wretchedly towards his own honest kinsmen, thatare ever engaged in the practice of virtue, that are untainted byavarice, and that are always correct in their behaviour? Language such asbecomes only those that are heartless and despicable, was frequentlyrepeated by Karna and Dussasana and also by thee. Thou hadst taken greatpains to burn to death, at Varanavata, the sons of Pandu with theirmother, while they were children, although that effort of thine was notcrowned with success. After this, the Pandavas with their mother wereobliged to live for a long while, concealed in the town of Ekachakra inthe abode of a Brahmana. With poison, with snakes and cords, thou hadst,by every means, sought the destruction of the Pandavas, although none ofthy designs was successful. With such feelings when thou hadst alwaysacted towards them so deceitfully, how canst thou say that thou hast notoffended against the high-souled Pandavas? Thou art not, O sinful man,willing to give them their paternal share in the kingdom, although theyare begging it of thee. Thou shalt have to give it them, this, whendivested of prosperity, thou shalt be laid low. Having, like a heartlessfellow, done innumerable wrongs to the Pandavas and behaved sodeceitfully towards them, thou seekest now to appear in a different garb.Though repeatedly solicited by thy parents, by Bhishma, Drona, andVidura, to make peace, thou dost not yet, O king, make peace. Great isthe advantage in peace, O king, both to thyself and Yudhishthira. Peace,however, does not recommend itself to thee. To what else can it be due,but to thy loss of understanding? Transgressing the words of thy friends,thou canst never attain to what is for thy benefit. Sinful anddisreputable is that act, which thou, O king, art about to do.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘While he, of Dasarha’s race, was saying this,Dussasana addressed vindictive Duryodhana and said unto him these wordsin the midst of the Kurus, If, O king, thou dost not willingly make peacewith the Pandavas, verity the Kauravas will bind thee (hand and foot) andmake over thee to the son of Kunti. Bhishma, and Drona, and thy (own)father, O bull amongst men, will make over us three, viz., Vikartana’sson, thyself, and myself, to the Pandavas!’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Hearing these words of his brother,Dhritarashtra’s son, wicked, shameless, disobedient, disrespectful, andvain Suyodhana, breathing heavily like a great snake rose up from hisseat in anger, and disregarding Vidura, and Dhritarashtra and the greatking Vahlika, and Kripa, and Somadatta, and Bhishma, and Drona, andJanardana, in fact, all of them, went out of the court, And beholdingthat bull among men leave the court, his brother and all his counsellors,and all the kings, followed him. And seeing Duryodhana rise and leave thecourt in anger with his brothers, Santanu’s son, Bhishma said, ‘Theenemies of that person, who, abandoning both virtue and profit, followeththe impulses of wrath, rejoice on beholding him plunged into distress atno distant date. This wicked son of Dhritarashtra, this one unacquaintedwith the true means (of accomplishing his objects), this fool that iswrongly vain of his sovereignty, obeyeth only the dictates of wrath andavarice. I see also, O Janardana, that the hour of all those Kshatriyasis arrived, for all those kings, from delusion, have with theircounsellors followed Duryodhana.’ Hearing these words of Bhishma, thelotus-eyed hero of Dasarha’s race, possessed of great powers, addressingall those (that were still there) headed by Bhishma and Drona, said,’Even this is great transgression, of which all the elders of the Kururace are becoming guilty, for they do not forcibly seize and bind thiswicked king in the enjoyment of sovereignty. Ye chastiser of foes, Ithink the time hath come for doing this. If this is done, it may still beproductive of good. Listen to me, ye sinless ones. The words I will speakwill soon lead to beneficial results, if, indeed, ye Bharatas, ye acceptwhat I say in consequence of its recommending itself to you. The wickedson, of ill-regulated soul, of the old Bhoja king, having usurped hisfather’s sovereignty during the latter’s life-time, subjected himself todeath. Indeed, Kansa, the son of Ugrasena, abandoned by his relatives,was slain by me in a great encounter, from desire of benefiting mykinsmen. Ourselves with our kinsmen then, having paid due honours toUgrasena, the son of Ahuka, installed that extender of Bhoja’s kingdom onthe throne. And all the Yadavas and Andhakas and the Vrishnis, abandoninga single person, viz., Kansa for the sake of their whole race, haveprospered and obtained happiness. O king, when the gods and Asuras werearrayed for battle and weapons were upraised for striking, the lord ofall creatures, Parameshthin said thus (something which applies to thecase at hand). Indeed, O Bharata, when the population of the worlds wasdivided into two parties and was about to be slaughtered, the divine andholy Cause of the universe, viz., the Creator, said, ‘The Asuras and theDaityas with the Danavas will be vanquished, and the Adityas, the Vasus,the Rudras and other dwellers of heaven will be victorious. Indeed, thegods, and Asuras, and human beings, and Gandharvas, and Snakes, andRakshasas, will in rage slaughter one another in this battle.’ Thinkingso, the Lord of all creatures, Parameshthin, commanded Dharma, saying,’Binding fast, the Daityas and the Danavas, make them over to Varuna.’Thus addressed, Dharma, at the command of Parameshthin, binding theDaityas and the Danavas, made them over to Varuna. And Varuna, the Lordof the waters, having bound those Danavas, with Dharma’s noose, as alsowith his own, keepeth them within the depths of the ocean, alwaysguarding them carefully. Binding in the same way Duryodhana and Karna andSakuni, the son of Suvala, and Dussasana, make them over to the Pandavas.For the sake of a family, an individual may be sacrificed. For a village,a family may be sacrificed. For the sake of a province, a village may besacrificed. And lastly, for the sake of one’s self, the whole earth maybe sacrificed. O monarch, binding Duryodhana fast, make peace with thePandavas. O bull among Kshatriyas, let not the whole Kshatriya race beslaughtered on thy account.'”