SECTION 4
"Sanjaya said, 'Beholding the fallen boxes of cars, as also the cars of
high-souled warriors, and the elephants and foot-soldiers, O sire, slain
in battle, seeing the field of battle assume an aspect as awful as that
of the sporting ground of Rudra, observing the inglorious end obtained by
hundreds and thousands of kings, witnessing also the prowess of Partha
after the retreat of your son with grief-stricken heart and when thy
troops, filled with anxiety and fallen into great distress, O Bharata,
were deliberating as to what they should next do, hearing also the loud
wails of the Kaurava warriors that were being crushed, and marking the
displayed and disordered tokens of great kings, the Kuru leader Kripa of
great energy, possessed of years and good conduct and filled with
compassion, and endued with eloquence, approached king Duryodhana, and
angrily said these words unto him, "O Duryodhana, listen, O Bharata, to
these words that I will say unto thee. Having heard them, O monarch, do
thou act according to them, O sinless one, if it pleases thee. There is
no path, O monarch, that is better than the duty of battle. Having
recourse to that path, Kshatriyas, O bull of the Kshatriya order, engage
in battle. He who lives in the observance of Kshatriya practices fights
with son, sire, brother, sister's son, and maternal uncle, and relatives,
and kinsmen. If he is slaughtered in battle, there is great merit in it.
Similarly, there is great sin in it if he flies from the field. It is for
this that the life of a person desirous of living by the adoption of
Kshatriya duties is exceedingly terrible. Unto thee, as regards this, I
will say a few beneficial words. After the fall of Bhishma and Drona and
the mighty car-warrior Karna, after the slaughter of Jayadratha and thy
brothers, O sinless one, and your son Lakshmana, what is there now for us
to do? They upon whom we had rested all burdens of sovereignty we had
been enjoying, have all gone to regions of blessedness attainable by
persons conversant with Brahma, casting off their bodies. As regards
ourselves, deprived of those great car-warriors possessed of numerous
accomplishments, we shall have to pass our time in grief, having caused
numerous kings to perish. When all those heroes were alive, even then
Vibhatsu could not be vanquished. Having Krishna, for his eyes, that
mighty-armed hero is incapable of being defeated by the very gods. The
vast (Kaurava) host, approaching his Ape-bearing standard that is lofty
as an Indra's pole (set up in the season of spring) and that is effulgent
as Indra's bow, hath always trembled in fear. At the leonine roars of
Bhimasena and the blare of Panchajanya and the twang of Gandiva, our
heart will die away within us. Moving like flashes of lightning, and
blinding our eyes, Arjuna's Gandiva is seen to resemble a circle of fire.
Decked with pure gold, that formidable bow as it is shaken, looks
lightning's flash moving about on every side. Steeds white in hue and
possessed of great speed and endued with the splendour of the Moon or the
Kasa grass, and that run devouring the skies, are yoked unto his car.
Urged on by Krishna, like the masses of clouds driven by the wind, and
their limbs decked with gold, they bear Arjuna to battle. That foremost
of all persons conversant with arms, Arjuna, burned that great force of
thine like a swelling conflagration consuming dry grass in the forest in
the season of winter. Possessed of the splendour of Indra himself, while
penetrating into our ranks, we have seen Dhananjaya to look like an
elephant with four tusks. While agitating your army and inspiring the
kings with fear, we have seen Dhananjaya to resemble an elephant
agitating a lake overgrown with lotuses. While terrifying all the
warriors with the twang of his bow, we have again seen the son of Pandu
to resemble a lion inspiring smaller animals with dread. Those two
foremost of bowmen in all the worlds, those two bulls among all persons
armed with the bow, the two Krishnas, clad in mail, are looking
exceedingly beautiful. Today is the seventeenth day of this awful battle,
O Bharata, of those that are being slaughtered in the midst of this
fight. The diverse divisions of your army are broken and dispersed like
autumnal clouds dispersed by the wind. Savyasaci, O monarch, caused thy
army to tremble and reel like a tempest-tossed boat exposed on the bosom
of the ocean. Where was the Suta's son, where was Drona with all his
followers, where was I, where wert thou, where was Hridika's son, where
thy brother Duhshasana accompanied by his brothers (when Jayadratha was
slain)? Upon beholding Jayadratha and finding him within the range of his
arrows, Arjuna, putting forth his process upon all your kinsmen and
brothers and allies and maternal uncles, and placing his feet upon their
heads, slew king Jayadratha in the very sight of all. What then is there
for us to do now? Who is there among your troops now that would vanquish
the son of Pandu? That high-souled warrior possesses diverse kinds of
celestial weapons. The twang, again, of Gandiva robbeth us of our
energies. This army of yours that is now without a leader is like a night
without the Moon, or like a river that is dried up with all the trees on
its banks broken by elephants. The mighty-armed Arjuna of white steeds
will, at his pleasure, career amid this your masterless host, like a
blazing conflagration amid a heap of grass. The impetuosity of those two,
Satyaki and Bhimasena, would split all the mountains or dry up all the
oceans. The words that Bhima spoke in the midst of the assembly have all
been nearly accomplished by him, O monarch. That which remains
unaccomplished will again be accomplished by him. While Karna was
battling before it, the army of the Pandavas, difficult to be defeated,
was vigorously protected by the wielder of Gandiva. You have done many
foul wrongs, without any cause, unto the righteous Pandavas. The fruits
of those acts have now come. For the sake of your own objects you hadst,
with great care, mustered together a large force. That vast force, as
also thyself, O bull of Bharata's race, have fallen into great danger.
Preserve your own self now, for self is the refuge of everything. If the
refuge is broken, O sire, everything inhering thereto is scattered on
every side. He that is being weakened should seek peace by conciliation.
He that is growing should make war. This is the policy taught by
Brihaspati. We are now inferior to the sons of Pandu as regards the
strength of our army. Therefore, O lord, I think, peace with the Pandavas
is for our good. He that does not know what is for his good, or (knowing)
disregards what is for his good, is soon divested of his kingdom and
never obtains any good. If, by bowing unto king Yudhishthira sovereignty
may still remain to us, even that would be for our good, and not, O king,
to sustain through folly defeat (at the hands of the Pandavas).
Yudhishthira is compassionate. At the request of Vichitravirya's son and
of Govinda, he will allow you to continue as king. Whatever Hrishikesa
will say unto the victorious king Yudhishthira and Arjuna and Bhimasena,
all of them will, without doubt, obey. Krishna will not, I think, be able
to transgress the words of Dhritarashtra of Kuru's race, nor will the son
of Pandu be able to transgress those of Krishna. A cessation of
hostilities with the sons of Pritha is what I consider to be for thy
good. I do not say this unto you from any mean motives nor for
protecting my life. I say, O king, that which I regard to be beneficial.
Thou wilt recollect these words when you wilt be on the point of death
(if you neglectest them now)." Advanced in years, Kripa the son of
Saradwat said these words weepingly. Breathing long and hot breaths, he
then gave way to sorrow and almost lost his senses.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 9 : UPA-PARVA 4 ---------------------
