INDIA. PART II.

of the dead at

warriors had come out of the river, their widows and HISTORY OF orphans and kinsfolk were overjoyed, and not a trace of grief remained amongst them; and widows went to their husbands, and daughters to their fathers, and mothers to their sons, and sisters to their brothers, and all the fifteen years of sorrow which had passed since the war of the Mahá Bhárata were forgotten in the ecstasy of seeing each other again. Thus the night passed away in the fulness of Disappearance joy; but when the morning had dawned, all the dead the dawn. mounted their chariots and horses, and disappeared; and those who had gathered together to behold them prepared to depart. And Vyása the sage said that the widows who The widows wished to rejoin their dead husbands might do so; and selves in the all the widows went and bathed in the Ganges, and came join their husout of the water again, and kissed, one by one, the feet of Dhritarashtra and Gándhárí; and then went and drowned themselves in the river; and through the prayers of Vyása they all went to the places they wished, and obtained their several desires.

drown them

Ganges and re

bands.

of the Maharaja

household in a

After this, Raja Yudhishthira and his brethren, and their wife Draupadí, took their leave of Maharaja Dhritaráshtra and the Rání Gándhárí, and returned to the city of Hastinapur. And after many days Nárada the sage came to the palace of Yudhishthira, and said: "The jungle has Terrible death been set on fire, and the flames have been nourished by a and all his strong wind; and the Maháraja and the Rání, and all their jungle fire. kinsfolk and friends, have perished in the burning, and your mother Kuntí has perished also." And the Pándavas were smitten with horror and sorrow, and darkness fell upon them. But when some days had passed away, they were thrown into a deeper consternation; for very fearful Fearful omens omens appeared on all sides, and they felt that something very terrible was about to happen, and they knew not when or how it would happen.

at Hastinapur.

foregoing nar

The foregoing narrative calls for but little com- Review of the ment. The exile of the Maháraja serves to prove rative. the hollow character of his reconciliation with the

INDIA.

PART II.

picture of the

the dead who

great war.

the last day.

volved in the

description in

rata.

HISTORY OF Pandavas, to which attention has already been drawn. But the glorious scene in which the dead Grandeur of the who had fallen in the great war arose out of the resurrection of river Ganges, arrayed in all the pomp and magnihad fallen in the ficence of battle, forms one of the grandest pictures ever presented to the human eye. The conception Compared with of the resurrection of the dead on the last day is perhaps more terribly suggestive, but the bursting open of the sepulchres by the shrouded inmates, and the horrible contrast between the saved and the damned, fills the imagination with pain and gloom. Perfect bliss in- The idea in the Mahá Bhárata, however, is one of perfect joy. Trumpets are sounding, banners are waving, and the air is filled with the noise of horses and elephants and chariots, as the vast armies of warriors appear in glory and brightness out of the dark river, arrayed in all the imposing paraphernalia of war. All enmity, however, has departed from amongst them; and all are in perfect friendship with each other; whilst bards and eulo ists are singing before them, and companies of beautiful girls are dancing in the midnight air. Moreover, the contrast between the women and the warriors is one which brings all the purest affections into play. Wives and mothers, sisters and daughters, are once again in the company of those whom they most loved, and in the enjoyment of the highest felicity after long years of bereavement and sorrow. Hindú charac. The glorious and affecting scene is at length brought to a conclusion by an incident somewhat tragic in itself, but still in accordance with Hindú ideas of happiness. At the dawn of the morning, the vision disappears, and the poor widows are again overwhelmed with grief; but by the permission of the

Affecting pro

women.

ter of the scene.

INDIA. PART II.

sage, they take a touching farewell of their friends HISTORY OF and relatives, and then drown themselves in the sacred river, and thus once again join their husbands in another world.

acter of the

The remaining portion of the narrative is more Horrible charmelancholy. The awful death of the Maharaja and jungle fire. all his household in a jungle fire, is an event which to this day excites a sympathizing horror, for it is sudden, terrible, and overwhelming. In the case of the Pándavas, however, their consternation was increased by portentous omens; and thus they were not only oppressed by their present grief, but by the constant apprehension that something still more fearful was about to happen.

struction of

The alarming event which they were thus hourly 2nd. The deanticipating at length came to pass. Tidings were Dwáraká. suddenly brought to them of a frightful series of disasters which had taken place at Dwáraká, the city of Krishna and the Yádavas; but here, to avoid anticipating, it will be better to leave the narrative to tell its own story:

profanity of the

raká.

