INDIA. PART II. Draupadí, and carried them in his hands; and he made his HISTORY OF escape through the gate of the camp, and joined Kripa and Kritavarman, and he boasted that he had avenged his father's blood, and proposed that they should return to Duryodhana, and acquaint him with their victory. riors return to passes off the sons for the fathers. After this the three warriors proceeded to the spot where The three warthey had left Duryodhana; and on their way they saw the Duryodhana. wolves and the jackals devouring the bodies of those who had been slain in the great war, as they lay on the plain of Kurukshetra. When they approached the Raja, they found him fallen in the midst of blood and dust, but with a portion of his senses still remaining, and they sat down near him and began to weep. Then Duryodhana looked up and knew who they were, and he made signs with his hand to ask them whence they came. Aswattháma said :— -"A curse be on us Aswatthama for being alive while you are in this state: Nevertheless, I heads of the have brought you something which even yet will give you heads of the joy." Hearing this, Duryodhana, notwithstanding his weakness, raised himself up and asked what he had got. Aswattháma answered:-"I have this night killed all the five Pándavas with their whole army, and here are their five heads." When Duryodhana heard these words he leaped Exultation of up a full cubit from his place, and said:-"Do you really speak truth?" Then Aswattháma produced the heads, and Duryodhana desired that they should be shown to him one by one, which was done; and as the day had not fully dawned, and as the heads of the five sons of the Pándavas were perfect semblances of their respective fathers, Duryodhana thought as he beheld them in the hands of Aswattháma that they were the real heads of the Pándavas. And Dur- Duryodhana yodhana said:-"O Aswattháma, you have entirely taken of Bhima's son, away my grief, and now give me Bhíma's head into my own the imposture hand." And Aswattháma gave him the head of Bhíma's skull. son; and Duryodhana took it and squeezed it with all his might, until the skull burst in. Duryodhana then said :"Alas, Aswattháma, this can never be the head of Bhíma, which must be vastly too strong and hard to be broken between my hands." And Duryodhana then asked for the Duryodhana. takes the head and discovers by crushing the PART II. Reproaches Aswattháma for the murder of the innocent sons. HISTORY OF Other heads, and examined them, and he perceived that they INDIA. were the heads of the sons of Draupadí, and not those of her husbands; and he instantly fell into the most profound grief, and exclaimed:-"O Aswattháma, you have done a horrid deed in slaying these harmless youths, and thus cutting short my whole race: Had these young men lived they would have preserved our name alive: My enmity was against the Pándavas, and not against these innocents." Death of Dur- Saying this Duryodhana leaned his head upon the knees of Kritavarman and immediately expired. And the three warriors looked on and wept; and then reflecting that the Pandavas would soon discover the mischief of the night, and hasten to pursue them, they said to each other:-"Raja Duryodhana is now dead, and the Pandavas will presently come and take away his body, and this is no place for us." So each one mounted his chariot and fled. yodhana. Flight of the three warriors. Yudhishthira falls down in a swoon. His lamentations. Krishna consoles him. Now when Aswattháma had taken his revenge in the camp of the Pandavas, one quarter of the night still remained; and the charioteer of Dhrishta-dyumna mounted his master's chariot and set off for the camp of the Kauravas; and at daybreak he arrived at the quarters of Yudhishthira and his brethren, and informed them of all that had occurred. Then Raja Yudhishthira fell down in a swoon, and all his brethren thought him dead, and began most bitterly to bewail him; but Krishna consoled them, and said that Yudhishthira was certainly alive, and ordered some perfumed water to be brought, and sprinkled it plentifully on his face. After some time Yudhishthira came to himself, and turning his face towards Krishna, he said:-" What grief upon grief is this that comes on us every moment? This unfortunate Draupadi, who for thirteen years has endured for our sakes so many miseries and afflictions in the jungle, has no sooner come into the camp, and seen her sons and kinsmen, than the worst of all calamities has befallen her in the loss of her brother Dhrishta-dyumna and all her five sons: I much fear that this misfortune will cause her death." Krishna answered :-"The decree of the great god Siva is without remedy, and there is now no resource but resignation; and INDIA. PART II. Yudhishthira padi. cries the idea of ruling as Rajas. Yudhishthira it is your duty to return him thanks for your own pre- HISTORY OF servation, and to live in hopes that he will bestow upon you other children." Raja Yudhishthira then sent his brother Nakula to bring Draupadí that he might comfort sends for Drauher. And when Draupadí came she was weeping very bitterly; and she said to her husbands :— "You have been wan- Draupadi dedering thirteen years in the desert and jungle in the hope her husband at the end to enjoy the happiness of having your children about you; and now that you have seen Abhimanyu, and all my five sons, slain by your enemies, have you still the inclination to be Rajas, and to rule the world and flaunt upon thrones?" Yudhishthira and Krishna both Consoled by replied to her, saying:-" You are the daughter of a great and Krishna. and wise Raja, and there are now no such women in the whole world as Kuntí and Gándhárí: You should first reflect upon the number of sons and brothers and other kinsmen they have lost in this great war, and not act like other women who have no reflection, and whose example leads you to make this outcry." Then