‘Sanjaya replied, “O king! After those on your side had travelled a short distance, they saw a fierce forest. It was full of many trees and creepers. They rested there for some time and those supreme horses obtained water. At the time when the sun was setting, they entered that great forest. It was full of large numbers of many kinds of animals and many birds. There were diverse trees and creepers and it was full of many kinds of predatory beasts. There were many beautiful ponds, full of water. These were covered with hundreds of lotuses and blue lotuses. Having entered that terrible forest, they glanced around in different directions. They saw a banyan tree8 there, with many thousands of branches. O king! Approaching that banyan tree, those maharathas, best among men, saw that it was the best among trees. They descended from their chariots there and unyoked the horses. O lord! As is decreed, they washed themselves and performed the evening rites. At that time, the sun had reached Mount Asta,9 the best of mountains. Night, the creator of the entire universe,10 manifested itself. In every direction, the sky was beautiful to behold. It was ornamented with planets, nakshatras and stars.11 Beings which are powerful and roam during the night began to howl. Beings that roam during the day were overcome by sleep. Because of the shrieks of beings that roam in the night, it became extremely fearful. Predatory beasts were delighted and the night became terrible. Kritavarma, Kripa and Drona’s son sat down together. It was the beginning of that terrible night and they were overcome by grief and sorrow. They sat down under the banyan tree and sorrowed about the destruction that had encompassed the Kurus and the Pandaveyas. Their limbs were overtaken by sleep and they lay down on the surface of the ground. They were greatly exhausted and wounded by many arrows. Maharatha Kripa and Bhoja12 succumbed to sleep. They deserved happiness and did not deserve this misery. However, they slept on the surface of the ground. O great king! They slept, overcome by exhaustion and sorrow.
‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! But Drona’s son was flooded with wrath and intolerance. He could not sleep and sighed like a snake. He could not obtain any sleep and was tormented by anger. The mighty-armed one glanced at the forest, which was terrible to behold. He glanced towards the forest, inhabited by many beings. The mighty-armed one saw the banyan tree, inhabited by tens of thousands of crows.13 Thousands of crows spent the night there. O Kouravya! Resorting to separate perches, they slept happily. In every direction, those crows were at ease and slept. He14 saw that an owl, terrible in appearance, suddenly arrived. Its shriek was horrible and it was gigantic in form. Its eyes were tawny and its plumage was reddish brown. Its nose and talons were extremely long. It possessed the speed of Suparna.15 O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Making only the slightest bit of noise, that bird approached the branches of the banyan tree. The bird descended on the branch of the banyan tree and having descended, killed an extremely large number of crows. It tore away the wings of some and severed the heads of others. With the talons on its feet, it broke the legs of others. It was powerful and in a short while, destroyed the ones it could see. O lord of the earth! Every side of that banyan tree was strewn with limbs and bodies. Having slain the crows, the owl was delighted. It was the destroyer of its enemies and had acted against its enemies as it willed.
‘“On witnessing the deceitful act perpetrated by the owl in the night, Drona’s son began to think and arrived at a conclusion. ‘For the battle, this bird has given me an instruction. I wish to destroy the enemy and it is my view that the time has come. The victorious Pandavas are incapable of being slain by me. They are powerful and full of enterprise. They are strikers who accomplish their objectives. But, in the king’s16 presence, I pledged to kill them. I will destroy myself, like an insect engaged in entering a fire. If I fight through fair means, there is no doubt that I will lose my life. However, there will be success through deceit and great destruction of the enemy. People who are skilled about sacred texts also abundantly praise certain methods over those that are uncertain. There will be words of censure and reprimand from the worlds. But a man who has embarked on the dharma of kshatriyas must bear them. The Pandavas, firm in their enmity, have committed acts of deceit at every step, even though they have been censured and reprimanded by everyone. On this, those who have thought about dharma have sung a song earlier and it has been heard. They knew about what was right and proper and recounted these shlokas. “The forces of the enemy must be struck, whether they are exhausted, shattered, eating, retreating or entering.17 Whether they are sleeping in the middle of the night, whether their paths of progress have been destroyed, whether their warriors have been slain and whether the forces are hesitant or not, one must act in the same way.”’ Thinking in this way, Drona’s powerful son resolved to slay the Pandu and Panchala warriors while they slept.
