SECTION LXXVIII
(Dyuta Parva Continued)
Vaisampayana said,--'Then when Draupadi was about
to set out she went unto the illustrious Pritha and solicited her leave. And
she also asked leave of the other ladies of the household who had all been
plunged into grief. And saluting and embracing every one of them as each
deserved, she desired to go away. Then there arose within the inner apartments
of the Pandavas a loud wail of woe. And Kunti, terribly afflicted upon
beholding Draupadi on the eve of her journey, uttered these words in a voice
choked with grief,--
'O child, grieve not that this great calamity
hath overtaken thee. Thou art well conversant with the duties of the female
sex, and thy behaviour and conduct also are as they should be. It behoveth me
not, O thou of sweet smiles, to instruct thee as to thy duties towards thy
lords. Thou art chaste and accomplished, and thy qualities have adorned the
race of thy birth as also the race into which thou hast been admitted by
marriage. Fortunate are the Kauravas that they have not been burnt by thy
wrath. O child, safely go thou blest by my prayers. Good women never suffer
their hearts to the unstung at what is inevitable. Protected by virtue that is
superior to everything, soon shalt thou obtain good fortune. While living in
the woods, keep thy eye on my child Sahadeva. See that his heart sinketh not
under this great calamity.'
"Saying 'So be it!' the princess Draupadi
bathed in tears, and clad in one piece of cloth, stained with blood, and with
hair dishevelled left her mother-in-law. And as she went away weeping and
wailing Pritha herself in grief followed her. She had not gone far when she saw
her sons shorn of their ornaments and robes, their bodies clad in deerskins,
and their heads down with shame. And she beheld them surrounded by rejoicing
foes' and pitied by friends. Endued with excess of parental affection, Kunti
approached her sons in that state, and embracing them all, and in accents
choked by woe, She said these words,--
"Ye are virtuous and good-mannered, and
adorned with all excellent qualities and respectful behaviour. Ye are all
high-minded, and engaged in the service of your superiors. And ye are also
devoted to the gods and the performance of sacrifices. Why, then, hath this
calamity overtaken you. Whence is this reverse of fortune? I do not see by
whose wickedness this sin hath overtaken you. Alas I have brought you forth.
All this must be due to my ill fortune. It is for this that ye have been
overtaken by this calamity, though ye all are endued with excellent virtues. In
energy and prowess and strength and firmness and might, ye are not wanting. How
shall ye now, losing your wealth and possessions, live poor in the pathless
woods? If I had known before that ye were destined to live in the woods, I
would not have on Pandit's death come from the mountains of Satasringa to
Hastinapore. Fortunate was your father, as I now regard, for he truly reaped
the fruit of his asceticism, and he was gifted with foresight, as he
entertained the wish of ascending heaven, without having to feel any pain on
account of his sons. Fortunate also was the virtuous Madri, as I regard her
today, who had, it seems, a four-knowledge of what would happen and who on that
account, obtained the high path of emancipation and every blessing therewith.
All, Madri looked upon me as her stay, and her mind and her affections were
ever fixed on me. Oh, fie on my desire of life, owing to which suffer all this
woe. Ye children, ye are all excellent and dear unto me. I have obtained you
alter much suffering. I cannot leave you. Even I will go with you. Alas, O
Krishna, (Draupadi), why dost thou leave me so? Everything endued with life is
sure to perish. Hath Dhata (Brahma) himself forgotten to ordain my death?
Perhaps, it is so, and, therefore, life doth not quit me. O Krishna, O thou who
dwellest in Dwaraka, O younger brother of Sankarshana, where art thou? Why dost
thou not deliver me and these best of men also from such woe? They say that
thou who art without beginning and without end deliverest those that think of
thee. Why doth this saying become untrue. These my sons are ever attached to
virtue and nobility and good fame and prowess. They deserve not to suffer
affliction. Oh, show them mercy. Alas, when there are such elders amongst our
race as Bhishma and Drona and Kripa, all conversant with morality and the
science of worldly concerns, how could such calamity at all come? O Pandu, O
king, where art thou? Why sufferest thou quietly thy good children to be thus
sent into exile, defeated at dice? O Sahadeva, desist from going. Thou art my
dearest child, dearer, O son of Madri, than my body itself. Forsake me not. It
behoveth thee to have some kindness for me. Bound by the ties of virtue, let
these thy brothers go. But then, earn thou that virtue which springeth from
waiting upon me.'"
Vaisampayana continued,--"The Pandavas then
consoled their weeping mother and with hearts plunged in grief set out for the
woods. And Vidura himself also much afflicted, consoling the distressed Kunti
with reasons, and led her slowly to his house. And the ladies of
Dhritarashtra's house, hearing everything as it happened, viz., the exile (of
the Pandavas) and the dragging of Krishna into the assembly where the princes
had gambled, loudly wept censuring the Kauravas. And the ladies of the royal
household also sat silent for a long time, covering their lotus-like faces with
their fair hands. And king Dhritarashtra also thinking of the dangers that
threatened his sons, became a prey to anxiety and could not enjoy peace of
mind. And anxiously meditating on everything, and with mind deprived of its
equanimity through grief, he sent a messenger unto Vidura, saying, 'Let Kshatta
come to me without a moment's delay.'
"At this summons, Vidura quickly came to
Dhritarashtra's palace. And as soon as he came, the monarch asked him with
great anxiety how the Pandavas had left Hastinapore."
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