Mahabharata, Book 7, Section LXXXVIद्रोणपर्व

Kisari Mohan Ganguli’s English prose (1883–96), beside the Sanskrit of adhyāya 7.86.

86Sanskrit adhyāya 7.86 · Sanskrit source · English source

Sanskrit

सञ्जय उवाच।
हन्त ते सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि सर्वं प्रत्यक्षदर्शिवान्।
शुश्रूषस्व स्थिरो भूत्वा तव ह्यपनयो महान्।।
गतोदके सेतुबन्धो यादृक्तादृगयं तव।
विलापो निष्फलो राजन्मा शुचो भरतर्षभ।।
अनतिक्रमणीयोऽयं कृतान्तस्याद्भुतो विधिः।
मा शुचो भरतश्रेष्ठ दिष्टमेतत्पुरातनम्।।
यदि त्वं हि पुरा द्यूतात्कुन्तीपुत्रं युधिष्ठिरम्।
निवर्तयेथाः पुत्रांश्च न त्वां व्यसनमाव्रजेत्।।
युद्धकाले पुनः प्राप्ते तदैव भवता यदि।
निवर्तिताः स्युः संरब्धा न त्वां व्यसनमाव्रजेत्।।
दुर्योधनं चाविधेयं बध्नीयास्त्वं पुरा यदि।
अवेक्ष्य कौरवान्राजन्प्राप्स्यसे त्वं महद्यशः।।
तत्ते बुद्धिव्यतीचारमुपलप्स्यन्ति तज्जनाः।
पाञ्चाला वृष्णयः सर्वे ये चान्येऽपि नराधिपाः।।
स कृत्वा पितृकर्म त्वं पुत्रं संस्थाप्य सत्पथे।
वर्तेथा यदि धर्मेण न त्वां व्यसनमाव्रजेत्।।
त्वं तु प्राज्ञतमो लोके हित्वा धर्मं सनातनम्।
दुर्योधनस्य कर्णस्य शकुनेश्चान्वगा मतम्।।
तत्ते विलपितं सर्वं मया राजन्निशामितम्।
अर्थे निविशमानस्य विषमिश्रं यथा मधु।।
न तथा मन्यते कृष्णो न च राजा युधिष्ठिरः।
न भीष्मो नैव च द्रोणो यथा त्वं मन्यसे नृप।।
व्यजानीत यदा तु त्वां लुब्धं धर्मप्रवादिनम्।
तदाप्रभृति कृष्मस्त्वां न तथा बहुमन्यते।।
परुषाण्युच्यमानांश्च यथा पार्थानुपेक्षसे।
तस्यानुबन्धः प्राप्तस्त्वां पुत्रामां राज्यकामुक।।
पितृपैतामहं राज्यमपावृत्तं त्वयाऽनघ।
अथ पार्थैर्जितां कृत्स्नां पृथिवीं प्रत्यपद्यथाः।।
पाण्डुना निर्जितं राज्यं कौरवाणां यशस्तथा।
एतच्चाप्यधिकं भूयः पाण्डवैर्धर्मचाखिभिः।।
तेषां तत्तादृशं कर्म त्वामासाद्य सुनिष्फलम्।
यत्पित्र्याद्धंशिता राज्यात्त्वयेहामिषगृद्धिना।।
यत्पुनर्युद्धकाले त्वं पुत्रान्गर्हयसे नृप।
बहुधा व्याहरन्दोषान्न तदद्योपपद्यते।।
न हि रक्षन्ति राजानो युध्यन्तो जीवितं रणे।
चमूं विगाह्य पार्थानां युध्यन्ते क्षत्रियर्षभाः।।
यां तु कृष्णार्जुनौ सेनां यां सात्यकिवृकोदरौ।
रक्षेरन्को नु तां युध्येच्चमूमन्यत्र कौरवात्।।
येषां योद्धा गुडाकेशो येषां मन्त्री जनार्दनः।
येषां च सात्यकिर्योद्धा येषां योद्धा वृकोदरः।।
को हि तान्विषहेद्योद्धुं मर्त्यधर्मा धनुर्धरः।
अन्यत्र कौरवेयेभ्यो ये वा तेषां पदानुगाः।।
यावत्तु शक्यते कर्तुमन्तरज्ञैर्जनाधिपैः।
क्षत्रधर्मरतैः शूरैस्तावत्कुर्वन्ति कौरवाः।।
यथा तु पुरुषव्याघ्रैर्युद्धं परमसङ्कटम्।
कुरूणां पाण्डवैः सार्धं तत्सर्वं शृणु तत्त्वतः।।
।। इति श्रीमन्महाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि
जयद्रथवधपर्वणि ष़डशीतितमोऽध्यायः।। 86 ।।

