SECTION XIV
(Rajasuyarambha Parva)
"Krishna said,--'O great king, thou art a
worthy possessor of all the qualities essential for the performance of the
Rajasuya sacrifice. Thou knowest everything, O Bharata. I shall, however, still
tell thee something. Those persons in the world that now go by the name of
Kshatriyas are inferior (in everything) to those Kshatriyas that Rama, the son
of Jamadagnya, exterminated.' O lord of the earth, O bull of the Bharata race,
thou knowest what form of rule these Kshatriyas, guided by the instructions
traditionally handed down from generation to generation, have established
amongst their own order, and how far they are competent to perform the Rajasuya
sacrifice. The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent
themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku. The descendants of Aila,
O king, as, indeed, the kings of Ikshwaku's race, are, know O bull of the
Bharata race, each divided into a hundred separate dynasties. The descendants
of Yayati and the Bhojas are great, both in extent (number) and
accomplishments. O king, these last are to-day scattered all over the earth.
And all the Kshatriyas worship the prosperity of those monarchs. At present,
however, O monarch, king Jarasandha, overcoming that prosperity enjoyed by
their whole order, and overpowering them by his energy hath set himself over
the heads of all these kings. And Jarasandha, enjoying the sovereignty over the
middle portion of the earth (Mathura), resolved to create a disunion amongst
ourselves. O monarch, the king who is the lord paramount of all kings, and in
whom alone the dominion of the universe is centered, properly deserves to be
called an emperor. And, O monarch, king Sisupala endued with great energy, hath
placed himself under his protection and hath become the generalissimo of his
forces. And, O great king, the mighty Vaka, the king of the Karushas, capable
of fighting by putting forth his powers of illusion, waiteth, upon Jarasandha,
as his disciple. There are two others, Hansa and Dimvaka, of great energy and great
soul, who have sought the shelter of the mighty Jarasandha. There are others
also viz., Dantavakra, Karusha, Karava, Meghavahana, that wait upon Jarasandha.
He also that beareth on his head that gem which is known as the most wonderful
on earth, that king of the Yavanas, who hath chastised Muru and Naraka, whose
power is unlimited, and who ruleth the west like another Varuna, who is called
Bhagadatta, and who is the old friend of thy father, hath bowed his head before
Jarasandha, by speech and specially by act. In his heart, however, tied as he
is by affection to thee, he regardeth thee as a father regardeth his child. O
king, that lord of the earth who hath his dominions on the west and the south,
who is thy maternal uncle and who is called Purujit, that brave perpetuator of
the Kunti race, that slayer of all foes, is the single king that regardeth thee
from affection. He whom I did not formerly slay, that wicked wretch amongst the
Chedis, who represented himself in this world as a divine personage and who
hath become known also as such, and who always beareth, from foolishness, the
signs that distinguish me that king of Vanga Pundra and the Kiratas, endowed
with great strength, and who is known on earth by the names of Paundraka and
Vasudeva hath also espoused the side of Jarasandha. And, O king of kings,
Bhishmaka, the mighty king of the Bhojas--the friend of Indra--the slayer of
hostile heroes--who governs a fourth part of the world, who by his learning
conquered the Pandyas and the Kratha-Kausikas, whose brother the brave Akriti
was like Rama, the son of Jamdagni, hath become a servitor to the king of
Magadha. We are his relatives and are, therefore, engaged everyday in doing
what is agreeable unto him. But although we regard him much, still he regardeth
us not and is engaged in doing us ill. And, O king, without knowing his own
strength and the dignity of the race to which he belongeth, he hath placed
himself under Jarasandha's shelter at sight of the latter's blazing fame alone.
