Chapter 54

“Sanjaya said, It is even so, O great king, as thou, O Bharata, sayest.On the event of battle, the destruction of the Kshatriyas by means ofGandiva is certain. This, however, I do not understand, how when thou artalways wise and especially acquainted with the prowess of Savyasachin,thou followest yet the counsels of thy sons. Having O bull of the Bharatarace, injured the sons of Pritha from the very beginning, having in fact,committed sins repeatedly, this is not, O great king, the time (togrieve). He that occupies the position of a father and a friend, if he isalways watchful and of good heart, should seek the welfare (of hischildren); but he that injures, cannot be called a father. Hearing of thedefeat of the Pandavas at dice, thou hadst, O king, laughed like a child,saying, ‘This is won, this is acquired!’ When the harshest speeches wereaddressed to the sons of Pritha, thou didst not then interfere, pleasedat the prospect of thy sons winning the whole kingdom. Thou couldst nothowever, then see before thee inevitable fall. The country of the Kurus,including the region called Jangala is, O king, thy paternal kingdom.Thou hast, however, obtained the whole earth by those heroes. Won by thestrength of their arms, the sons of Pritha made over thee this extensiveempire. Thou thinkest, however, O best of kings, that all this wasacquired by thee. When thy sons, seized by the king of the Gandharvas,were about to sink in a shoreless sea without a raft to save them, it wasPartha, O king, that brought them back. Thou hadst, like a child,repeatedly laughed, O monarch, at the Pandavas when they were defeated atdice and were going into exile. When Arjuna poureth a shower of keenarrows, the very oceans dry up, let alone beings of flesh and blood.Falguna is the foremost of all shooters; Gandiva is the foremost of allbows; Kesava is the foremost of all beings; the Sudarsana is the foremostof all weapons; and of cars, that furnished with the banner bearing theblazing Ape on it is the foremost. That car of his, bearing all these anddrawn by white steeds, will, O king, consume us all in battle like theupraised wheel of Time. O bull of the Bharata race, his is even now thewhole earth and he is the foremost of all kings, who hath Bhima andArjuna to fight for him. Beholding the host sinking in despair whensmitten by Bhima, the Kauravas headed by Duryodhana will all meetdestruction. Struck with the fear of Bhima and Arjuna, the sons, O king,and the kings following them, will not, O lord, be able to win victory.The Matsyas, the Panchalas, the Salways and the Surasenas, all decline topay thee homage now and all disregard thee. Acquainted with the energy ofthat wise king, all of them, however, have joined that son of Pritha, andfor their devotion to him they are always opposed to thy sons. He that,by his evil deeds, afflicted the sons of Pandu, who are all wedded tovirtue and undeserving of destruction, he that hateth them evennow,–that sinful man, O monarch, who is none else than thy son,–should,with all his adherents, be checked by all means. It behoveth thee not tobewail in this strain. Even this was said by myself as well as by thewise Vidura at the time of the gambling match at dice. These thylamentations in connection with the Pandavas, as if thou wert a helplessperson, are, O king, all useless.'”