SECTION 61
"Dhritarashtra said, 'Beholding Duryodhana struck down in battle by
Bhimasena, what, O Sanjaya, did the Pandavas and the Srinjayas do?'
"Sanjaya said, 'Beholding Duryodhana slain by Bhimasena in battle, O
king, like a wild elephant slain by a lion, the Pandavas with Krishna
became filled with delight. The Pancalas and the Srinjayas also, upon the
fall of the Kuru king, waved their upper garments (in the air) and
uttered leonine roars. The very Earth seemed to be unable to bear those
rejoicing warriors. Some stretched their bows; others drew their
bowstrings. Some blew their huge conchs; others beat their drums. Some
sported and jumped about, while some amongst your foes laughed aloud. Many
heroes repeatedly said these words unto Bhimasena, "Exceedingly difficult
and great hath been the fears that you hast achieved today in battle, by
having struck down the Kuru king, himself a great warrior, with your mace!
All these men regard this slaughter of the foe by you to be like that of
Vritra by Indra himself! Who else, save thyself, O Vrikodara, could slay
the heroic Duryodhana while careering in diverse kinds of motion and
performing all the wheeling manoeuvres (characteristic of such
encounters)? Thou hast now reached the other shore of these hostilities,
that other shore which none else could reach. This feat that you hast
achieved is incapable of being achieved by any other warriors. By good
luck, you hast, O hero, like an infuriated elephant, crushed with thy
foot the head of Duryodhana on the field of battle! Having fought a
wonderful battle, by good luck, O sinless one, you hast quaffed the
blood of Duhshasana, like a lion quaffing the blood of a buffalo! By good
luck, you hast, by your own energy, placed your foot on the head of all
those that had injured the righteous-souled king Yudhishthira! In
consequence of having vanquished your foes and of your having slain
Duryodhana, by good luck, O Bhima, your fame hath spread over the whole
world! Bards and eulogists applauded Shakra after the fall of Vritra,
even as we are now applauding thee, O Bharata, after the fall of thy
foes! Know, O Bharata, that the joy we felt upon the fall of Duryodhana
hath not yet abated in the least!" Even these were the words addressed to
Bhimasena by the assembled eulogists on that occasion! Whilst those
tigers among men, the Pancalas and the Pandavas, all filled with delight
were indulging in such language, the slayer of Madhu addressed them,
saying, "You rulers of men, it is not proper to slay a slain foe with
such cruel speeches repeatedly uttered. This wight of wicked
understanding hath already been slain. This sinful, shameless, and
covetous wretch, surrounded by sinful counsellors and ever regardless of
the advice of wise friends, met with his death even when he refused,
though repeatedly urged to contrary by Vidura and Drona and Kripa and
Sanjaya, to give unto the sons of Pandu their paternal share in the
kingdom which they had solicited at his hands! This wretch is not now fit
to be regarded either as a friend or a foe! What use in spending bitter
breath upon one who hath now become a piece of wood! Mount your cars
quickly, the kings, for we should leave this place! By good luck, this
sinful wretch hath been slain with his counsellors and kinsmen and
friends!" Hearing these rebukes from Krishna, king Duryodhana, O monarch,
gave way to wrath and endeavoured to rise. Sitting on his haunches and
supporting himself on his two arms, he contracted his eyebrows and cast
angry glances at Vasudeva. The form then of Duryodhana whose body was
half raised looked like that of a poisonous snake, O Bharata, shorn of
its tail. Disregarding his poignant and unbearable pains, Duryodhana
began to afflict Vasudeva with keen and bitter words, "O son of Kansa's
slave, you hast, it seems, no shame, for hast you forgotten that I have
been struck down most unfairly, judged by the rules that prevail in
encounters with the mace? It was you who unfairly caused this act by
reminding Bhima with a hint about the breaking of my thighs! Dost thou
think I did not mark it when Arjuna (acting under your advice) hinted it
to Bhima? Having caused thousands of kings, who always fought fairly, to
be slain through diverse kinds of unfair means, feelest you no shame or
no abhorrence for those acts? Day after day having caused a great carnage
of heroic warriors, you causedst the grandsire to be slain by placing
Shikhandi to the fore! Having again caused an elephant of the name of
Ashvatthama to be slain, O you of wicked understanding, you causedst
the preceptor to lay aside his weapons. Thinkest you that this is not
known to me! While again that valiant hero was about to be slain this
cruel Dhrishtadyumna, you didst not dissuade the latter! The dart that
had been begged (of Shakra as a boon) by Karna for the slaughter of
Arjuna was baffled by you through Ghatotkacha! Who is there that is more
sinful than thou? Similarly, the mighty Bhurishrava, with one of his arms
lopped off and while observant of the Praya vow, was caused to be slain
by you through the agency of the high-souled Satyaki. Karna had done a
great feat for vanquishing Partha. Thou, however, causedst Aswasena, the
son of that prince of snakes (Takshaka), to be baffled in achieving his
purpose! When again the wheel of Karna's car sank in mire and Karna was
afflicted with calamity and almost vanquished on that account, when,
indeed, that foremost of men became anxious to liberate his wheel, thou
causedst that Karna to be then slain! If the had fought me and Karna and
Bhishma and Drona by fair means, victory then, without doubt, would never
have been yours. By adopting the most crooked and unrighteous of means
thou hast caused many kings observant of the duties of their order and
ourselves also to be slain!'