‘“Having arrived at this cruel decision and thinking about it repeatedly, he awoke Bhoja and his maternal uncle,18 who were asleep and told them. They were overcome with shame and did not reply. Having thought for some time, in a voice that was distracted and choking with tears, he19 said, ‘King Duryodhana was immensely strong and the only brave one. He has been killed. It is for his sake that we were engaged in this enmity with the Pandavas. He was the lord of eleven armies.20 He fought single-handedly with many wicked ones and was brought down by Bhimasena, who acted with the valour of a shudra. Vrikodara also performed an inferior and extremely cruel deed. He kicked the head of one who had been consecrated with his feet. The Panchalas are roaring, singing and laughing at this. In their joy, they are blowing on hundreds of conch shells and beating on their drums. That tumultuous sound of musical instruments is mixing with the blare of conch shells. Those fierce sounds are borne by the wind and are filling the directions. The horses are neighing and the elephants are trumpeting. The brave ones are roaring like lions and that great sound can be heard. From the eastern direction,21 those fierce sounds of rejoicing can be heard. The clatter of chariot wheels can be heard and it makes the body hair stand up. The Pandavas created great carnage among the sons of Dhritarashtra and the three of us are the only ones who have survived. Some of them possessed the life force of one hundred elephants. Some of them were skilled in the use of all kinds of weapons. But they have been killed by the Pandaveyas. I think that this is destiny. There is no doubt that deeds lead to such an end. Even if one performs extremely difficult deeds, this is the outcome of that. If your wisdom has not been clouded by your confusion, given this great calamity, decide and tell us about the best course of action.’”’
Chapter 1285(2)
‘“Kripa said, ‘O lord! Your words are full of reason and we have heard everything that you have said. O mighty-armed one! But listen to some words I am about to tell you. All men are tied down by two things, restrictions22 and deeds. There is nothing superior to destiny and human action. O supreme one! Success does not come from destiny, to the exclusion of deeds. Nor do deeds alone succeed. Success comes from the union of the two. Everything, whether it is superior or inferior, is tied down by these two. Whether it is engagement, or whether it is withdrawal, everything is seen to depend on these.23 What fruits are obtained when rain showers down on a mountain? What fruits are obtained when rain showers down on a ploughed field? Both exertion with an unfavourable destiny and a favourable destiny without exertion are always unsuccessful. What I have said earlier is correct. If the destiny of rain showers down on a field that has been properly tilled, seedlings of great qualities result. Human success is like that. Sometimes, having made up its mind, destiny follows its own course. However, according to their capacity, the wise resort to manliness. O bull among men! All human objectives are accomplished by those two.24 Engagement and withdrawal are seen to be the result of this. One can resort to manliness, but success depends on destiny. One undertakes tasks based on that and consequent fruits follow. In this world, it is seen that the enterprise of skilled humans, if unaccompanied by destiny, are completely unsuccessful. That is the reason why lazy and ignorant men disapprove of enterprise. But this does not appeal
to those who are wise. On earth, deeds are often seen to be unsuccessful. However, the lack of action is also seen to lead to the great fruit of misery. No one can be seen to obtain what he desires without action, nor is there one who obtains nothing after exertion. An industrious person is capable of sustaining life. A lazy person never obtains happiness. In this mortal world, it is often seen that industrious people want to ensure their own welfare. If an industrious person undertakes action and fails to obtain the fruits, he is not reprimanded in the slightest possible way. However, if one does not undertake action and yet obtains fruits, he is usually censured and hated. A person who disregards this and acts in a contrary way, injures himself. That is what intelligent people say. Enterprise does not give rise to fruits because of two reasons, either because manliness is lacking, or because destiny is deficient. If there is a lack of enterprise, no task ever becomes successful. If an industrious and skilled person acts, after bowing down to destiny, the accomplishment of objectives is never baffled. This is also true of those who serve the elders and after asking them, act in accordance with their