Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

5

davas drawn up (for battle), he drew near to his tutor,1 and spoke these words:

"See, O Tutor! this vast army of the sons of Pāṇḍu, set in array by thy wise pupil, the son of Drupada.2

Brave men are there, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna; Yuyudhāna,3 Virāṭa,a and Drupada of the great car; 5

Drishtaketu,

Chekitāna, and the brave king of

tled there, after it had taken its southern course from the lands beyond the Himalayan range. Here, too, the Brahmanic system seems to have been first developed. This view is supported by a passage in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa (xiv. 1, 2). "The gods Agni, Indra, Soma, Vishnu, Makha, and all the gods, except the Aswins, were present at a sacrifice. Kuru-kshetra was the

place of their divine worship. Hence, they say, Kuru-kshetra is the place where the gods offer sacrifice (Muir, Sans. Texts, ii. 400, and iv. 125).

[ocr errors]

The Sarasvati, though an insignificant stream, is accounted one of the sacred rivers of India.

The plain of Kuru is named from Kuru, the heros eponymus of the tribe. In the Bhagavad Gita, the term Kurus is applied exclusively to the party which supported Duryodhana, though Kuru was the ancestor of both the hostile parties.

1 The acharya, or instructor, of the king, was Drona, son of the rishi Bharadwaja. He was a Brāhman by birth, but having been instructed in the art of war by Parashurāma (Rāma of the axe, the sixth incarnation of Vishņu), he had been a tutor in military science

to Duryodhana and other chiefs of the race. He was slain by Dhristadyumna, son of Drupada, in a fight described in the seventh book (Drona-parvan) of the Mahābhārata.

2 The son of Drupada, who was king of the Panchālas, was Dhṛishtadyumna, his eldest son, mentioned above.

3 Yuyudhana was also called Satyaki, a patronymic from his father, Satyaka. He was of the Yadu tribe, whose territory lay to the west of the Jumna.

4 Virāṭa was king of the Matsyas, whose country formed part of the sacred plain Dharmakshetra. Note 3.

See

5 Drupada is called mahārathas (borne on a great car), to denote his rank. The war-chariot was used only by the leaders of the host, each of whom was accompanied by his charioteer (suta).

6 Dhristaketu was king of the Chedi tribe, whose chief town was called Suktimati, probably connected with śuktimat, a name given formerly to one of the seven mountain ranges of India.

7 Chekitāna is only known as a chieftain in alliance with the Panḍavas.

Kaśi;1 Purujit and Kuntibhoja,2 and Śaivya, chief of

[blocks in formation]

4

Yudhamanyu the bold, and the brave Uttamaujas; the son of Subadrā,5 and the sons of Drupadi, all borne on great cars.

But know, O best of Brahmans! who are the most distinguished among us, the leaders of my army; these I name to thee that thou mayest know them:

Thyself," and Bhishma, and Karna, and Kripa,10 victorious in battle; Aśwatthaman," Vikarṇa,12 and also Saumadatti,13

1 Kasi is the modern Benares.

2 Purujit and Kuntibhoja were brothers. The latter, having no children, adopted Kunti, called also Pritha, eldest daughter of Sūra and Mārisha. She became the wife of Pāṇḍu, and had three sons, Yudishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, who is often therefore called Kaunteya or Partha, that is, son of Kunti or Pritha.

3 Śaivya was the king of the Shivis, the Sibæ of the Greeks (Lassen).

4 Yudhāmanyu and Uttamaujas are only known as chieftains in the Pāṇdu host.

5 Saubhadra (a generic name) was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, the sister of Krishna. His proper name was Abhimanyu.

6 The sons of Drupadī or Kṛishņā, a daughter of Drupada, were Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Śrutakīrti, Śatānika and Śrutasena. Each of the five sons of Paṇḍu was the father of one of them.

7 Duryodhana is here addressed as bhavan, equivalent to "my Lord."

8 Bhishma, the commander-inchief of the army of Duryodhana, was a son of Santanu, a descendant of Kuru by the goddess Gangā. He was great-uncle to Duryodhana and the sons of Pandu. On the tenth day of the battle he was slain by Arjuna.

9 Karna was a leader in the army of the Kurus. He was said to be the son of Surya (the Sun) and Kunti, before the marriage of the latter with Paṇḍu. He was king of the Anga country, situated in Bengal, and was slain in a subsequent fight by Arjuna (Mahābh. viii. 479S).

10 Kripa was a brother of Kripi, the wife of Droṇa, and king of the Panchalas. See Note 3.

11 Aśwatthaman was a son of Drona and Kripi.

12 Vikarṇa was the third of the hundred sons of Dhṛitarāshṭra, and was one of the Kuru party.

13 Saumadatti was a son of Somadatta, king of the Bahikas, who occupied the country between the Sutlej and the Indus.

And many others, who give up their lives for my sake, armed with many kinds of weapons, and all well skilled in war.

