maha04

maha04, Wschód, Mahabharata, Full (ang)

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The MahabharataofKrishna-Dwaipayana VyasaBOOK 4VIRATA PARVATranslated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit TextbyKisari Mohan Ganguli[1883-1896]Scanned at sacred-texts.com, 2003. Proofed at Distributed Proofing,Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. Additional proofing and formatting atsacred-texts.com, by J. B. Hare.SECTION I(Pandava-Pravesa Parva)OM! Having bowed down to Narayana, and Nara, the most exalted of malebeings, and also to the goddess Saraswati, must the word Jaya be uttered.Janamejaya said, "How did my great-grandfathers, afflicted with the fearof Duryodhana, pass their days undiscovered in the city of Virata? And, OBrahman, how did the highly blessed Draupadi, stricken with woe, devotedto her lords, and ever adoring the Deity[1], spend her days unrecognised?"Vaisampayana said, "Listen, O lord of men, how thy great grandfatherspassed the period of unrecognition in the city of Virata. Having in thisway obtained boons from the god of Justice, that best of virtuous men,Yudhishthira, returned to the asylum and related unto the Brahmanas allthat had happened. And having related everything unto them, Yudhishthirarestored to that regenerate Brahmana, who had followed him the churningstaff and the fire-sticks he had lost. And, O Bharata, the son of the godof Justice, the royal Yudhishthira of high soul then called together allhis younger brothers and addressed them, saying, 'Exiled from ourkingdom, we have passed twelve years. The thirteenth year, hard to spend,hath now come. Do thou therefore, O Arjuna, the son of Kunti, select somespot where we may pass our days undiscovered by our enemies.'"Arjuna replied, "Even by virtue of Dharma's boon, we shall, O lord ofmen, range about undiscovered by men. Still, for purposes of residence, Ishall mention some spots that are both delightful and secluded. Do thouselect some one of them. Surrounding the kingdom of the Kurus, are, manycountries beautiful and abounding in corn, such as Panchala, Chedi,Matsya, Surasena, Pattachchara, Dasarna, Navarashtra, Malla, Salva,Yugandhara, Saurashtra, Avanti, and the spacious Kuntirashtra. Which ofthese, O king, wouldst thou choose, and where, O foremost of monarchs,shall we spend this year?"Yudhishthira said "O them of mighty arms, it is even so. What thatadorable Lord of all creatures hath said must become true. Surely, afterconsulting together, we must select some delightful, auspicious, andagreeable region for our abode, where we may live free from fear. Theaged Virata, king of the Matsyas, is virtuous and powerful andcharitable, and is liked by all. And he is also attached to the Pandavas.Even in the city of Virata, O child, we shall, O Bharata, spend thisyear, entering his service. Tell me, ye sons of the Kuru race, in whatcapacities ye will severally present yourselves before the king of theMatsyas!"Arjuna said, "O god among men, what service wilt thou take in Virata'skingdom? O righteous one, in what capacity wilt thou reside in the cityof Virata? Thou art mild, and charitable, and modest, and virtuous, andfirm in promise. What wilt thou, O king, afflicted as thou art withcalamity, do? A king is qualified to bear trouble like an ordinaryperson. How wilt thou overcome this great calamity that has overtakenthee?"Yudhishthira replied, "Ye sons of the Kuru race, ye bulls among men, hearwhat I shall do on appearing before king Virata. Presenting myself as aBrahmana, Kanka by name, skilled in dice and fond of play, I shall becomea courtier of that high-souled king. And moving upon chess-boardsbeautiful pawns made of ivory, of blue and yellow and red and white hue,by throws of black and red dice. I shall entertain the king with hiscourtiers and friends. And while I shall continue to thus delight theking, nobody will succeed in discovering me. And should the monarch askme, I shall say, 'Formerly I was the bosom friend of Yudhishthira.' Itell you that it is thus that I shall pass my days (in the city ofVirata). What office wilt thou, O Vrikodara, fill in the city of Virata?"SECTION IIBhima said, "I intend to present myself before the lord of Virata as acook bearing the name of Vallabha. I am skilled in culinary art, and Ishall prepare curries for the king, and excelling all those skilful cooksthat had hitherto dressed his food I shall gratify the monarch. And Ishall carry mighty loads of wood. And witnessing that mighty feat, themonarch will be pleased. And, O Bharata, beholding such superhuman featsof mine, the servants of the royal household will honour me as a king.And I shall have entire control over all kinds of viands and drinks. Andcommanded to subdue powerful elephants and mighty bulls, I will do asbidden. And if any combatants will fight with me in the lists, then willI vanquish them, and thereby entertain the monarch. But