Maha-Bharata Epic of the Bharatas

Posted by admin_akashic on Oct 20th, 2022 in Civilization

Therefore let our many heralds travel near and travel far,
Seek alliance of all monarchs in the great impending war,

Unto brave and noble chieftains, unto nations east and west,
North and south to warlike races speed our message and request!

[288] Meanwhile peace and offered friendship we before Duryodhan place,
And my priest will seek Hastina, strive to win Duryodhan’s grace,

If he renders Indra-prastha, peace will crown the happy land,
Or our troops will shake the empire from the east to western strand!”

Vainly were Panchala’s Brahmans sent with messages of peace,
Vainly urged the Kuru elders that the fatal feud should cease,

Proud Duryodhan to his kinsmen would not yield their proper share,
Pandu’s sons would not surrender, for they had the will to dare!

Fatal war and dire destruction did the mighty gods ordain,
Till the kings and arméd nations strewed the red and reeking plain,

Krishna in his righteous effort sought for wisdom from above,
Strove to stop the war of nations and to end the feud in love,

And to far Hastina’s palace Krishna went to sue for peace,
Raised his voice against the slaughter, begged that strife and feud should cease!

V. Krishna’s Speech at Hastina

Silent sat the listening chieftains in Hastina’s council hall,
With the voice of rolling thunder Krishna spake unto them all:

“Listen, mighty Dhrita-rashtra, Kuru’s great and ancient king,
Seek not war and death of kinsmen, word of peace and love I bring!

’Midst the wide earth’s many nations Bharats in their worth excel,
Love and kindness, spotless virtue, in the Kuru-elders dwell,

Father of that noble nation, now retired from life’s turmoil,
Ill beseems that sin or untruth should thy ancient bosom soil!

For thy sons in impious anger seek to do their kinsmen wrong,
And withhold the throne and kingdom which by right to them belong,

[289] And a danger thus ariseth like the comet’s baleful fire,
Slaughtered kinsmen, bleeding nations, soon shall feed its fatal ire!

Stretch thy hands, O Kuru monarch! prove thy truth and holy grace,
Man of peace! avert the slaughter and preserve thy ancient race,

Yet restrain thy fiery children, for thy mandates they obey,
I with sweet and soft persuasion Pandu’s truthful sons will sway.

’Tis thy profit, Kuru monarch! that the fatal feud should cease,
Brave Duryodhan, good Yudhishthir, rule in unmolested peace,

Pandu’s sons are strong in valour, mighty is their arméd hand,
INDRA shall not shake thy empire when they guard the Kuru land!

Bhishma is thy kingdom’s bulwark, doughty Drona rules the war,
Karna matchless with his arrows, Kripa peerless in his car,

Let Yudhishthir and stout Bhima by these noble warriors stand,
And let helmet-wearing Arjun guard the sacred Kuru land,

Who shall then contest thy prowess from the sea to farthest sea,
Ruler of a world-wide empire, king of kings and nations free?

Sons and grandsons, friends and kinsmen, will surround thee in a ring,
And a race of loving heroes guard their ancient hero-king,

Dhrita-rashtra’s lofty edicts will proclaim his boundless sway,
Nations work his righteous mandates and the kings his will obey!

If this concord be rejected and the lust of war prevail,
Soon within these ancient chambers will resound the sound of wail,

Grant thy children be victorious and the sons of Pandu slain,
Dear to thee are Pandu’s children, and their death must cause thee pain!

But the Pandavs skilled in warfare are renowned both near and far,
And thy race and children’s slaughter will methinks pollute this war,

Sons and grandsons, loving princes, thou shalt never see again,
Kinsmen brave and car-borne chieftains will bedeck the gory plain!

[290] Ponder yet, O ancient monarch! Rulers of each distant State,
Nations from the farthest regions gather thick to court their fate,

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