SECTION 31
"Sanjaya said, 'After those three car-warriors had left that spot, the
Pandavas arrived at that lake within which Duryodhana was resting
himself. Having reached the banks of the Dvaipayana lake, O chief of
Kuru's race, they beheld that receptacle of waters enchanted by your son.
Then Yudhishthira, addressing Vasudeva, said, "Behold, the son of
Dhritarashtra hath applied his power of illusion to these waters! Having
enchanted the waters, he lieth within them. He can have now no fear (of
injury) from man! Having invoked a celestial illusion, he is now within
the waters! By an act of deception, that wight conversant with every
deception hath sought this refuge! He shall not, however, escape me with
life! Even if the wielder of the thunderbolt himself aid him in battle,
people, O Madhava, shall yet behold him slain today!'
"'Vasudeva said, "With your own powers of illusion, O Bharata, destroy
this illusion of Duryodhana who is an adept in it! One conversant with
illusion should be slain with illusion! This is the truth, O
Yudhishthira! With acts and means and applying your power of illusion to
these waters, slay, O chief of the Bharatas, this Suyodhana, who is the
very soul of illusion! With acts and means Indra himself slew the Daityas
and the Danavas! Vali himself was bound by that high-souled one
(Upendra), with the aid of many acts and means! The great Asura
Hiranyaksha, as also that other one, Hiranyakasipu, was slain by the aid
of many acts and means. Without doubt, O king, Vritra also was slain by
the aid of acts! Similarly was the Rakshasa Ravana of Pulastya's race,
with his relatives and followers, slain by Rama! Relying upon acts and
contrivances, do you also display your powers! Those two ancient Daityas,
Taraka and Viprachitti of great energy, were in ancient times, O king,
slain by the aid of acts and means! Similarly, Vatapi and Ilwala, and
Trisiras, O lord, and the Asuras Sunda and Upasunda, were all slain by
the aid of means! Indra himself enjoys heaven by the aid of acts and
means! Acts are very efficacious, O king, and nothing else so, O
Yudhishthira! Daityas and Danavas and Rakshasas and kings had been slain
by the aid of acts and means. Do you take therefore, the help of act!"'
"Sanjaya continued, 'Thus addressed by Vasudeva, Pandu's son of rigid
vows, smiling the while, addressed, O monarch, your son of great might,
who, O Bharata, was then within the waters of that lake, saying, "Why, O
Suyodhana, hast you entered these waters, after having caused all the
Kshatriyas to perish and after having, O king, caused your own race to be
annihilated? Why hast you entered into this lake today, wishing to save
thy own life? Arise, O king, and fight us, O Suyodhana! Where, O foremost
of men, hath that pride and that sense of honour which you had now
gone, since, O king, you hast enchanted these waters and are now lying
within them? All men speak of you in assemblies as a hero. All that,
however, is entirely untrue, I think, since you are now concealed within
these waters! Arise, O king, and fight, for you are a Kshatriya born of
a noble race! Thou are Kauraveya in particular! Remember your birth! How
canst you boast of your birth in Kuru's race when you concealest thyself
within the depths of this lake, having fled away from battle in fear?
This is not the eternal duty of a Kshatriya, staying away from battle!
Flight from battle, O king, is not the practice of those that are
honourable, nor does it lead to heaven! How is it that without having
attained to the end of this war, inspired though you wert with the
desire of victory, you stayest now within this lake, after having caused
and witnessed the slaughter of your sons and brothers and sires and
relatives and friends and maternal uncles and kinsmen? Ever boastful of
thy courage, you art, however, not a hero! Falsely dost you describe
thyself, O Bharata, when you sayst in the hearing of all men that thou
art a hero, O you of wicked understanding! They that are heroes never
fly away at sight of foes! Or, tell us, O hero, about (the nature of)
that courage in consequence of which you hast fled from battle! Arise, O
prince, and fight, casting off your fears! Having caused all your troops
and your brothers to be slain, O Suyodhana, you shouldst not, if you art
inspired with righteous motives, think now of saving your life! One like
thee, O Suyodhana, that has adopted Kshatriya duties, should not act in
this way! Relying upon Karna, as also upon Shakuni the son of Subala,
thou had regarded thyself immortal and hadst, from folly, failed to
understand your own self! Having perpetrated such grievous sin, fight now,
O Bharata! How dost that flight from battle recommend itself to one like
thee? Surely, you forgettest thyself! Where is that manliness of thine,
O sire, and where, O Suyodhana, is that pride cherished by thee! Where
hath that prowess of yours now gone, and where also that swelling and
great energy which you hadst? Where is that accomplishment of yours in
weapons? Why dost you lie within this lake now? Arise, O Bharata, and
fight, observing the duties of a Kshatriya! Either rule the wide earth
after vanquishing us, or sleep, O Bharata, on the bare ground, slain by
us! Even this is your highest duty, as laid down by the illustrious
Creator himself! Act as it has been laid down truly in the scriptures,
and be a king, O great car-warrior!"'
"Sanjaya continued, 'Thus addressed, O monarch, by the intelligent son of
Dharma, your son answered him from within the waters in these words.
