Mahabharata: Volume 4 (56 page)

‘Kunti said, “O scorcher of enemies! In this connection, an ancient history is recounted, about a conversation between Vidula
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and her son. She told him about what he should do for his welfare. She was famous and was born in a noble lineage. She was radiant and was also wrathful. Vidula was far-sighted, fortunate and devoted to the dharma of kshatriyas. She was renowned in the assemblies of kings because of her learned words and great erudition. The lady named Vidula was truthful. She once censured the son who was born from her womb, when he was defeated by the king of Sindhu and was lying down, dejected in his intelligence. He was miserable and ignorant about dharma. He increased the delight of his enemies.

‘“‘Where did you come from?
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You were not born from me or your father. You are such a coward that you have no anger. You are like a lowly branch. You are a man, but are acting like a eunuch. You can remain hopeless for the rest of your life. But for your own welfare, bear the burden. Do not think of yourself as inferior. Do not be satisfied with trifles. Set your mind on great welfare. Do not be afraid. Show some spirit. Arise. You are a coward. Don’t lie there in this defeated state. You are the delight of all your enemies. You are causing grief to all your relatives. An inferior
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river is soon filled, the paws of a mouse are soon filled, a coward is greatly satisfied and content with little. Without uprooting the fangs of a snake, are you going to die like a dog? Or will you exhibit some valour, even at the expense of your life? Will you be seen circling silently and unafraid in the sky like a hawk, waiting for a weakness in the enemy? Why are you lying down like a corpse, as if you have been struck by lightning?
Arise, you coward! Do not lie down, defeated. Do not vanish in your misery. Make yourself famous through your own deeds. Do not be medium, inferior, or the worst. Be strong. Blaze up, even if it is only for an instant, like a kindling of
tinduka
.
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Do not burn like the flame of husk. Do not lead the fugitive life of a crow. It is better to blaze for an instant, than to only yield smoke for a long time. Let no son be born in a royal house who is as mild as a she-mule. As long as a person performs manly deeds and achieves the greatest objective, he acts according to dharma and triumphs and there is no need for him to censure himself. Whether he is unsuccessful, or whether he is successful, a learned person does not lament. He moves on to the next task, without setting store by his life. Either display your valour, or head towards an objective that is certain.
³⁰¹
O son! When you have placed dharma first, why should you remain alive?
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O eunuch! Your sacrifices, your donations and all your deeds have been destroyed. The roots of your enjoyment have been severed. Why should you remain alive? If one is sinking and is about to fall, one should grasp the enemy by the thigh.
³⁰³
Even if one has been destroyed by the roots, one should never sorrow. One should remember the achievements of well-bred horses. One should arise, lift the burden and excel. Know your own manliness and achieve spirit and honour. The lineage has been immersed because of your own deeds. Raise it up. If men do not talk about a person’s feats as greatly extraordinary, he only increases the ranks of the ordinary. He is neither a woman, nor a man. A man whose generosity, austerities, valour, learning, riches and gains are not famously spoken about, is his mother’s excrement.
³⁰⁴
One becomes a man through deeds of learning, austerities, prosperity and valour. A man who surpasses
others in deeds, has truly been born. Do not resort to the livelihood of one with a begging bowl. This is wicked, reprehensible, cruel and vile and leads to misery. It is followed by cowards. Enemies welcome such a feeble man. The worlds despise him. He is inferior in his food and garments. He gains nothing and is inferior. He lives on nothing and he is himself only nothing. His relatives obtain no happiness from having got such a person as a relative. We have been banished from our kingdom. We have no means of livelihood. We have fallen in status. We have been deprived of all the objects of desire. We have been dislodged from our positions. We are nothing. O Sanjaya!
³⁰⁵
I have given birth to Kali in the form of a son. He is not virtuous and acts contrary to the norms of his varna. You are the destroyer of the lineage and you have nothing in you. You have no anger. You have no enterprise. You have no valour. You are the delight of your enemies. Let no woman give birth to a son like this. Do not only produce smoke. Blaze up. Attack and conquer the enemies. Even if it is for an instant, blaze up over the heads of the enemies. One is a man to the extent one is intolerant and unforgiving. One who is forgiving and does not have anger, is neither a woman, nor a man. Satisfaction destroys prosperity and so do lack of anger, lack of enterprise and fear. Nothing great can be obtained without enterprise. Liberate yourself from these evil traits. Liberate yourself from your own self. Have steel in your heart and hunt again for what belongs to you. A man is called
purusha
because he vanquishes a city.
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If one lives like a woman, one falsifies one’s name. There are brave and spirited ones who roam around with the valour of lions. Their fate may be determined by destiny, but the subjects rejoice. He who hunts for prosperity, giving up his own self and his beloved happiness, soon brings delight to his advisers.’