And, O exalted one, the eighteen tribes of the Bhojas, from fear of Jarasandha,
have all fled towards the west; so also have the Surasenas, the Bhadrakas, the
Vodhas, the Salwas, the Patachchavas, the Susthalas, the Mukuttas, and the
Kulindas, along with the Kuntis. And the king of the Salwayana tribe with their
brethren and followers; and the southern Panchalas and the eastern Kosalas have
all fled to the country of the Kuntis. So also the Matsyas and the
Sannyastapadas, overcome with fear, leaving their dominions in the north, have
fled into the southern country. And so all the Panchalas, alarmed at the power
of Jarasandha, have left their own kingdom and fled in all directions. Sometime
before, the foolish Kansa, having persecuted the Yadavas, married two of the
daughters of Jarasandha. They are called Asti and Prapti and are the sister of
Sahadeva. Strengthened by such an alliance, the fool persecuting his relatives
gained an ascendency over them all. But by this conduct he earned great
obloquy. The wretch also began to oppress the old kings of the Bhoja tribe, but
they, to protect themselves from the persecution of their relative, sought our
help. Having bestowed upon Akrura the handsome daughter of Ahuka, with
Sankarshana as my second I did a service to my relatives, for both Kansa and
Sunaman were slain by me assisted by Rama. But after the immediate cause of
fear was removed (by the death of Kansa), Jarasandha, his father-in-law, took
up arms. Ourselves consisting of the eighteen younger branches of the Yadavas
arrived at the conclusion that even if we struck our enemies continually with
excellent weapons capable of taking the lives of the foes, we should still be
unable to do anything unto him even in three hundred years. He hath two friends
that are like unto the immortals, and in point of strength the foremost of all
men endued with might. They are called Hansa and Dimvaka who are both incapable
of being slain by weapons. The mighty Jarasandha, being united with them,
becomes incapable, I think, of being vanquished by even the three worlds. O
thou foremost of all intelligent men, this is not our opinion alone but all
other kings also are of the same mind. There lived, O monarch, a king of the
name of Hansa, who was slain by Rama (Valadeva) after a battle of eighteen
days. But, O Bharata, hearing people say that Hansa had been killed, Dimvaka, O
king, thought that he could not live without Hansa. He accordingly jumped into
the waters of the Yamuna and killed himself. Afterwards when Hansa, the
subjugator of hostile heroes, heard that Dimvaka, had killed himself, he went
to the Yamuna and jumped into its waters. Then, O bull of the Bharata race,
king Jarasandha, hearing that both Hansa and Dimvaka had been killed, returned
to his kingdom with an empty heart. After Jarasandha had returned, O slayer of
all foes, we were filled with pleasure and continued to live at Mathura. Then
the widow of Hansa and the daughter of Jarasandha, that handsome woman with
eyes like lotus-petals, grieved at the death of her lord, went unto her father,
and repeatedly urged, O Monarch, the king of Magadha, saying,--O slayer of all
foes, kill thou the slayer of my husband.--Then, O great king, remembering the
conclusion to which we had come of old we became exceedingly cheerless and fled
from Mathura. Dividing our large wealth into small portions so as to make each
portion easily portable, we fled from fear of Jarasandha, with our cousins and
relatives. Reflecting upon everything, we fled towards the west. There is a
delightful town towards the west called Kusasthali, adorned by the mountains of
Raivata. In that city, O monarch, we took up our abode. We rebuilt its fort and
made it so strong that it has become impregnable even to the Gods. And from
within it even the women might fight the foe, what to speak of the Yadava
heroes without fear of any kind? O slayer of all foes, we are now living in
that city. And, O tiger of the Kuru race, considering the inaccessibility of
that first of mountains and regarding themselves as having already crossed the
fear of Jarasandha, the descendants of Madhu have become exceedingly glad.
Thus, O king, though possessed of strength and energy, yet from the oppressions
of Jarasandha we have been obliged to repair to the mountains of Gomanta,
measuring three Yojanas in length. Within each yojana have been established one
and twenty posts of armed men. And at intervals of each yojana are hundred
gates with arches which are defended by valourous heroes engaged in guarding
them. And innumerable Kshatriyas invincible in war, belonging to the eighteen
younger branches of the Yadavas, are employed in defending these works. In our
race, O king, there are full eighteen thousand brothers and cousins. Ahuka hath
had a hundred sons, each of whom is almost like a god (in prowess), Charudeshna
with his brother Chakradeva, Satyaki, myself, Valadeva the son of Rohini, and
my son Samva who is equal unto me in battle--these seven, O king are Atirathas.
Besides these, there are others, O king, whom I shall presently name. They are
Kritavarman, Anadhrishti, Samika, Samitinjaya, Kanka, Sanku and Kunti. These
seven are Maharathas. There are also two sons of Andhakabhoja, and the old king
himself. Endued with great energy these are all heroes, each mighty as the
thunderbolt. These Maharathas, choosing the middle country, are now living
amongst the Vrishnis. O thou best of the Bharata line, thou alone art worthy of
being an emperor. It behoveth thee, O Bharata, to establish thy empire over all
the Kshatriyas. But this is my judgment, O king, that thou wilt not be able to
celebrate the Rajasuya sacrifice as long as the mighty Jarasandha liveth. By
him have been immured in his hillfort numerous monarchs, like a lion that hath
deposited the slain bodies of mighty elephants within a cave of the king of
mountains. O slayer of all enemies, king Jarasandha, desirous of offering in
sacrifice hundred monarchs, adored for his fierce ascetic penances the
illustrious god of gods, the lord of Uma. It is by this means that the kings of
the earth have been vanquished by Jarasandha. And, O best of monarchs, he hath
by that means been able to fulfil the vow he had made relative to his
sacrifice. By defeating the kings with their troops and bringing all of them as
captives into this city, he had swelled its crowds enormously. We also, O king,
from fear of Jarasandha, at one time had to leave Mathura and fly to the city
of Dwaravati. If, O great king, thou desirest to perform this sacrifice, strive
to release the kings confined by Jarasandha, as also to compass his death. O
son of the Kuru race, otherwise this undertaking of thine can never be
completed. O thou foremost of intelligent men if the Rajasuya is to be
performed by thee, you must do this in this way and not otherwise. This, O
king, is my view (on the matter). Do, O sinless one, as thou thinkest. Under
these circumstances, O king, having reflected upon everything, taking note of
causes, tell us what thou thyself thinkest proper."
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