"'Vasudeva said, "Thou, O son of Gandhari, hast been slain with thy
brothers, sons, kinsmen, friends, and followers, only in consequence of
the sinful path in which you hast trod! Through your evil acts those two
heroes, Bhishma and Drona, have been slain! Karna too hath been slain for
having imitated your behaviour! Solicited by me, O fool, you didst not,
from avarice, give the Pandavas their paternal share, acting according to
the counsels of Shakuni! Thou gavest poison to Bhimasena! Thou hadst,
also, O you of wicked understanding, endeavoured to burn all the
Pandavas with their mother at the palace of lac! On the occasion also of
the gambling, you had persecuted the daughter of Yajnasena, while in
her season, in the midst of the assembly! Shameless as you art, even
then you becamest worthy of being slain! Thou hadst, through Subala's
son well-versed in dice, unfairly vanquished the virtuous Yudhishthira
who was unskilled in gambling! For that are you slain! Through the
sinful Jayadratha again, Krishna was on another occasion persecuted when
the Pandavas, her lords, had gone out hunting towards the hermitage of
Trinavindu! Causing Abhimanyu, who was a child and alone, to be
surrounded by many, you didst slay that hero. It is in consequence of
that fault, O sinful wretch, that you are slain! All those unrighteous
acts that you sayest have been perpetrated by us, have in reality been
perpetrated by you in consequence of your sinful nature! Thou didst never
listen to the counsels of Brihaspati and Usanas! Thou didst never wait
upon the old! Thou didst never hear beneficial words! Enslaved by
ungovernable covetousness and thirst of gain, you didst perpetrate many
unrighteous acts! Bear now the consequences of those acts of thine!"
"'Duryodhana said, "I have studied, made presents according to the
ordinance, governed the wide Earth with her seas, and stood over the
heads of my foes! Who is there so fortunate as myself! That end again
which is courted by Kshatriyas observant of the duties of their own
order, death in battle, hath become mine. Who, therefore, is so fortunate
as myself? Human enjoyments such as were worthy of the very gods and such
as could with difficulty be obtained by other kings, had been mine.
Prosperity of the very highest kind had been attained by me! Who then is
so fortunate as myself? With all my well-wishers, and my younger
brothers, I am going to heaven, O you of unfading glory! As regards
yourselves, with your purposes unachieved and torn by grief, live the in
this unhappy world!"'
"Sanjaya continued, 'Upon the conclusion of these words of the
intelligent king of the Kurus, a thick shower of fragrant flowers fell
from the sky. The Gandharvas played upon many charming musical
instruments. The Apsaras in a chorus sang the glory of king Duryodhana.
The Siddhas uttered loud sound to the effect, "Praise be to king
Duryodhana!" Fragrant and delicious breezes mildly blew on every side.
All the quarters became clear and the firmament looked blue as the lapis
lazuli. Beholding these exceedingly wonderful things and this worship
offered to Duryodhana, the Pandavas headed by Vasudeva became ashamed.
Hearing (invisible beings cry out) that Bhishma and Drona and Karna and
Bhurishrava were slain unrighteously, they became afflicted with grief
and wept in sorrow. Beholding the Pandavas filled with anxiety and grief,
Krishna addressed them in a voice deep as that of the clouds or the drum,
saying, "All of them were great car-warriors and exceedingly quick in the
use of weapons! If the had put forth all your prowess, even then the could
never have slain them in battle by fighting fairly! King Duryodhana also
could never be slain in a fair encounter! The same is the case with all
those mighty car-warriors headed by Bhishma! From desire of doing good to
you, I repeatedly applied my powers of illusion and caused them to be
slain by diverse means in battle. If I had not adopted such deceitful
ways in battle, victory would never have been yours, nor kingdom, nor
wealth! Those four were very high-souled warriors and regarded as
Atirathas in the world. The very Regents of the Earth could not slay them
in fair fight! Similarly, the son of Dhritarashtra, though fatigued when
armed with the mace, could not be slain in fair fight by Yama himself
armed with his bludgeon! You should not take it to heart that this foe of
yours hath been slain deceitfully. When the number of one's foes becomes
great, then destruction should be effected by contrivances and means. The
gods themselves, in slaying the Asuras, have trod the same way. That way,
therefore, that hath been trod by the gods, may be trod by all. We have
been crowned with success. It is evening. We had better depart to our
tents. Let us all, the kings, take rest with our steeds and elephants and
cars." Hearing these words of Vasudeva, the Pandavas and the Pancalas,
filled with delight, roared like a multitude of lions. All of them blew
their conchs and Jadava himself blew Panchajanya, filled with joy, O bull
among men, at the sight of Duryodhana struck down in battle.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 9 : UPA-PARVA 61 ---------------------