‘“The son replied, ‘If you do not behold me,
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what is the use of this entire earth to you? What will ornaments, objects of desire and life itself mean to you?’

‘“The mother said, ‘Let your enemies obtain the worlds of those who lament, “What should be done now?” Let your well-wishers travel to the worlds meant for those who have great souls. Do not follow the conduct of those who are deserted by their servants and live on alms given by others, those who are miserable and without spirit. O son! May brahmanas and our well-wishers obtain their sustenance through you, just as all beings obtain lives through rain and the gods through Shatakratu. O Sanjaya! A man on whom all living beings depend, like a tree with ripe fruit, is one whose life has meaning. A brave and valiant one, who sustains the happiness of his relatives, like the thirty gods by Shakra, leads a virtuous life. A man who lives on the strength of his arms obtains fame in this world and an auspicious objective in the hereafter.’”’

‘“Vidula said, ‘If you wish to give up your manliness in your present state, you will soon follow the path travelled by the inferior. A kshatriya who does not display energy to the best of his capacity and who does not exhibit his valour, desiring to remain alive, is said to be a thief. My meaningful, appropriate and beneficial words do not reach you, like medicine to someone who is about to die. It is true that the king of Sindhu has many satisfied subjects. But they are weak and foolish and are waiting for a calamity to strike them. When they see you collect aides one by one and behold your manliness, they will lose heart and his enemies will join you. Conduct alliances with them and roam around in mountainous forts, waiting for the time when he will be destroyed. He is not beyond old age. Nor is he immortal. You are Sanjaya only in name. I do not see it in you.
³⁰⁸
O son! Live up to your name. Do not make your name false. When you were only a child, an immensely wise brahmana who had
foresight said, “After confronting great hardships, he will prosper again.” Remembering those words, I hope that you will be victorious. O son! Therefore, I am repeatedly telling you about this. If others thrive on the perseverance with which a person pursues his goals, and if he pursues these goals with reflection, that person will certainly be successful. Your ancestors also confronted prosperity and adversity. O Sanjaya! Knowing this—fight. Do not turn back. Shambara
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has said that there is nothing more miserable than not seeing where today’s and tomorrow’s meal will come from. He said that this is a greater misery than the death of one’s husband and sons. Poverty is nothing but progressive death. I have been born in a great lineage. I have gone from one pond to another.
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I have been the mistress of everything fortunate. I have been extremely honoured by my husband. Earlier, masses of well-wishers saw me bedecked in expensive garlands and ornaments, adorned in excellent garments. I am in penury now. O Sanjaya! When you see me and your wife extremely weak, what purpose can life have for you? The slaves and servants who used to work for us, the preceptors and the foremost priests have left us, because they no longer have sustenance. On seeing this, what purpose can life have for you? If I do not see you today, performing the illustrious and praiseworthy deeds that you used to earlier, how can there be peace in my heart? My heart is shattered when I have to say no to brahmanas. Neither my husband nor I, have ever said no to a brahmana. Others seek refuge with us. But we do not seek refuge with others. If I now have to depend on others for a living, I will give up my life.

