Arjuna's
Sorrow
1.Asked
Dhritarashtra, " In the field of righteousness called Kurukshetra, O
Sanjaya, doing what are my sons and Pandavas, assembled and excited
to fight?
2.Spoke
thus Sanjaya, "Having seen the numerous battle formations of the
Pandava's army, king Duryodhana approached his teacher and uttered
the following words.
3."O great
teacher, look at the military might of the army of Pandu's sons,
strategically arranged by your intelligent disciple and son of
Drupada.
4."Here in
this army are great heroes and archers, equal to Arjuna and Bhima in
fighting, like Yuyudhna, Virata and also the great charioteer,
Drupada.
5."And
there are great fighters like Dhristaketu, Chekitanu, king of Kasi,
the powerful Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the notable among
men.
6."There
are also the mighty Yudhamanyu, powerful Uttamauja, the son of
Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi who are all great
charioteers.
7."O
Superior among the twice born, let me tell you about the most
distinguished leaders of my own army, so that you will be able to
locate them and remember them duirng the war.
8."You,
Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, Aswaththama, Vikarna and Somadatta's son, who
are the best combination for victory in any war. are
there
9."And
innumerable other heroes too, ready to sacrifice their lives for my
sake, equipped with various weapons and well informed in the art of
warfare.
10."Unlimited is our strength, well protected by our grand
father Bhishma, while limited is the strength of the Pandavas' army,
although it is well protected by Bhima.
11."Therefore all of you should now give full protection to
Bhishma, in all the strategic places, as arranged."
12.Then
valiant Bhishma, the oldest among the Kurus and the great
grandfather, blew his conch making the sound of the roar of a lion,
increasing the joy ( of Duryodhana).
13.Then
many conches, large drums, small drums, kettle drums, and horns were
all at once blown suddenly resulting in a tumultuous
noise.
14.Then
seated in a great chariot, drawn by white horses, Krishna and
Arjuna, also blew their divine conches.
15.Panchajanyam, by Hrisikesa, Devadatta by Arjuna, Paundram
by Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of mighty
deeds.
16.Anantavijayam by king and Kunti's son,Yudhishtira,
Sughosha and Manipushpaka by Nakula and Sahadeva .
17.King of
Kasi, the supreme archer, Sikhandi, the great charioteer,
Dhristadyumna, Virata and the invincible Satyaki, blew their
respective conches.
18.O Lord
of the earth, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, Subhadra's son and the
mighty armed Abhimanyu also blew their conches.
19.That
noise shattered the hearts of the Dhritarashtra's sons and the sky
and the earth reverberated with the tumultuous sound.
20.There
upon, watching the sons of Dhritarashtra thus arrayed, preparing
himself for the battle, becoming ready to take the bow into his
hands, Arjuna.
21.O Lord
of the world, (Arjuna) said these words to Hrisikesa. Said Arjuna,
"O untainted One, into the middle of both the armies please take my
chariot and station me.
22."I want
to see them all who are now standing here with the desire to fight
and with whom I have to fight in this battle that is just to
begin.
23.Let me
also see all those who have assembled here to fight, wishing the
welfare of the evil minded son of Dhritarashtra
(Duryodhana)."
24.Sanjaya
said, "O, Bharata, Addressed thus by Arjuna, Krishna stationed their
excellent chariot between the two armies.
25."Infront of Bhishma, Drona and all the chieftains of the
world, said Krishna, 'Partha, see all the Kurus'.
26."There,
standing between the two armies Arjuna saw, his elders,
grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons,
friends and also,
27."Fathers-in-law, well wishers in both the armies. After
seeing all the relations stationed there, Arjuna,
28."(Arjuna) was overwhelmed with compassion and said these
words with great sorrow." Said Arjuna, " Seeing all these kinsfolk,
O Krishna, assembled here in such a fighting spirit,
29."All
the limbs of my body are quivering and my mouth is becoming parched.
My whole body is trembling. My hair is standing on end.
30."Gandivam, my bow, is slipping from my hand, and my skin
is burning all over, nor I am able to stand properly as my mind is
reeling.
31."I am
seeing extreme consequences, O Kesava. I am unable to see any
positive good by killing my kinsfolk in this fight.
32."I do
not desire victory O Krishna, nor kingdom, nor enjoyment, of what
use to us, O Govinda, the kingdom or the enjoyments or even the life
?
33."For
whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyment and all the comforts, they
are all here standing in the battle field, having decided to give up
their lives and riches.
34."Teachers, elders, sons, and also grandfathers, maternal
uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and
kinsmen,
35."O
Madhusudhana, I do not like kill them , even though they may wish to
kill me, not even for the sake of the three worlds. Then what to
speak of the earth ?
36."By
killing the sons of Dhritarashtra, what pleasure we will get O
Janardhana ? Sin alone will befall us if we kill these
aggressors.
37.Therefore it does not befit us to kill the sons of
Dhritarashtra and all our relations. Certainly O Madhava, how can we
be happy by killing our own people?
38."Even
though they do not perceive, with minds lost to greed, the
fallibility of destroying their own family and the disloyalty to
their own friends.
39."But
why should we, who know the sin of destroying the family, for the
sake of avoiding the sin, O Janardhana, turn away from this
sin?
40."With
the destruction of the family, family order (dharma) and eternal
order (dharma) are lost. The whole family transforms itself into
adharma (disorder or irreligiousness).
41."With
the emergence of adharma, O Krishna, women become impure. And when
women fall into bad ways, O descendent of Vrisni, admixture of
castes takes place.
42."The
intermixture of castes lead the destroyers of the family and also
the family to hell. The ancestors (in heaven) also fall, as they do
not receive the ritualistic offerings of food and water due to
them.
43."Because of the misdeeds of these destroyers of family and
order of the castes, the order (dharma) of the community and of the
family are permanently destroyed.
44."O
Janardhana, I have heard from others that those men whose destroy
their family order (dharma) would always dwell in hell.
45."Oh,
how strange it is that we have got into this act of committing such
a great sin, out of greed for enjoying royal pleasures, by trying to
kill our own people!
46."It is
much better if the sons of Dhritarashtra, armed with weapons, kill
me when I am unarmed and not in a mood to fight and take
revenge."
47.Said
Sanjaya," Saying thus amidst the battle field, Arjuna sat down in his
chariot, distressed mentally by sorrow and dropping aside his bow
and arrows."
Thus ends
the first chapter named Arjuna's Sorrow in the Upanishad of the
divine Bhagavad-Gita , the knowledge of the Absolute, the yogic
scripture, and the debate between Arjuna and Lord
Krishna.
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