Chapter 29

“Krishna said, ‘I desire, O Sanjaya, that the sons of Pandu may not beruined; that they may prosper, and attain their wishes. Similarly, I prayfor the prosperity of king Dhritarashtra whose sons are many. Forevermore, O Sanjaya, my desire hath been that I should tell them nothingelse than that peace would be acceptable to king Dhritarashtra. I alsodeem it proper for the sons of Pandu. A peaceful disposition of anexceedingly rare character hath been displayed by Pandu’s son in thismatter. When Dhritarashtra and his sons, however, are so covetous, I donot see why hostility should not run high? Thou canst not pretend, OSanjaya, to be more versed than I am or Yudhishthira. is, in the nicetiesof right and wrong. Then why dost thou speak words of reproach withreference to the conduct of Yudhishthira who is enterprising, mindful ofhis own duty, and thoughtful, from the very beginning, of the welfare ofhis family, agreeably to the injunctions (of treatises of morality)? Withregard to the topic at hand, the Brahmanas have held opinions of variouskinds. Some say that success in the world to come depends upon work. Somedeclare that action should be shunned and that salvation is attainable byknowledge. The Brahmanas say–that though one may have a knowledge ofeatable things, yet his hunger will not be appeased unless he actuallyeats. Those branches of knowledge that help the doing of work, bearfruit, but not other kinds, for the fruit of work is of oculardemonstration. A thirsty person drinks water, and by that act his thirstis allayed. This result proceeds, no doubt, from work. Therein lies theefficacy of work. If anyone thinks that something else is better thanwork, I deem, his work and his words are meaningless. In the other world,it is by virtue of work that the gods flourish. It is by work that thewind blows. It is by virtue of work that the sleepless Surya rises everyday and becomes the cause of day and night, and Soma passes through themonths and the fortnights and the combinations of constellations. Fire iskindled of itself and burns by virtue of work, doing good to mankind. Thesleepless goddess Earth, sustains by force this very great burden. Thesleepless rivers, giving satisfaction to all (organised) beings, carrytheir waters with speed. The sleepless Indra, possessed of a mightyforce, pours down rain, resounding the heaven and the cardinal points.Desirous of being the greatest of the gods, he led a life of austeritiessuch as a holy Brahmana leads. Indra gave up pleasure, and all thingsagreeable to the heart. He sedulously cherished virtue and truth andself-control, and forbearance, and impartiality, and humanity. It was bywork that he attained a position the highest (of all). Following theabove course of life, Indra attained the high sovereignty over the gods.Vrihaspati, intently and with self-control, led in a proper manner thatlife of austerities which a Brahmana leads. He gave up pleasure andcontrolled his senses and thereby attained the position of the preceptorof the celestials. Similarly, the constellations in the other world, byvirtue of work, and the Rudras, the Adityas, the Vasus, king Yama, andKuvera, and the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, and the celestial nymphs, allattained their present position by work. In the other world, the saintsshine, following a life of study, austerity and work (combined). Knowing,O Sanjaya, that this is the rule followed by the best of Brahmanas, andKshatriyas, and Vaisyas, and thou being one of the wisest men,–why artthou making this endeavour on behalf of those sons of Kurus? Thou mustknow that Yudhishthira is constantly engaged in the study of the Vedas.He is inclined to the horse-sacrifice and the Rajasuya. Again, he rideshorses and elephants, is arrayed in armour, mounts a car, and takes upthe bow and all kinds of weapons. Now, if the sons of Pritha can see acourse of action not involving the slaughter of the sons of Kuru, theywould adopt it. Their virtue would then be saved, and an act of religiousmerit also would be achieved by them, even if they would have then toforce Bhima to follow a conduct marked by humanity. On the other hand, ifin doing what their forefathers did, they should meet with death underinevitable destiny, then in trying their utmost to discharge their duty,such death would even be worthy of praise. Supposing thou approvest ofpeace alone I should like to hear what thou mayst have to say to thisquestion,–which way doth the injunction of religious law lie, viz.,whether it is proper for the king to fight or not?–Thou must, O Sanjaya,take into thy consideration the division of the four castes, and thescheme of respective duties allotted to each. Thou must hear that courseof action the Pandavas are going to adopt. Then mayst thou praise orcensure, just as it may please thee. A Brahmana should study, offersacrifices, make charities, and sojourn to the best of all holy places onthe earth; he should teach, minister as a priest in sacrifices offered byothers worthy of such help, and accept gifts from persons who are known.Similarly, a Kshatriya should protect the people in accordance with theinjunctions of the law, diligently practise the virtue of charity, offersacrifices, study the whole Veda, take a wife, and lead a virtuoushouseholder’s life. If he be possessed of a virtuous soul, and if hepractise the holy virtues, he may easily attain the religion of theSupreme Being. A Vaisya should study and diligently earn and accumulatewealth by means of commerce, agriculture, and the tending of cattle. Heshould so act as to please the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas, be virtuous,do good works, and be a householder. The following are the dutiesdeclared for a Sudra from the olden times. He should serve the Brahmanasand submit to them; should not study; sacrifices are forbidden to him; heshould be diligent and be constantly enterprising in doing all that isfor his good. The king protects all these with (proper) care, and setsall the castes to perform their respective duties. He should not be givento sensual enjoyments. He should be impartial, and treat all his subjectson an equal footing. The King should never obey the dictates of suchdesires as are opposed to righteousness. If there be any body who is morepraise-worthy than he, who