Chapter 74

“Bhima said, ‘Speak thou, O slayer of Madhu, in such a strain that theremay be peace with the Kurus. Do not threaten them with war. Resentingeverything, his wrath always excited, hostile to his own good andarrogant, Duryodhana should not be roughly addressed. Do thou behavetowards him with mildness. Duryodhana is by nature sinful of heart likethat of a robber, intoxicated with the pride of prosperity, hostile tothe Pandavas, without foresight, cruel in speech, always disposed tocensure others, of wicked prowess, of wrath not easily to be appeased,not susceptible of being taught, of wicked soul, deceitful in behaviour,capable of giving up his very life rather than break or give up his ownopinion. Peace with such a one, O Krishna, is, I suppose, most difficult.Regardless of the words of even his well-wishers, destitute of virtue,loving falsehood, he always acts against the words of his counsellors andwounds their hearts. Like a serpent hid within reeds, he naturallycommits sinful acts, depending on his own wicked disposition, andobedient to the impulse of wrath. What army Duryodhana hath, what hisconduct is, what his nature, what his might, and what his prowess, areall well-known to thee. Before this, the Kauravas with their son passedtheir days in cheerfulness, and we also with our friends rejoiced likethe younger brother of Indra, with Indra himself. Alas, by Duryodhana’swrath, O slayer of Madhu, the Bharatas will all be consumed, even likeforests by fire at the end of the dewy seasons, and, O slayer of Madhu,well-known are those eighteen kings that annihilated their kinsmen,friends, and relatives. Even as, when Dharma became extinct, Kali wasborn in the race of Asuras flourishing with prosperity and blazing withenergy, so was born Udavarta among the Haihayas. Janamejaya among theNepas, Vahula among the Talajanghas, proud Vasu among the Krimis,Ajavindu among the Suviras, Rushardhik among the Surashtras, Arkaja amongthe Valihas, Dhautamulaka among the Chinas, Hayagriva among the Videhas,Varayu among the Mahaujasas, Vahu among the Sundaras, Pururavas among theDiptakshas, Sahaja among the Chedis and Matsyas, Vrishaddhaja among thePraviras, Dharana among the Chandra-batsyas, Bigahana among the Mukutasand Sama among the Nandivegas. These vile individuals, O Krishna, springup, at the end of each Yuga, in their respective races, for thedestruction of their kinsmen. So hath Duryodhana, the very embodiment ofsin and the disgrace of his race, been born, at the end of the Yuga,amongst us the Kurus. Therefore, O thou of fierce prowess, thou shouldstaddress him slowly and mildly, not in bitter but sweet words fraught withvirtue and profit, and discourse fully on the subject so as to attracthis heart. All of us, O Krishna, would rather in humiliation followDuryodhana submissively, but, oh, let not the Bharatas be annihilated. OVasudeva, act in such a way that we may rather live as strangers to theKurus than incurring the sin of bringing about the destruction of thewhole race should touch them, O Krishna, let the aged Grandsire and theother counsellors of the Kurus be asked to bring about brotherly feelingsbetween brothers and to pacify the son of Dhritarashtra. Even this iswhat I say. King Yudhishthira also approveth of this, and Arjuna too isaverse to war, for there is great compassion in him.'”