I shall not takethe life of any of them. I shall only bring them down in such way thatthey may not be killed. And on being asked as regards my antecedent Ishall say that--Formerly I was the wrestler and cook of Yudhishthira.Thus shall I, O king, maintain myself."Yudhishthira said, "And what office will be performed by that mightydescendant of the Kurus, Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti, that foremost ofmen possessed of long arms, invincible in fight, and before whom, whilehe was staying with Krishna, the divine Agni himself desirous ofconsuming the forest of Khandava had formerly appeared in the guise of aBrahmana? What office will be performed by that best of warriors, Arjuna,who proceeded to that forest and gratified Agni, vanquishing on a singlecar and slaying huge Nagas and Rakshasas, and who married the sister ofVasuki himself, the king of the Nagas? Even as the sun is the foremost ofall heat-giving bodies, as the Brahmana is the best of all bipeds, as thecobra is the foremost of all serpents, as Fire is the first of all thingspossessed of energy, as the thunderbolt is the foremost of all weapons,as the humped bull is the foremost of all animals of the bovine breed, asthe ocean is the foremost of all watery expanses, as clouds charged withrain are the foremost of all clouds, as Ananta is the first of all Nagas,as Airavata is the foremost of all elephants, as the son is the foremostof all beloved objects, and lastly, as the wife is the best of allfriends, so, O Vrikodara, is the youthful Gudakesa, the foremost of allbowmen. And O Bharata, what office will be performed by Vibhatsu, thewielder of Gandiva, whose car is drawn by white horses, and who is notinferior to Indra or Vasudeva Himself? What office will be performed byArjuna who, dwelling for five years in the abode of the thousand-eyedDeity (Indra) shining in celestial lustre, acquired by his own energy thescience of superhuman arms with all celestial weapons, and whom I regardas the tenth Rudra, the thirteenth Aditya, the ninth Vasu, and the tenthGraha, whose arms, symmetrical and long, have the skin hardened byconstant strokes of the bowstring and cicatrices which resemble those onthe humps of bulls,--that foremost of warriors who is as Himavat amongmountains, the ocean among expanses of water, Sakra among the celestial,Havya-vaha (fire) among the Vasus, the tiger among beasts, and Garudaamong feathery tribes!"Arjuna replied, "O lord of the Earth, I will declare myself as one of theneuter sex. O monarch, it is, indeed difficult to hide the marks of thebowstring on my arms. I will, however, cover both my cicatrized arms withbangles. Wearing brilliant rings on my ears and conch-bangles on mywrists and causing a braid to hang down from my head, I shall, O king,appear as one of the third sex, Brihannala by name. And living as afemale I shall (always) entertain the king and the inmates of the innerapartments by reciting stories. And, O king, I shall also instruct thewomen of Virata's palace in singing and delightful modes of dancing andin musical instruments of diverse kinds. And I shall also recite thevarious excellent acts of men and thus conceal myself, O son of Kunti, byfeigning disguise. And, O Bharata should the king enquire, I will saythat, I lived as a waiting maid of Draupadi in Yudhishthira's palace.And, O foremost of kings, concealing myself by this means, as fire isconcealed by ashes, I shall pass my days agreeably in the palace ofVirata."Vaisampayana continued, "Having said this, Arjuna, that best of men andforemost of virtuous persons, became silent. Then the king addressedanother brother of his."[2]SECTION IIIYudhishthira said, "Tender, possessed of a graceful presence, anddeserving of every luxury as thou art, what office wilt thou, O heroicNakula, discharge while living in the dominions of that king? Tell me allabout it!"Nakula said, "Under the name of Granthika, I shall become the keeper ofthe horses of king Virata. I have a thorough knowledge (of this work) andam skilful in tending horses. Besides, the task is agreeable to me, and Ipossess great skill in training and treating horses; and horses are everdear to me as they are to thee, O king of the Kurus. At my hands evencolts and mares become docile; these never become vicious in bearing arider or drawing a car.[3] And those persons in the city of Virata thatmay enquire of me, I shall, O bull of the Bharata race, say,--Formerly Iwas employed by Yudhishthira in the charge of his horses. Thus disguised,O king, I shall spend my days delightfully in the city of Virata. No onewill be able to discover me as I will gratify the monarch thus![4]Yudhishthira said, "How wilt thou, O Sahadeva, bear thyself before thatking? And what, O child, is that which thou wilt do in order to live indisguise."... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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