SECTION CIX
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Upon the birth of those
three children, Kurujangala, Kurukshetra, and the Kurus grew in prosperity. The
earth began to yield abundant harvest, and the crops also were of good flavour.
And the clouds began to pour rain in season and trees became full of fruits and
flowers. And the draught cattle were all happy and the birds and other animals
rejoiced exceedingly. And the flowers became fragrant and the fruits became
sweet; the cities and towns became filled with merchants, artisans, traders and
artists of every description. And the people became brave, learned, honest and
happy. And there were no robbers then, nor anybody who was sinful. And it
seemed that the golden age had come upon every part of the kingdom. And the
people devoted to virtuous acts, sacrifices and truth, and regarding one
another with love and affection grew in prosperity. And free from pride, wrath
and covetousness, they rejoiced in perfectly innocent sports. And the capital
of the Kurus, full as the ocean, was a second Amaravati, teeming with hundreds of
palaces and mansions, and possessing gates and arches dark as the clouds. And
men in great cheerfulness sported constantly on rivers, lakes and tanks, and in
fine groves and charming woods. And the southern Kurus, in their virtuous
rivalry with their northern kinsmen, walked about in the company of Siddhas and
Charanas and Rishis. And all over that delightful country whose prosperity was
thus increased by the Kurus, there were no misers and no widowed women. And the
wells and lakes were ever full; the groves abounded with trees, and the houses
and abodes of Brahmanas were full of wealth and the whole kingdom was full of
festivities. And, O king, virtuously ruled by Bhishma, the kingdom was adorned
with hundreds of sacrificial stakes. And the wheel of virtue having been set in
motion by Bhishma, and the country became so contented that the subjects of
other kingdoms, quitting their homes, came to dwell there and increase its
population. And the citizens and the people were filled with hope, upon seeing
the youthful acts of their illustrious princes. And, O king, in the house of
the Kuru chiefs as also of the principal citizens, 'give', 'eat' were the only
words constantly heard. And Dhritarashtra and Pandu and Vidura of great intelligence
were from their birth brought up by Bhishma, as if they were his own sons. And
the children, having passed through the usual rites of their order, devoted
themselves to vows and study. And they grew up into fine young men skilled in
the Vedas and all athletic sports. And they became well-skilled in the practice
of bow, in horsemanship, in encounters with mace, sword and shield, in the
management of elephants in battle, and in the science of morality. Well-read in
history and the Puranas and various branches of learning, and acquainted with
the truths of the Vedas and their branches they acquired knowledge, which was
versatile and deep. And Pandu, possessed of great prowess, excelled all men in
archery while Dhritarashtra excelled all in personal strength, while in the
three worlds there was no one equal to Vidura in devotion to virtue and in the
knowledge of the dictates of morality. And beholding the restoration of the
extinct line of Santanu, the saying became current in all countries that among
mothers of heroes, the daughters of the king of Kasi were the first; that among
countries Kurujangala was the first; that among virtuous men, Vidura was the
first; that among cities Hastinapura was the first. Pandu became king, for
Dhritarashtra, owing to the blindness, and Vidura, for his birth by a Sudra
woman, did not obtain the kingdom. One day Bhishma, the foremost of those
acquainted with the duties of a statesman and dictates of morality, properly
addressing Vidura conversant with the truth of religion and virtue, said as
follows."
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