"'Duryodhana said, "It is not at all a matter of surprise, O king, that
fear should enter the hearts of living creatures. As regards myself,
however, O Bharata, I have not fled from the field of battle actuated by
the fear of life! My car was destroyed, my quivers were gone, and my
Parshni drivers were killed! I was alone, without a single follower to
stand by me in battle! It was for this that I desired a little rest! It
was not for the sake of saving my life, it was not from fear, it was not
from grief, O king, that I entered these waters! It was only in
consequence of fatigue that I did so! Do thou, O son of Kunti, rest a
while with those that follow thee! Rising from this lake I will certainly
fight all of you in battle!"
"'Yudhishthira said, 'All of us have rested sufficiently. For a long
while we were engaged in a search after thee! Rise then, even now, O
Suyodhana, and give us battle! Either slaying the Parthas in battle make
this kingdom that swelleth with prosperity your own, or slain by us in
battle, proceed to those regions that are reserved for heroes!"
"'Duryodhana said, "They amongst the Kurus, O son of Kurus' race, for
whose sake I desired sovereignty, that is, those brothers of mine, O
king, all lie dead on the field! I do not, again, like to enjoy any
longer the earth that is now shorn of wealth and reft of superior
Kshatriyas, and that hath, therefore, become like a widowed lady! I,
however, still hope to vanquish thee, O Yudhishthira, after curbing the
pride, O bull of Bharata's race, of the Pancalas and the Pandus! There
is, however, no longer any need for battle when Drona and Karna have been
quieted and when our grandsire Bhishma hath been slain! This shorn earth,
O king, now exists for thee! What king is there that would like to rule a
kingdom divested of friends and allies? Having caused friends such as I
had to be slain and even sons and brothers and sires, and seeing my
kingdom wrested by you, who is there like myself that would like to live?
Clad in deer-skins I would retire into the woods! I have no desire for
kingdom, deprived as I am of friends and allies, O Bharata! Reft almost
entirely of friends and allies, of heroes and elephants, this earth
exists for thee, O king! Do you enjoy her now cheerfully! As for myself,
clad in deerskins, I shall go to the woods! Friendless as I am, I have no
desire, O lord, for even life! Go, O monarch, and rule the earth
destitute of lords, without warriors, reft of wealth, and without
citadels, as you choosest!"'
"Sanjaya continued, 'Hearing these words of poignant grief the
illustrious Yudhishthira addressed your son Duryodhana who was still
within those waters, saying, "Do not utter such ravings of sorrow, O
sire, from within the waters! I do not, like Shakuni, feel any compassion
for thee, O king, for such words as these! Thou mayest now, O Suyodhana,
be willing to make a gift of the earth to me. I, however, do not wish to
rule the earth thus given by thee! I cannot sinfully accept this earth
from thee! Acceptance of a gift, O king, is not the duty laid down for a
Kshatriya! I do not, therefore, wish to have the wide earth thus given
away by thee! I shall, on the other hand, enjoy the earth after
vanquishing you in battle! Thou are now the lord of the earth! Why then
dost you desire to make a gift of that over which you hast no dominion?
Why, O king, didst you not then give us the earth when we, observant of
the rules of righteousness and desirous of the welfare of our race, had
begged you for our portion? Having first refused the request of the
mighty Krishna, why dost you now desire to give away the earth? What is
this folly of thine? What king is there, who, assailed by foes, would
wish to give away his kingdom? O son of Kuru's race, today you are not
competent to give away the earth! Why then dost you wish to make a gift
of that over which you hast no power? Vanquishing me in battle, rule
thou this earth! Thou didst not formerly agree to give me even that much
of the earth which would be covered by the point of a needle! How then, O
monarch, dost you make me a gift of the whole earth? How is it that
thou, who couldst not formerly abandon even that much of land which the
point of a needle would cover, now wishest to abandon the whole earth?
What fool is there that would, after having obtained such prosperity and
ruled the entire earth, think of making a gift of that earth to his
enemies? Stupefied by folly, you seest not the impropriety of this!
Although you desirest to give away the earth, you shalt not yet escape
me with life! Either rule the earth after having vanquished us, or go to
regions of blessedness after being slain by us! If both of us, that is,
thyself and myself, be alive, then all creatures will remain in doubt
about to whom the victory belongs. Thy life, O you of limited foresight,
now depends upon me! If I like, I can suffer you to live, but you art
not capable of protecting your own life! Thou had at one time especially
endeavoured to burn us to death and to take our lives by means of snakes
and other kinds of poison and by drowning us! We were also wronged by
thee, O king, by the deprivation of our kingdom, by the cruel words
spoken by thee, and by your maltreatment of Draupadi! For these reasons, O
wretch, your life must be taken! Rise, rise, and fight us! That will
benefit thee!"'
"Sanjaya continued, 'In this strain, O king, those heroes, the Pandavas,
flushed with victory, repeatedly spoke there (rebuking and mocking
Duryodhana).'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 9 : UPA-PARVA 31 ---------------------
