The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Vana Parva, Part 1
Religion
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Vana Parva, Part 1
Epic literature, Sanskrit
Armed with the bow and sword, and
cased in mail, betake thyself to austerities and good vows, and go thou
northwards, O child, without giving way to anybody. O Dhananjaya, all
celestial weapons are with Indra. The celestials, from fear of Vritra,
imparted at the time all their might to Sakra. Gathered together in one
place, thou wilt obtain all weapons. Go thou unto Sakra, he will give
thee all his weapons. Taking the bow set thou out this very day in order
to behold Purandara.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "Having said this, the exalted Yudhishthira the
just, imparted that science unto Arjuna. And the elder brother having
communicated with due rites the Knowledge unto his heroic brother, with
speech and body and mind under perfect control, commanded him to depart.
And at the command of Yudhishthira, the strong-armed Arjuna, taking up
the _Gandiva_ as also his inexhaustible quivers, and accoutred in mail
and gauntlets and finger-protectors made of the skin of the guana, and
having poured oblations into the fire and made the Brahmanas to utter
benedictions after gifts, set out (from _Kamyaka_) with the objects of
beholding Indra. And armed with the bow, the hero, at the time of
setting out heaved a sigh and cast a look upwards for achieving the
death of Dhritarashtra's sons. And beholding Kunti's son thus armed and
about to set out, the Brahmanas and _Siddhas_ and invisible spirits
addressed him, saying, 'O son of Kunti, obtain thou soon what thou
wishest.' And the Brahmanas, also uttering benedictions said, 'Achieve
thou the object thou hast in view. Let victory be truly thine.' And
beholding the heroic Arjuna, of thighs stout as the trunks of the
_Sala_, about to set out taking away with him the hearts of all, Krishna
addressed him saying, 'O thou strong-armed one, let all that Kunti had
desired at thy birth, and let all that thou desirest, be accomplished, O
Dhananjaya! Let no one amongst us be ever again born in the order of
Kshatriyas. I always bow down unto the Brahmanas whose mode of living is
mendicancy. This is my great grief that the wretch Duryodhana beholding
me in the assembly of princes mockingly called me a _cow_! Besides this
he told me in the midst of that assembly many other hard things. But the
grief I experience at parting with thee is far greater than any I felt
at those insults. Certainly, in thy absence, thy brothers will while
away their waking hours in repeatedly talking of thy heroic deeds! If,
however, O son of Pritha, thou stayest away for any length of time, we
shall derive no pleasure from our enjoyments or from wealth. Nay, life
itself will be distasteful to us. O son of Pritha, our weal, and woe,
life and death, our kingdom and prosperity, are all dependent on thee. O
Bharata, I bless thee, let success be thine. O sinless one, thy
(present) task thou wilt be able to achieve even against powerful
enemies. O thou of great strength, go thou to win success with speed.
Let dangers be not thine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account