The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2: Books 4, 5, 6 and 7
General
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2: Books 4, 5, 6 and 7
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,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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