Partha. Tomorrow thou shalt hear that the head
of the Sindhus hath, in battle, been cut off from
his trunk to roll on the outskirts of Samantapanchaka!
Dispel thy sorrow, and do not grieve. Keeping
the duties of a Kshatriya before him, thy brave son
hath attained the end of the righteous, that end,
viz., which we here expect to obtain as also others
that bear arms as a profession. Of broad chest,
mighty arms, unreturning, a crusher of car-warriors,
thy son, O beautiful lady, hath gone to heaven.
Drive away this fever (of thy heart). Obedient
to his sires and maternal relations, that heroic and
mighty car-warriors of great prowess hath fallen a
prey to death, after having slain thousands of foes
comfort thy-daughter-in-law, O queen! Do not
grieve too much, O Kshatriya lady! Drive away
thy grief, O daughter, as thou shalt hear such agreeable
news on the morrow. That which Partha hath vowed
must be accomplished. It cannot be otherwise.
That which is sought to be done by thy husband can
never remain unaccomplished. Even if all human
beings and snakes and Pisachas and all the wanderers
of the night and birds, and all the gods and the Asuras,
help the ruler of the Sindhus on the field of battle;
he shall still, with them, cease to exist tomorrow.’”
“Sanjaya said, ’Hearing these words of
the high-souled Kesava, Subhadra, afflicted with grief
on account of the death of her son, began to indulge
in these piteous lamentations: ’Oh, son
of my wretched self, O thou that wast in prowess equal
to thy father, O child, how couldst thou perish, going
to battle! Alas, how doth that face of thine which
resembleth the blue lotus and is graced with beautiful
teeth and excellent eyes, now seem, now that, O child,
it is covered with battle’s dust! Without
doubt, thee so brave and unreturning, thee fallen
on the field, with beautiful head and neck and arms,
with broad chest, low belly, thy limbs decked with
ornaments, thee that art endued with beautiful eyes,
thee that art mangled with weapon wounds, thee all
creatures are, without doubt, beholding as the rising
moon! Alas, thou whose bed used to be overlaid
with the whitest and costliest sheets, alas, deserving
as thou art of every luxury, how dost thou sleep today
on the bare earth, thy body pierced with arrows?
That hero of mighty arms who used of old to be waited
upon by the foremost of beautiful women, alas, how
can he, fallen on the field of battle, pass his time
now in the company of jackals! He who of old
was praised with hymns by singers and bards and panegyrists,
alas, he is today greeted by fierce and yelling cannibals
and beasts of prey. By whom, alas, hast thou
been helplessly slain when thou hadst the Pandavas,
O lord, and all the Panchalas, for thy protectors?
Oh son, O sinless one, I am not yet gratified with
looking at thee. Wretched as I am, it is evident
that I shall have to go to Yama’s abode.
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