Rishis visit the

Now all this while the great city of Dwáraká, which was Wickedness and situated upon the sea, had been filled with mirth and feast- people of Dwáing; and all the people drank wine in abundance, and the young men, who were the sons and grandsons of Krishna, scoffed at the Bráhmans, and at sacred things. And three The three great great Rishis of the highest class, whose names were Viswá- city. mitra, Durvásas, and Nárada, were sojourning in the city of the Yádavas; and the youths of the place assembled together, and saw the three sages engaged in their devotions, and amongst them was Sámba, the son of Krishna. And Trick played by the young men for sport dressed up Sámba to represent a upon the Rishis woman with child, and they led him in this disguise into the presence of the three Bráhmans, and requested to know whether she would give birth to a son or to a daughter.

the young men

INDIA.

PART II.

Threats of the
Rishis.

Their depart

ure.

HISTORY OF The Rishis replied:-"We well know whom you have brought before us; this is not a woman but a son of Krishna, and verily he shall bring forth an iron club which shall destroy the whole race of Yadu: And since you have preferred an evil life to a virtuous one, and have sought to scoff at and ridicule such poor men as we are, you and all your people shall perish by that club, except Balaráma, and he too shall leave the world shortly afterwards." So saying, the three Rishis drew over their shoulders the deerskins on which they had been seated, and went out of Dwáraká, and made their way to the city of Hastinápur. And when the young men heard the words of the three Rishis, they repented of what they had done; and the news spread abroad amongst the people of the city, and they were sore afraid; and some carried the account to Krishna, and he said:"If it is the will of God it will surely come to pass."

Krishna issues a proclamation against wine.

tion.

After this, Krishna issued a proclamation throughout Dwáraká, that whoever drank wine henceforth should be put to death with all his family. Then the people of the city abstained from the use of wine, and no man ventured Fearful appari- even to utter its name. But at this time a fearful apparition showed itself at the doors of all the houses, and men said that it was death in a human shape; and its colour was black and yellow, and its head was shorn, and all its limbs were distorted; and all who saw the apparition were filled with fear and trembling, and if a man discharged an arrow at it, the figure disappeared, and no one knew whither it had gone. Meantime, a great wind arose, and uprooted many trees, and carried away many men and beasts, and blew about the doors of the houses until they were nearly Portentous in all broken. And the rats increased in so prodigious a

Great wind.

crease of rats

and owls.

manner that thousands and thousands swarmed in every house, and carried off and spoilt everything that was put away; and they ran about the bazaars, and they gnawed away the hair and beards of the men who were asleep. And owls flocked to the houses of the people in great numbers, and screeched throughout the night; and the nightingales

INDIA. PART II.

Evil omens and

pravity.

and minas were scared by the noise of the rats, and the HISTORY OF hooting of the owls, and continued their wailings both by night and day. And monstrous births filled the land, for the cows brought forth asses, and the swine produced lions' general decubs, and the dogs produced kittens, and the weasels brought forth young mice. And vice and evil pervaded the whole race of Yadu; and the poor men and the devotees were openly reviled; and preceptors and learned men were treated with disrespect; and the women overruled the men, and fire refused to give light, and the flames of fire became black and blue. And the sun was surrounded at its rising and its setting by thousands of spectres of men without heads, who engaged in battle with swords and spears in their hands. And the Yogis and other devotees found that if they rose from the skins upon which they sat, those skins were changed into vermin. And the moon was eclipsed on its twelfth day, and the sun was eclipsed on the twentyseventh day of the moon.

Krishna that

should go and

Prabhása.

black woman.

Meantime Krishna issued a proclamation that on the Proclamation of morrow all the people of the city should go to the sea-shore the people at Prabhása, and pay their devotions to the deity of Dwá- worship at raká. At that same time a dreadful apparition came to the Apparition of a city of a black woman, clothed in black garments, and having yellow teeth; and this woman went from house to house, grinning at all who were therein, and filling them with terror and dismay; and if any one attempted to seize her, she vanished from that place and showed herself at another, and thus she continued until she had gone over the whole city. And that same night evil spirits came and carried off the jewels of the women, and the weapons of the men, and no one had the power to recover either the one or the other. The chakra of Krishna was also suddenly taken Chakra of up to heaven, and all the people saw it, and were filled with to heaven. grief, and raised a great uproar. At the same time, the His chariot and charioteer of Krishna harnessed his master's chariot; and in the sea. upon this the horses bounded up into the air, and bore away the chariot over the sea, and disappeared for ever. Disappearance Also the figure of a palmyra, which was on the standard of of Balarama and

Jewels and weapons carried off by evil spirits.

Krishna ascends

horses disappear

of the ensigns Krishna.