ΤΟ These forces of mine, which Bhishma commands, are not sufficient (c), but their forces, commanded by Bhima, suffice (for the contest).

15

Therefore do ye, even all of you, in all the lines as placed in your divisions (d), give support to Bhishma."

The aged Kuru grandsire,1 the fiery-hearted, in order to cheer him, blew his trumpet (conch-shell), blaring out on high a lion's roar.

Then suddenly the trumpets and the kettledrums, the cymbals, drums, and horns, were sounded: that sound was an uproar.

3

Then standing in their great car, yoked to white horses, the slayer of Madhu 2 and the son of Pāṇḍu blew their celestial trumpets.

Hrishikeśa (e) blew the "Panchajanya," 4 Arjuna, the

1 Bhishma, who sought to revive the drooping courage of Duryodhana.

2 Krishna was called Madhava, because (according to Lassen) he was a descendant of Madhu, one of the tribe of the Yādavas, in which, in his human nature, Krishna was born; but more probably because he slew a daitya (giant or demon) named Madhu.

3 The son of Pāṇḍu is Arjuna, the third of Paṇḍu's five sons; but to give a divine origin to the hero, he was asserted to be the son of Indra, as Bhima, his brother, was said to be the son of Vayu.

Krishna, though a god, and, in fact, Vishņu himself, was in his human nature the sūta or charioteer of Arjuna.

4 So called from being formed from the bones of the giant Panchajana. When Krishna was under the tuition of Sandipani, a son of the latter was drowned in the sea of Prabhāsa, and was dragged to the bottom by this giant or demon. Krishna dived into the sea, slew the giant, and restored the son to his father. Of the giant's bones he made a trumpet in the form of a conch-shell.

20

"God-bestowed;"1 the wolf-hearted, terrible in deeds,2 blew his great trumpet, "Pauṇḍra." 3

The king (rāja) Yudishṭhira, son of Kunti, blew the "Eternal Victory;" Nakula and Sahadeva,5 the "Sweet in tone" and "Flowered with gems;"

And Kaśya, chief of archers, and Sikhaṇḍin of the great car, Dhṛishṭadyumna and Virāța and the unconquered Satyaki,

Drupada and the sons of Drupadi, all together, O king of earth with the large-armed sons of Subhadra, blew severally their trumpets.

That noise rent the hearts of the Dhartarashtrans, for the uproar made both earth and heaven resound.

Then he whose ensign is an ape," the son of Pāṇḍu, seeing the Dhartarashtrans now drawn up (for battle), and the flight of weapons begun, took up his bow, And said thus, O king of earth! to Hrishikeśa

1 The trumpet of Arjuna is called the "God-bestowed," because it was the gift of his father, Indra.

2 Bhimakarma, a doer of dreadful (bhima) deeds; a play on his name. "Wolfish-hearted," lit. "having the entrails of a wolf," either on account of his voracity, which was said to be very great, or of his ferocious nature.

3 Paundra. Pundra means (1) a country lying in Bengal and Bihar, and (2) a sugar-bearing reed. Paundra is connected probably with the first meaning.

4 Yudishṭhira was the eldest of the three sons of Kunti. His father, according to the legend, was Dharma, the god of justice.

5 Nakula and Sahadeva were the

twin sons of Mādrī, the second wife of Pandu, but fabled to be the sons of the two Aświns, supposed to be the gods who usher in the morning and evening twilight.

6 Sikhandin, from sikhanda, a circular arrangement of three or five locks of hair on each side of the head, sometimes adopted as a mark by the Kshatriya or military

caste.

The Indian warriors formerly bore their standards on their warchariots. Arjuna received this name, Kapidhwaja (ape-bannered), because he bore this sign.

8 A name of Krishna. For an explanation of this term and of Kesava, see Philological Notes.

25

(Krishna), "Draw up my car, O Immortal! (f) between the two armies,

While I behold (g) these men drawn up and eager for battle, with whom I must contend in this strife of war.

I would look earnestly (h) on those who are assembled here, and are about to fight from a desire to do the pleasure, by war, of the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra." 1

SANJAYA spoke.

Hrishikeśa (Krishna) being thus addressed by Gudakeśa (i) (Arjuna), stopped that best of cars, O son of Bharata! between the two armies,

In the presence of Bhishma, Drona, and all the earthrulers, and said, "See, O son of Pritha! these assembled Kurus."

Then the son of Prithā saw there arrayed fathers and grandsires, tutors, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, and comrades,

Fathers-in-law and friends too in both the hosts. Then when Kaunteya 2 had looked upon all these kinsmen drawn up (for battle), being overcome by deepest pity, he spoke thus in sadness.

ARJUNA spoke.

Having seen, O Krishņa! this kindred host drawn up and eager to fight, my limbs give way and my mouth is dried up.

My body trembles, and my hair stands up on end.

1 Duryodhana, whose injustice to the sons of Paṇḍu was the cause of the war.

2 A name of Arjuna, as a son of Kunti.

« AnteriorContinuar »