The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Virata Parva
Religion
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Virata Parva
Epic literature, Sanskrit
"Draupadi said, 'This O Bharata, that I am going to tell thee is another
great grief of mine. Thou shouldst not blame me, for I tell thee this
from sadness of heart. Who is there whose grief is not enhanced at sight
of thee, O bull of the Bharata race, engaged in the ignoble office of a
cook, so entirely beneath thee and calling thyself as one _of Vallava_
caste? What can be sadder than this, that people should know thee as
Virata's cook, Vallava by name, and therefore one that is sunk in
servitude? Alas, when thy work of the kitchen is over, thou humbly
sittest beside Virata, calling thyself as Vallava the cook, then
despondency seizeth my heart. When the king of kings in joy maketh thee
fight with elephants, and the women of the inner apartments (of the
palace) laugh all the while, then I am sorely distressed. When thou
fightest in the inner apartments with lions, tigers, and buffaloes, the
princess Kaikeyi looking on, then I almost swoon away. And when Kaikeyi
and those maidservants, leaving their seats, come to assist me and find
that instead of suffering any injury in limbs mine is only a swoon, the
princess speaks unto her women, saying, 'Surely, it is from affection
and the duty begot of intercourse that this lady of sweet smiles
grieveth for the exceedingly powerful cook when he fights with the
beasts. Sairindhri is possessed of great beauty and Vallava also is
eminently handsome. The heart of woman is hard to know, and they, I
fancy, are deserving of each other. It is, therefore, likely that the
Sairindhri invariably weepeth (at such times) on account of her
connection with her lover. And then, they both have entered this royal
family at the same time. And speaking such words she always upbraideth
me. And beholding me wroth at this, she suspects me to be attached to
thee.' When she speaketh thus, great is the grief that I feel. Indeed,
on beholding thee, O Bhima of terrible prowess, afflicted with such
calamity, sunk as I already am in grief on account of Yudhishthira, I do
not desire to live. That youth who on a single car had vanquished all
celestials and men, is now, alas, the dancing master of king Virata's
daughter. That Pritha's son of immeasurable soul, who had gratified Agni
in the forest of Khandava, is now living in the inner apartments (of a
palace) like fire hid in a well. Alas, the bull among men, Dhananjaya,
who was ever the terror of foes, is now living in a guise that is
despaired by all. Alas, he whose mace-like arms have been cicatrized in
consequence of the strokes of his bow-string, alas that Dhananjaya is
passing the days in grief covering his wrists with bracelets of conchs.
Alas, that Dhananjaya the twang of whose bow-string and the sound of
whose leathern fences made every foe tremble, now entertains only
gladdened women with his songs. Oh, that Dhananjaya whose head was
formerly decked with a diadem of solar splendour, is now wearing braids
ending in unsightly curls. O Bhima, beholding that terrible bowman,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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