Draupadi was somewhat Prays for reconsoled, and she replied:-"I feel myself tranquillized by Aswatthama. your words, but can you with all your valour and prowess hold it allowable that the son of a Bráhman, like this Aswattháma, should slaughter my brother and sons with impunity?" She then turned to Bhíma, and said:-" Can you, stout as you are, permit Aswattháma to do all this mischief without suffering for it? If you do not bring me his head let me never see your face again." Yudhishthira answered Yudhishthira her:-" Aswattháma is a Bráhman and the son of our tutor Aswattháma Drona: If he has committed any crimes, Vishnu, who is Brahman, and superior to all gods, will certainly avenge it on him; and must be left to what good will it do you to have him slain? Will it bring your sons and brother to life again? Leave him to God, for Vishnu will certainly revenge on him the wrong he has done to you and us." Draupadí said :- "I will not then insist Draupadi perupon his death, but I have heard that he has upon his head an amulet bea precious jewel that will illuminate the darkest night and watthama. protect its possessor against every enemy; and that jewel venge upon represents that is the son of a that revenge Vishnu. sists in having longing to As HISTORY OF you must take from him and give it me, and the loss of it will be worse to him than the loss of his life." INDIA. PART II. Aswattháma of gives it to Bhi ma. Draupadi, and gives her the amulet. At these words of Draupadí, Bhíma mounted his chariot and set off in pursuit of Aswattháma, and Arjuna and Krishna Arjuna deprives followed after. And Arjuna and Krishna overtook Aswatthe amulet, and tháma on the banks of the Ganges, and compelled him to give up the jewel. And the jewel was given to Bhíma. And Bhima went to Draupadí, and found her in tears, and Bhima consoles he said to her :-" O Draupadí, do you not remember that day when the Kauravas insulted you and drove us all out of the city of Hastinápur, and when I came to you and bade you not to grieve, for that the day should come when their own wives should dishevel their hair in sorrow for their husbands? Then you said that you would not care if all your sons were slain, and all your husbands save one, so long as that one could revenge your affliction upon the Kauravas: Now all we five brethren are alive, and all the Kauravas are slain, and their wives are dishevelling their hair for them, according to your wish: What better then could have happened than for your sons to be slain in battle and so go to paradise? And here too is Aswattháma's jewel for you, which you demanded; so take it, and give thanks to God." Then Draupadi trans- Draupadí was entirely consoled by these words, and she took the jewel and gave it to Yudhishthira, saying:—“ Yudhishthira is now the Maharaja, and it becomes him to wear this jewel upon his head." So Yudhishthira wore the jewel on his head, and it appeared as resplendent as the sun, and all the people cried out :-" Long live Maharaja Yudhishthira!" Meanwhile Maháraja Dhritarashtra, together with his raja, with all the wife Gándhárí, and his brother's widow Kuntí, and all the women of the family, set out to behold the field of Kurukshetra where the great war had been fought between the Kauravas and the Pándavas. And as they journeyed they Their interview met with the three warriors, Aswattháma, Kripa, and Kritasurviving warri- varman, who had worked such terrible mischief in the fers the amulet to Yudhishthira. Procession of the blind Mahá women of his household, to the plain of Kurukshetra. with the three ors of the Kaurava armies. camp of the Pandavas. And the three men said to Dhritarashtra : -"Your sons engaged in a desperate war, and are now gone to the mansions of Indra; and our whole army is destroyed, INDIA. PART II. The Kauravas ascended to the because they had died fighting bravely. and we are the only three survivors." Kripa then said to HISTORY OF Gándhárí :-" O Rání, your sons have fought so bravely, that they are now enjoying happiness and glory in the mansions of Indra: Lament not therefore for them! Nor have said to have the Pandavas obtained an easy victory, for we three entered heaven of Indra, their camp in the night time, and slew their sons and many of their heroes: Take comfort therefore and permit us to depart, for we are flying for our lives from the Pándavas." So saying the three took their leave and proceeded towards the river Ganges; and on their way they parted from each other and followed three different directions; and then it was that Arjuna came up with Aswattháma, and took from him the jewel. foregoing story of Aswatthá the plain of the evening of The terrible picture which the foregoing narra- Review of the tive calls up to the imagination comprises, perhaps, of the Revenge some of the most graphic scenes in the history of ma." the war. After many days of battle and slaughter, Appearance of the plain of Kurukshetra was as silent as death. Kurukshetra on The sounding of war-shells, the beating of drums, the last day of the shouts of combatants, and the shrieks of the wounded, had passed away. The plain was covered with the corpses of the fallen; and amongst them the dying Chieftain of the Kauravas was lying upon the bare earth in mortal agony of mind and body, but thirsting like a wounded tiger for the blood of his enemies. Meantime, the triumphant Pándavas and their party were reposing in two camps on either side of the lake; the five brethren in the deserted camp of their defeated enemy, and their family and followers in their own camp. Of all the forces of Passionate dethe Kauravas none remained alive excepting As- exhibited by the wattháma and his two associates; and at evening time these three warriors paid a visit to the prostrate Duryodhana. The talk then was only of revenge. The dying Raja passionately called upon Aswat sire for revenge surviving Kau ravas. |