is well-known and gifted with all the virtues,the king should instruct his subjects to see him. A bad (king), however,would not understand this. Growing strong, and inhuman and becoming amark for destiny’s wrath, he would cast covetous eye on the riches ofothers. Then comes war, for which purpose came into being weapons, andarmour, and bows. Indra invented these contrivances, for putting theplunderers to death. He also contrived armours, and weapons, and bows.Religious merit is acquired by putting the robbers to death. Many awfulevils have manifested themselves on account of the Kurus having beenunrighteous, and unmindful of law and religion. This is not right, OSanjaya. Now, king Dhritarashtra with his sons, hath unreasonably seizedwhat lawfully belonged to Pandu’s son. He minds not the immemorial lawobservable by kings. All the Kurus are following in the wake. A thief whosteals wealth unseen and one who forcibly seizes the same, in openday-light, are both to be condemned, O Sanjaya. What is the differencebetween them and Dhritarashtra’s sons? From avarice he regards that to berighteous which he intends to do, following the dictates of his wrath.The shares of the Pandavas is, no doubt, fixed. Why should that share oftheirs be seized by that fool? This being the state of things, it wouldbe praiseworthy for us to be even killed in fight. A paternal kingdom ispreferable to sovereignty received from a stranger. These time-honouredrules of law, O Sanjaya, thou must propound to the Kurus, in the midst ofthe assembled kings,–I mean those dull-headed fools who have beenassembled together by Dhritarashtra’s son, and who are already under theclutches of death. Look once more at that vilest of all their acts,–theconduct of the Kurus in the council-hall. That those Kurus, at whose headstood Bhishma did not interfere when the beloved wife of the sons ofPandu, daughter of Drupada, of fare fame, pure life, and conduct worthyof praise, was seized, while weeping, by that slave of lust. The Kurusall, including young and old, were present there. If they had thenprevented that indignity offered to her, then I should have been pleasedwith Dhritarashtra’s behaviour. It would have been for the final good ofhis sons also. Dussasana forcibly took Krishna into the midst of thepublic hall wherein were seated her fathers-in-law. Carried there,expecting sympathy, she found none to take her part, except Vidura. Thekings uttered not a word of protest, solely because they were a set ofimbeciles. Vidura alone spoke words of opposition, from a sense ofduty,–words conceived in righteousness addressed to that man(Duryodhana) of little sense. Thou didst not, O Sanjaya, then say whatlaw and morality were, but now thou comest to instruct the son of Pandu!Krishna, however, having repaired to the hall at that time madeeverything right, for like a vessel in the sea, she rescued the Pandavasas also herself, from that gathering ocean (of misfortunes)! Then in thathall, while Krishna stood, the charioteer’s son addressed her in thepresence of her fathers-in-law saying, ‘O Daughter of Drupada thou hastno refuge. Better betake thyself as a bond-woman to the house ofDhritarashtra’s son. Thy husbands, being defeated, no longer exist. Thouhast a loving soul, choose some one else for thy lord.’ This speech,proceeding from Karna, was a wordy arrow, sharp, cutting all hopes,hitting the tenderest parts of the organisation, and frightful. It burieditself deep in Arjuna’s heart. When the sons of Pandu were about to adoptthe garments made of the skins of black deer, Dussasana spoke thefollowing pungent words, ‘These all are mean eunuchs, ruined, and damnedfor a lengthened time.’ And Sakuni, the king of the Gandhara land, spoketo Yudhishthira at the time of the game of dice the following words byway of a wily trick, ‘Nakula hath been won by me from you, what else haveyou got? Now you should better stake your wife Draupadi’. You know, OSanjaya, all these words of an approbrious kind which were spoken at thetime of the game of dice. I desire to go personally to the Kurus, inorder to settle this difficult matter. If without injury to the Pandavacause I succeed in bringing about this peace with the Kurus, an act ofreligious merit, resulting in very great blessings, will then have beendone by me; and the Kurus also will have been extricated from the meshesof death. I hope that when I shall speak to the Kurus words of wisdom,resting on rules of righteousness, words fraught with sense and free fromall tendency to inhumanity, Dhritarashtra’s son will, in my presence, payheed to them. I hope that when I arrive, the Kurus will pay me duerespect. Else thou mayst rest assured that those vicious sons ofDhritarashtra, already scorched by their own vicious acts, will be burntup by Arjuna and Bhima ready for battle. When Pandu’s sons were defeated(at the play), Dhritarashtra’s sons spoke to them words that were harshand rude. But when the time will come, Bhima will, no doubt, take care toremind Duryodhana of those words. Duryodhana is a big tree of evilpassions; Karna is its trunk; Sakuni is its branches; Dussasana forms itsabundant blossoms and fruits; (while) the wise king Dhritarashtra is itstoots. Yudhishthira is a big tree of righteousness; Arjuna is its trunk;and Bhima is its branches; the sons of Madri are its abundant flowers andfruits; and its roots are myself and religion and religious men. KingDhritarashtra with his sons constitutes a forest, while, O Sanjaya, thesons of Pandu are its tigers. Do not, oh, cut down the forest with itstigers, and let not the tigers be driven away from the forest. The tiger,out of the woods, is easily slain; the wood also, that is without atiger, is easily cut down. Therefore, it is the tiger that protects theforest and the forest that shelters the tiger. The Dhritarashtras are ascreepers, while, O Sanjaya, the Pandavas are Sala trees. A creeper cannever flourish unless it hath a large tree to twine round. The sons ofPritha are ready to wait upon Dhritarashtra as, indeed, those repressorsof foes are ready for war. Let king Dhritarashtra now do what may beproper for him to do. The virtuous and the high-souled sons of Pandu,though competent to be engaged in fight, are yet now in place (with theircousins). O learned man, represent all this truly (to Dhritarashtra).'”