SECTION 59
"Sanjaya said, 'Beholding Duryodhana felled upon the earth like a
gigantic Sala uprooted (by the tempest) the Pandavas became filled with
joy. The Somakas also beheld, with hair standing on end, the Kuru king
felled upon the earth like an infuriated elephant felled by a lion.
Having struck Duryodhana down, the valiant Bhimasena, approaching the
Kuru chief, addressed him, saying, "O wretch, formerly laughing at the
disrobed Draupadi in the midst of the assembly, you hadst, O fool,
addressed us as 'Cow, Cow!' Bear now the fruit of that insult!" Having
said these words, he touched the head of his fallen foe with his left
foot. Indeed, he struck the head of that lion among kings with his foot.
With eyes red in wrath, Bhimasena, that grinder of hostile armies, once
more said these words. Listen to them, O monarch! "They that danced at us
insultingly, saying, 'Cow, Cow!' we shall now dance at them, uttering the
same words, 'Cow, Cow!' We have no guile, no fire, no match, at dice, no
deception! Depending upon the might of our own arms we resist and check
our foes!" Having attained to the other shores of those fierce
hostilities, Vrikodara once more laughingly said these words slowly unto
Yudhishthira and Keshava and Srinjaya and Dhananjaya and the two sons of
Madri, "They that had dragged Draupadi, while ill, into the assembly and
had disrobed her there, behold those Dhartarashtras slain in battle by
the Pandavas through the ascetic penances of Yajnasena's daughter! Those
wicked-hearted sons of king Dhritarashtra who had called us 'Sesame seeds
without kernel,' have all been slain by us with their relatives and
followers! It matters little whether (as a consequence of those deeds) we
go to heaven or fall into hell!" Once more, uplifting the mace that lay
on his shoulders, he struck with his left foot the head of the monarch
who was prostrate on the earth, and addressing the deceitful Duryodhana,
said these words. Many of the foremost warriors among the Somakas, who
were all of righteous souls, beholding the foot of the rejoicing
Bhimasena of narrow heart placed upon the head of that foremost one of
Kuru's race, did not at all approve of it. While Vrikodara, after having
struck down your son, was thus bragging and dancing madly, king
Yudhishthira addressed him, saying, "Thou hast paid off your hostility
(towards Duryodhana) and accomplished your vow by a fair or an unfair act!
Cease now, O Bhima! Do not crush his head with your foot! Do not act
sinfully! Duryodhana is a king! He is, again, your kinsman! He is fallen!
This conduct of thine, O sinless one, is not proper. Duryodhana was the
lord of eleven Akshauhinis of troops. He was the king of the Kurus. Do
not, O Bhima, touch a king and a kinsman with your foot. His kinsmen are
slain. His friends and counsellors are gone. His troops have been
exterminated. He has been struck down in battle. He is to be pitied in
every respect. He deserves not to be insulted, for remember that he is a
king. He is ruined. His friends and kinsmen have been slain. His brothers
have been killed. His sons too have been slain. His funeral cake hath
been taken away. He is our brother. This that you doest unto him is not
proper. 'Bhimasena is a man of righteous behaviour': people used to say
this before of thee! Why then, O Bhimasena, dost you insult the king in
this way?" Having said these words unto Bhimasena, Yudhishthira, with
voice choked in tears, and afflicted with grief, approached Duryodhana,
that chastiser of foes, and said unto him, "O sire, you shouldst not
give way to anger nor grieve for thyself. Without doubt you bearest the
dreadful consequences of your own former acts. Without doubt this sad and
woeful result had been ordained by the Creator himself, that we should
injure you and you shouldst injure us, O foremost one of Kuru's race!
Through your own fault this great calamity has come upon thee, due to
avarice and pride and folly, O Bharata! Having caused your companions and
brothers and sires and sons and grandsons and others to be all slain,
thou comest now by your own death. In consequence of your fault, thy
brothers, mighty car-warriors all, and your kinsmen have been slain by us.
I think all this to be the work of irresistible Destiny. Thou are not to
be pitied. On the other hand, your death, O sinless one, is enviable. It
is we that deserve to be pitied in every respect, O Kaurava! We shall
have to drag on a miserable existence, reft of all our dear friends and
kinsmen. Alas, how shall I behold the widows, overwhelmed with grief and
deprived of their senses by sorrow, of my brothers and sons and
grandsons! Thou, O king, departest from this world! Thou are sure to have
thy residence in heaven! We, on the other hand, shall be reckoned as
creatures of hell, and shall continue to suffer the most poignant grief!
The grief-afflicted wives of Dhritarashtra's sons and grandsons, those
widows crushed with sorrow, will without doubt, curse us all!" Having
said these words, Dharma's royal son, Yudhishthira, deeply afflicted with
grief, began to breathe hard and indulge in lamentations.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 9 : UPA-PARVA 59 ---------------------