English Ganguli

“Sanjaya said, ‘I will tell thee all, for everything hath been witnessed by me with my own eyes. Listen calmly. Great is thy fault. Even as an embankment is useless after the waters (of the field) have flowed away, even so, O king, are these lamentations of thine useless! O bull of Bharata’s race, do not grieve. Wonderful as are the decrees of the Destroyer, they are incapable of being transgressed. Do not grieve, O bull of Bharata’s race, for this is not new. If thou hadst formerly restrained Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, and thy sons also from the match at dice, this calamity then would never have overtaken thee. If, again, when time for battle came, hadst thou restrained both the parties inflamed by wrath, this calamity then would never have overtaken thee. If, again, hadst thou formerly urged the Kurus to slay the disobedient Duryodhana, then this calamity would never have overtaken thee. (If thou hadst done any of these acts), the Pandavas, the Panchalas, the Vrishnis, and the other kings would then have never known thy wrong-headedness. If, again, doing thy duty as a father, thou hadst, by placing Duryodhana in the path of righteousness, caused him to tread along it, then this calamity would never have overtaken thee. Thou art the wisest man on earth. Forsaking eternal virtue, how couldst thou follow the counsels of Duryodhana and Karna and Sakuni? These lamentations of thine, therefore, O king, that I hear,—of thine that art wedded to (worldly) wealth, seem to me to be honey mixed with poison. O monarch, formerly Krishna did not respect king Yudhishthira, the son of Pandu, or Drona, so much as he used to respect thee. When, however, he came to know thee as one fallen off from the duties of a king, since then Krishna hath ceased to regard thee with respect. Thy sons had addressed various harsh speeches towards the sons of Pritha. Thou wast indifferent to those speeches then, O thou that wieldest sovereignty, unto thy sons. The consequence of that indifference of thine hath now overtaken thee. O sinless one, the ancestral sovereignty is now in danger. (If it is not so), obtain now the whole earth subjugated by the sons of Pritha.134 The kingdom that the Kurus enjoy, as also their fame had been acquired by the Pandus. The virtuous sons of Pandu added to that kingdom and that fame. Those achievements, however, of theirs became (to them) barren of fruit as they came in contact with thee, since they were deprived of even their ancestral kingdom by thy covetous self. Now, O king, when the battle has begun, thou censurest thy sons indicating diverse faults of theirs. This is scarcely becoming. The Kshatriyas, while fighting, do not take care of their very lives. Indeed, those bulls among Kshatriyas fight, penetrating into the array of the Parthas. Who else, indeed, save the Kauravas, would venture to fight with that force which is protected by Krishna and Arjuna, by Satyaki and Vrikodara? Them that have Arjuna for their warrior, them that have Janardana for their counsellor, them that have Satyaki and Vrikodara for their protectors, what mortal bowman is there that would dare fight with, save the Kauravas and those that are following their lead? All that is capable of being achieved by friendly kings endued with heroism and observant of the duties of Kshatriyas, all that is being done by the warriors on the Kauravas side. Listen now, therefore, to everything that hath taken place in the terrible battle between those tigers among men viz., the Kurus and the Pandavas.’"