engaged in fight with their persecutors, and willingly
slay them even if they should lose their own lives
for it. If you suppose them to be too few to
be capable of winning a victory over their enemies,
you must know that united together and followed by
their friends, they would, no doubt, try their utmost
to destroy those enemies. What Duryodhana thinks
is not exactly known, nor what he may do. When
the mind of the other side is not known, what opinion
can be formed by you as to what is best to be done?
Therefore, let a person, virtuous and honest and of
respectable birth, and wary,—an able ambassador,
set out to beseech them mildly for inducing them to
give half the kingdom to Yudhishthira. Having
listened to the speech of Krishna, marked by prudence
and a regard for virtue and showing a pacific and
impartial spirit, his elder brother then addressed
the assembly bestowing high encomiums on the words
of the younger brother.’”
“Baladeva said, ’You have all listened
to the speech of him who is the elder brother of Gada,
characterised as it is by a sense of virtue and prudence,
and salutary alike to Yudhishthira and king Duryodhana.
These valiant sons of Kunti are ready to give up half
their kingdom, and they make this sacrifice for the
sake of Duryodhana. The sons of Dhritarashtra,
therefore, should give up half of the kingdom, and
should rejoice and be exceedingly happy with us that
the quarrel can be so satisfactorily settled.
These mighty persons having obtained the kingdom would,
no doubt, be pacified and happy, provided the opposite
party behave well. For them to be pacified will
redound to the welfare of men. And I should be
well-pleased if somebody from here, with the view of
pacifying both the Kurus and the Pandavas, should undertake
a journey and ascertain what is the mind of Duryodhana
and explain the views of Yudhishthira. Let him
respectfully salute Bhishma the heroic scion of Kuru’s
race, and the magnanimous son of Vichitravirya, and
Drona along with his son, and Vidura and Kripa, and
the king of Gandhara, along with the Suta’s
son. Let him also pay his respects to all the
other sons of Dhritarashtra, to all who are renowned
for strength and learning, devoted to their proper
duties, heroic, and conversant with signs of the times.
When all these persons are gathered together and when
also the elderly citizens are assembled, let him speak
words full of humility and likely to serve the interests
of Yudhishthira, At all events, let them not be provoked,
for they have taken possession of the kingdom with
a strong hand. When Yudhishthira had his throne,
he forgot himself by being engaged in gambling and
was dispossessed by them of his kingdom. This
valiant Kuru, this descendant of Ajamida, Yudhishthira,
though not skilled in dice and though dissuaded by
all his friends, challenged the son of the king of
Gandhara, an adept at dice, to the match. There
Print
Word
PDF
