(1)
The
blind uncle and head of the family
Dhritarâshthra said: "At Kurukshetra, the place
of pilgrimage where we normally pray for our
well-being and dominion, assembled my family members
and my nephews the Pândavas to fight for
justice, what exactly took place there, my dearest
Sañjaya?"
(2) Sañjaya
said: "Duryodhana, that noble and distinguished son of
yours, being faced with the forces of the assembled
army in support of your nephews the Pândavas, at
that time consulted his former martial teacher
Dronâcarya, and said to him: (3) 'Dear master
Drona, now consider this mighty army of the sons of
Pându assembled here by your so very intelligent
disciple the son of Drupada (Dhrishthadyumna)! (4)
They managed to get together some people of stature as
there are Arjuna's father-in-law Drupada as well as
some other great warriors like Yuyudhâna and
Virâtha who are just as skilled in the art of
war as Bhîma and Arjuna. (5) And we may also
fear their support group of fighters consisting of
Dhrishthaketu, Cekitâna,
Kâs'ârâja, the very powerful
Purujit, Kuntibhoja and the eminent man S'aibya. (6)
Yudhâmanyu, the mighty Uttamaujâ, the very
powerful son of the sister of Krishna, Subhadrâ,
and the men of Draupadî: they are all truly
great chariot fighters. (7) But rest assured, we are
no less directly and faithfully supported by the
qualities of the warriors at our side. (8) To the
support of your goodness are there grandfather
Bhîshma as also Karna, Kripa, and
As'vatthâmâ, Vikarna and the son of
Somadatta, who all, most certainly, are always
victorious in battle as well. (9) And there are many
other heroes experienced in combat who, equipped with
all kinds of weapons, are prepared to risk their lives
for my sake. (10) Under the care of our gray eminence,
grandpa Bhîshma have we, unlimited in our
opulence and influence, nothing to fear from the but
limited power and control of Bhîma and his
Pândava brothers. (11) Surely will none of our
allies from the undisputed sovereignty of his position
ever let you down!'
(12) Duryodhana
was glad to hear a lion's roar on the conchshell
delivered by grandfather Bhîshma to the
commencement of the battle. (13) Directly thereafter
was suddenly from all sides of the Kaurava array the
sound heard of their conches, horns and drums, which
combined grew into a tumultuous uproar. (14) In
response sounded the husband of the goddess of fortune
and the son of Pându together their divine
conches. (15-18) Krishna, the lord of the senses, blew
the Pâñcajanya, Arjuna the Devadatta and
the herculean Bhîma, the voracious eater, blew
the great conch named the Paundra. King Yudhishthhira,
the eldest Pândava, blew Ananta-vijaya while
Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosha and
Manipushpaka. So also were the conchshells blown by
the king of Kâs'î the great archer
S'ikhandî and the great warrior Dhrishthadyumna,
Virâta, Sâtyaki who was never defeated
and, o King, Drupada together with all the men of
Drupadî and the skillful Abhimanyu. (19) The
response of their opponents, which just as tumultuous
as theirs resounded in the sky and the earth, tore the
hearts of the terrified Kauravas. (20) When the son of
Pându, Arjuna, ready with his bow and arrows,
saw how the opposition of the repressive forces of
Dhritarâshthra's sons prepared to fight them in
battle, addressed he, with Krishna at the reigns
standing in his chariot marked with the flag of
Hanumân, the sense master, his divine
friend.
(21-22) Arjuna
said: 'Please Perfectaim, as he also called Krishna,
drive the chariot to the middle of the battlefield to
face the warriors who, to my support and the support
of our opponents, are there arrayed for a final
showdown. (23) Let me on this battlefield face my
Kaurava opponents who are so convinced of their
acquired privileges in pleasing that crooked
Dhritarâshthra who's supposed to be our uncle.'
"
(24)
Sañjaya
said: "O desendant of Bharata, thus requested drove
Krishna the chariot to the middle of Kurukshetra, and
stopped He right in between the warriors positioned
there in opposition. (25) With before his eyes
grandfather Bhîshma, Drona and all the leaders
of the world gathered there for the unique event of
the final battle, said the fortunate one. 'O son of
aunt Kuntî, see how all the members of the
Kaurava family are gathered here.' (26) And there at
Kurukshetra, the original place of pilgrimage of the
Kuru dynasty, saw Arjuna indeed standing both the
parties of his fathers, grandfathers, uncles, nephews,
friends well-wishers and alike. (27) Right in the
middle of them faced with the huge gathering of his
family, was the son of aunt Prithâ overwhelmed
by an avalanche of conflicting feelings and stood he
perplexed, unable to move one more step.
(28) Arjuna
said: 'The look of all these kinsmen, o Krishna, my
dear friend, ready to fight each other to the bone,
gives me the jitters and frightens me terribly. (29)
My sweat turns cold and my body refuses to obey, I
don't know what to say anymore and I feel a fever
burning inside. (30) The world is spinning before my
eyes, I have to sit down, I'm losing it completely and
see nothing in all of this, o great beauty! (31)
What's the use of killing these opposing family
members! I'm not after a victory at all, Krishna, what
kind of world would that lead to? (32-35) O friend of
the women, what does world dominion mean to us? What
happiness can we find in desiring a rule of our own
design to hold sway over those friends and family
members who have now all taken opposing positions to
rule each other out to the point of extinction? They
are our fathers, teachers, sons, uncles and
grandfathers for God's sake! I do not wish to kill any
of them, nor that they would kill any of us, o devil's
despair! Never ever I'd wish such a thing I'd wish
such a thing, not even in my dreams! I'm not
interested in a battle to defeat the sons of uncle
Dhritarâshthra o keeper of the world! (36) Such
a thing of fighting your own kind wouldn't be anything
less than madness! How can one become happy ending the
lives of others, o sweetest of them all? Isn't that
sheer suicide? Doesn't that give bad karma?
(37-38) And
even if they are as blind as uncle
Dhritarâshthra in denying and defying in their
greed, in fighting and quarreling with friends
whatever the consequences that might have; why would
we, who see how sinful this all is, not turn away from
such a stupendous self-betrayal o winner of the
wealth? (39) Destroying the family this way, will all
its traditions and hard won respect vanish and will
the entirety of the remaining family lose its sense of
duty, so will each and everyone confirm. (40) With
such an irresponsible attitude, dear Krishna, will the
women of the family lose their respect for us and
will, thus fallen out of grace, no man know who he is
anymore. (41) Also will thus the chance for a good
life of our offspring be spoiled; because they, with
us having fallen in mutual disrespect, will also fail
to know how to exercise respect or confide in any
reciprocally healthy and cultured humanity any longer.
(42) From these faults made by all who ruined the
family, and because of which confusion rose in
society, will thus the righteousness of all classes
and age groups be lost as also every good habit with
the ether we had in the community. (43) As they always
say: those who spoiled the traditions, o spur of man,
always turn out to land in hell. (44) Greedy for the
supreme rule and its privileges we've oddly enough
decided to act against our better knowledge. (45) I'd
rather give up our resistance right now and grant them
the victory of the battle.' "
(46) Sañjaya
said: "And so, there, right in between the armies
ready on both sides, sat Arjuna down in the chariot,
forgetting about the fight with a mind full of doubts
and sadness."
