|
Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 126 Challenge Accepted >>
 |  | Jarasandha said, "I don't remember that we ever had a feud with you people, and on reflection I fail to see any hostile act I may have committed against you. When there is no hostility between us, how can you think of me as your enemy, when I have committed no offense? Explain it, learned ones, for that is the custom of the saintly. It pains the mind, actually, to see such a violation of justice. Though a warrior be of royal blood, his mind will burn with pain if he starts a fight with an innocent person, thus violating the sacred law.
| | | "One who knows the principles of justice and takes great vows, but who acts otherwise, comes to a disastrous end and ruins all the good in his life. In all the three worlds, I am the best of those who follow the warrior code of honor, for I am sinless. Yet even knowing this, you three prattle on, as if you were all mad."
| | | Lord Krsna said, "There is one particular man, Maharaja, who bears a responsibility toward his dynasty, and by his order we three have set forth on our mission. You, king, have invented the wicked practice of abducting and corralling ruling warriors, men who were living with their people and protecting the innocent, and now you seek to kill them in a sacrificial rite. Having invented this cruel atrocity, how can you consider yourself sinless? O exalted monarch, how can a king so injure saintly rulers? Having arrested those kings, you wish to offer them to Lord Siva.
| | | "O son of Brhadratha, your evil deed would be on our hands, for we have the power to enforce the religious principles and we practice those principles. Indeed, seizing human beings for sacrifice is never seen in this world. How can you seek to worship Lord Sankara, the benefactor of all, with human offerings? Who else but you, Jarasandha, could have such a perverted mind that he would offer his fellow kings as animals in sacrifice?
| | | "We shall always come to save the oppressed, and since you would destroy our own kin, we have come here to stop you so that our brother kings may flourish. You think there is no other real man among the warriors, O king, but this is at once the great confusion and the utter ruin of your reason.
| | | "What ruler, O king, understanding his noble lineage, would not strive for heaven at the end of his earthly battles, when that celestial abode is undying and beyond compare? O monarch of the Magadhas, know for a fact that warriors who worship the higher worlds are initiated into the rite of war, and thus they undertake their march to heaven. Victory takes one to heaven, O king; great and true fame takes one to heaven; heaven is for those who make sacrifice in battle. That is the unswerving sinless path.
| | | "Even for Indra, it is ever established that such character brings victory, and it was thus that Indra of the hundred rites overcame the demons and now rules the universe. Those who stand on the path to heaven—whom could they fight with who is equal to you, with your vast Magadha armies, so proud of their numbers and prowess?
| | | "Do not belittle your foes, O king, as if courage were in no other man and fiery might rests exclusively in you. O lord of men, there is certainly a power equal to yours, and you will be considered unique only as long as that power is not aroused and clearly perceived. We are a match for your prowess, O king, and therefore I say to you, Magadha, give up your arrogance and conceit, for you are among your equals. Do not go with your sons, army, and ministers to the abode of Death. Dambhodbhava, Kartavirya, and a former Brhadratha all belittled better men in this world, and so all those kings perished with their armies.
| | | "We who desire to free the kings from your grasp do not claim to be brahmanas. I am Krsna, son of Vasudeva. These two are the Pandavas, heroes of mankind. We call you out, O king! Be firm and fight, Magadha, or release all the kings. We urge you: don't go to the abode of Death!"
| | | Jarasandha said, "I certainly didn't seize any undefeated kings. What defeated king will stand to oppose me? And who in this world has not been defeated by me? They say, Krsna, that this is the fair way for a warrior to maintain his life: showing his valor and gaining control, he may then do what he desires. Having prepared the kings for sacrifice to the deity, and remembering well, Krsna, the warrior vow, how shall I now release them out of fear?
| | | "With army assembled against army, I shall fight—or one against one, or with two or three of you, or with all of you at once."
|
|
| |
|---|
English
Español
Pусский
Português