beneficial words. If, after asking those who are revered by the aged, one resorts to enterprise, one always obtains supreme success. It is said that this is the root of success. If one listens to the words of elders and then engages in tasks, one soon obtains all the fruits. However, a man who seeks to obtain his objective because of passion, anger, fear and avarice has no control and is soon dislodged from his prosperity. This Duryodhana sought to obtain his objective because of his greed. He was not far-sighted. He began a task that was not approved of. He was foolish and did not think. He disregarded the beneficial words of the intelligent and sought the counsel of those who were wicked. Though he was dissuaded, he engaged in an enmity with the Pandavas, who were superior to him in qualities. Right from the beginning, he was evil in conduct and could not control his meanness. He did not follow the advice of his friends and has been tormented through this catastrophe. We also followed that wicked man. That is the reason we have confronted this great and terrible calamity. This great calamity has overtaken me now. Even if I use my intelligence, I cannot fathom what is good for us. A man who is confused should ask his learned well-wishers. Having asked them, he should act in accordance with their words. Therefore, let us unite and go to Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and the immensely intelligent Vidura. Let us ask them. Asked by us, they will tell us what is beneficial for us next. We should then act according to what they say. That is my firm view. One should never embark on a task that will lead to disaster. If one resorts to enterprise and that task is unsuccessful, one should certainly deduce that the task is not favoured by destiny.’”’
Chapter 1286(3)
‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! On hearing Kripa’s auspicious words, which were full of dharma and artha, Ashvatthama was overcome with sorrow and grief. He burnt with misery, like a blazing fire. He formed a cruel resolution in his mind and replied to both of them. ‘The quality of intelligence varies from man to man. But depending on his own wisdom, each one is satisfied with what he has. In this world, everyone thinks his own intelligence to be supreme. Each person reveres his own understanding and praises it a lot. Each person bases himself on praising his own wisdom. Everyone criticizes the intelligence of others and always honours and praises his own. To accomplish an objective, if they hold similar views, they are then satisfied with each other and show each other great honour. But when, because of destiny, those same men face a hardship, they oppose each other’s understanding. This is especially the case because human intelligence is affected by lack of thought. Since the wisdom is clouded, their understanding differs. A skilled physician diagnoses the disease properly and then applies a medicine to correctly cure it. In the same way, men use their intelligence to accomplish their objective. Even if they use their own wisdom, they may be censured by other men. On this earth, when one is young, one’s intelligence is often clouded. It is different in middle age. And in old age, a different kind of intelligence is agreeable. O Bhoja!25 When one confronts great calamity or when prosperity is equally great, it is seen that a man’s intelligence is confounded. In the same person, depending on the state of intelligence then, what is once regarded as wisdom at one time is regarded as the reverse at another. Having used one’s wisdom and intelligence to determine what is virtuous, one should then try to accomplish the objective. O Bhoja! All men determine what is virtuous and then cheerfully act accordingly, even if that action leads to death. Having determined their own reasoning and wisdom, all men act in different kinds of ways, thinking these to be beneficial. As a result of the calamity, I have arrived at a resolution today and I will tell both of you about this. It will dispel my sorrow. Having created beings, Prajapati26 ordained tasks for them. He assigned different qualities for each of the varnas—supreme self-control to brahmanas, great energy to kshatriyas, skill to vaishyas and servitude of all varnas to shudras. A brahmana without self-control is not virtuous. A kshatriya without energy is the worst. An unskilled vaishya is censured, as is a shudra who is not devoted. I have been born in a brahmana lineage that is greatly revered. However, because of misfortune, I am engaged in the dharma of kshatriyas. Knowing the dharma of kshatriyas, if I now resort to the conduct of brahmanas and perform an extremely great deed, that will not be virtuous for me. I have wielded a divine bow and celestial weapons