‘“‘When there are no shores, provide us a shore. When there are no boats, be our boat. When there is no status, find us status. Revive those of us who are dead. If you do not cling to life, you are capable of withstanding all your enemies. But if you follow this conduct of an eunuch, depressed in mind and troubled in soul, then free yourself of this wretched life. A brave one becomes famous by killing a single enemy. Indra became the great Indra by slaying Vritra alone. He
obtained the great Indra’s cup for drinking soma and the lordship of the worlds. He proclaimed his name in battle and challenged the armoured enemies. When he drives away the best of armies and kills the best of warriors in an excellent battle, a brave one obtains great fame. His enemies tremble and bow down before him. Men who are cowards are helpless. If a skilled warrior is prepared to give up his life in battle, they satisfy every desire that he has for riches. Even if there is terrible danger to the kingdom, even if there is doubt about remaining alive, virtuous ones do not leave any remnants of an enemy who is near. The kingdom is a road to heaven, it is like amrita itself. It allows for only one
³¹¹
and it is closed to you. Knowing this, descend like a firebrand on the enemy. O king! Defeat your enemies in battle. Follow your own dharma. O fortunate one! Let the enemies not see you in this extremely dejected state, surrounded by our miserable people and delighted foes. Let me not be miserable at seeing you in this miserable state. Pleasure with the maidens of Souvira.
³¹²
Boast about your prosperity, as you used to do earlier. Do not be so exhausted and come under the control of the maidens of Sindhu. You are young and handsome, possess learning and have been born in a good lineage. You are renowned and famous in the world. One like you should not act in this way, like a bull that cannot bear the burden. I think that this is worse than death. If I see you speaking pleasant words to the enemy, or following behind him, how can there be peace in my heart? No one born in this lineage has ever followed others. O son! You should not live in this way, sustaining yourself on another. I know the eternal heart of kshatriyas, as described by our ancestors and those who came after them, and also by the ancestors of the enemy and those who came after them. A kshatriya who has been born in this world and knows about the dharma of kshatriyas, will never bow down before another, either out of fear or to earn a living. Stand upright in manliness. Do not make efforts to bend. It is better to break at the joints than to bend down. O Sanjaya! You should be strong in your mind and roam around like a rutting elephant, bowing
down before brahmanas and dharma. Control the other varnas and chastise all those who perform evil acts. Whether you possess allies or do not possess allies, you should always live in this way.’”’

‘“The son said, ‘O mother! You have converted your heart into steel. There is no compassion in you. Incited by the wisdom of bravery, you have become intolerant. Shame on the conduct of kshatriyas, about which you are censuring me, as if I am a stranger. You are speaking such words to your only son. If you can no longer see me, what purpose will the entire earth have for you? What use will there be of ornaments, or of the pleasures that life brings?’

‘“The mother replied, ‘O son! Everything done by the learned is for the purpose of dharma and artha. O Sanjaya! I have incited you with a view to those ends. The great moment has arrived for you to decide on your course of action. With the time having arrived, if you do not act accordingly, you will be dishonoured and commit a deed of extreme cruelty. O Sanjaya! You have already been touched by ill fame. If I do not speak to you in this way, my affection towards you will be like that of a she-ass, without strength and without purpose. Abandon the path censured by the righteous and frequented by the stupid. This is the great ignorance to which all beings cling. If your conduct is that of the virtuous, you will be my beloved, that is, if you have the qualities of dharma and artha and never follow anything else. This recognizes destiny and human endeavour and is the conduct of the virtuous. If one finds delight in a son or a grandson who does not have humility and does not exert himself, one loses the fruits of obtaining offspring. Those who perform deeds that should not be performed are censured. Such inferior men obtain no happiness, in this world and the next. O Sanjaya! A kshatriya has been created to fight and be victorious, for always performing cruel deeds and protecting the subjects. Whether he triumps, or whether he is slain,
he attains Indra’s world. But in Shakra’s sacred and celestial world, the happiness that a kshatriya obtains from subjugating his enemy, is missing. Let the spirited man who has been defeated many times be tormented by rage and wait to exact vengeance on the enemy. In what other way can he find peace, other than giving up his own life or bringing down the enemy? In this world, a wise man is not delighted with a trifle. It is certain that a person who is delighted with a trifle, will not remain happy with that trifle. In the absence of what he desires, a man will not be radiant. It is certain that he will feel empty, like the Ganga after flowing into the ocean.’