in the battle. Having seen my father slain, how will I speak in any assembly? Today, I will follow my desires. I will resort to the dharma of kshatriyas and follow in the footsteps of the king27 and my immensely radiant father. The Panchalas desired victory and will sleep comfortably tonight. They will cast aside their armour and will be full of delight. They will think that they have defeated us and will be tired and exhausted. While they are comfortably sleeping in their respective positions in their camps, I will perform the extremely difficult task of attacking their camp. I will attack their camp when they are senseless, as if dead. I will slaughter them with my valour, like Maghavan28 against the danavas. Today, I will use my valour and slaughter all of them together, with Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, like a blazing fire amidst kindling. O supreme ones! Having slain the Panchalas, I will obtain peace. While roaming around amidst the Panchalas and slaughtering the Panchalas, I will be like the enraged Rudra, the wielder of the Pinaka,29 acting against beings. Having severed and slain all the Panchalas today, I will then wrathfully take the battle to the sons of Pandu and afflict them. Today, I will strew the earth with the bodies of all the Panchalas. I will strike them down, one by one, and free myself of my debt to my father. The footsteps of Duryodhana, Karna, Bhishma and Saindhava are difficult to follow, but the Panchalas will tread along those. Tonight, before the night is over, I will use my strength to grind down the head of Dhrishtadyumna, king of the Panchalas, treating him like an animal. O Goutama!30 While the sons of the Panchalas and the Pandus are sleeping tonight, I will use my sharp sword to crush them. O immensely intelligent one!31 When the Panchala soldiers are sleeping tonight, I will slaughter them. Having succeeded in my task, I will be happy.’”’
Chapter 1287(4)
‘“Kripa said, ‘O one without decay! It is through good fortune that you have decided to take revenge. Even the wielder of the vajra himself is incapable of restraining you. When it is morning, both of us will follow and accompany you. However, cast aside your armour and standard and rest tonight. When you advance against the enemy, I and Satvata Kritavarma will armour ourselves and follow you on our chariots. O best among rathas! United with us, you will use your valour to slaughter the enemy, the Panchalas and their followers, in the encounter. You are capable of doing this through your prowess. But rest during the night. O son!32 You have not slept for a long time. Sleep during this night. O one who grants honours! You are exhausted and without sleep. Rest, and then clash against the enemy in the battle. There is no doubt that you will slay them. You are the best among rathas! When you grasp your supreme weapons, no one is capable of defeating you, not even the gods, with Agni’s so
n.33 When you advance angrily in the battle, with Kripa and Kritavarma, which warrior is capable of fighting against Drona’s son. Not even the king of the gods. Let us overcome our exhaustion and lack of sleep. Let us get over our anxiety. When the night is over and it is morning, we will kill the enemy. There is no doubt that you possess divine weapons. So do I. Satvata is a great archer and is always skilled in fighting. O son! We will unite and advance against the enemy. We will strike and kill them in the battle and obtain complete happiness. However, you should rest first. Sleep happily during the night. O supreme among men! When you advance, Kritavarma and I will unite and follow you. We are archers and can scorch the enemy. When you advance swiftly on your chariot, we will armour ourselves and station ourselves on our chariots. You will go to the camp34 and proclaim your name in the battle. You will fight against the enemy and cause great carnage. When it is morning and the day is clear, you will create that carnage. You will roam around, like Shakra destroying the great asuras. You are capable of destroying the Panchala formations in the battle. You will be like the enraged slayer of all the danavas,35 against the army of the daityas. When you are united with me in the battle and are protected by Kritavarma, the lord who is the wielder of the vajra is himself incapable of withstanding you. O son! Neither I, nor Kritavarma, will ever retreat from an encounter without having defeated the Pandus in the battle. We will kill all the inferior and united Panchalas and Pandus in the battle and return. Or we will be killed by them and go to heaven. When it is morning, we will aid you through every possible means. O mighty-armed one! O unblemished one! I am telling you this truthfully.’
Mahabharata: Volume 8 Page 4
