Indian Idylls · 8 of 9

The Great Journey

(FROM THE MAHAPRASTHÁNIKA PARVA OF THE MAHÂBHÂRATA.- VOL. IV. OF THE CALCUTTA QUARTO EDITION.)

To Narayen, Iord of lords, be glory given, To sweet Saraswati, the Queen in heaven To great Vyâsa, eke, pay reverence due, That this high story may its course pursue.

THEN Janmejaya prayed: "O Singer, say, What wrought the princes of the Pandavas On tidings of the battle so ensued, And Krishna, gone on high?"

Answered the Sage: "On tidings of the wreck of Vrishni's race, King Yudhisthira of the Pandavas Was minded to be done with earthly things, And to Arjuna spake: 'O noble Prince, Time endeth all; we linger, noose on neck, Till the last day tightens the line, and kills. Let us go forth to die, being yet alive.' And Kunti's son, the great Arjuna, said: 'Let us go forth to die! - Time slayeth all. We will find Death, who seeketh other men.' And Bhimaseria, hearing, answered: 'Yea, We will find Death!' and Sahadev cried: 'Yea!' And his twin brother Nakula; whereat The princes set their faces for the Mount.

"But Yudhisthira -ere he left his realm To seek high ending -summoned Yuyutsu, Surnamed of fights, and set him over all, Regent, to rule in Parikshita's name Nearest the throne; and Parikshita, King He crowned, and unto old Subhadra said: 'This, thy son's son, shall wear the Kuru crown, And Yadu's offspring, Vajra, shall be first In Yadu's house. Bring up the little prince Here in our Hastinpur, but Vajra keep At Indraprasth; and let it be thy last Of virtuous works to guard the lads,' and guide.'

"So ordering ere he went, the righteous King Made offering of white water, heedfully, To Vasudev, to Rama, and the rest, - All funeral rites performing; next he spread A funeral feast, whereat there sat as guests Narada, Dwaipayana, Bharadwaj, And Markandeya, rich in saintly years, And Yajnavalkya, Hari, and the priests Those holy ones he fed with dainty meats In kingliest wise, naming the name of Him 'Who bears the bow; and -that it should be well For him and his -gave to the Brahmanas Jewels of gold and silver, lakhs on lakhs, Fair broidered cloths, gardens and villages, Chariots and steeds and slaves.

"Which being done, O Best of Bhârat's line he bowed him low Before his Guru's feet, -at Kripa's feet, That sage all honored, - saying, 'Take my Prince; Teach Parikshita as thou taughtest me. For hearken, ministers and men of war! Fixed is my mind to quit all earthly state.' Full sore of heart were they, and sore the folk, To hear such speech, and bitter went the word Through town and country, that the King would go; And all the people cried, 'Stay with us, Lord!' But Vudhisthira knew his time was come, Knew that life passes and that virtue lasts, And put aside their love.

"So, with farewells Tenderly took of lieges and of lords, Girt he for travel, with his princely kin, Great Yudhisthira, Dharma's royal son. Crest-gem and belt and ornaments he stripped From off his body, and for broidered robe A rough dress donned, woven of jungle-bark; And what he did - O Lord of men!- so did Arjuna, Bhima, and the twin-bom pair, Nakula with Sahadev, and she, -in grace The peerless, - Draupadí. Lastly these six, - Thou son of Bhârata! - in solemn form Made the high sacrifice of Naishtiki, Quenching their flames in water at the close; And so set forth, midst wailing of all folk And tears of women, weeping most to see The Princess Draupadí - that lovely prize Of the great gaming, Draupadí the Bright - Journeying afoot; but she and all the five Rejoiced, because their way lay heavenwards.

"Seven were they, setting forth, - Princess and King, The King's four brothers, and a faithful dog. Those left Hastinapur; but many a man, And all the palace household, followed them The first sad stage: and, ofttimes prayed to part, Put parting off for love and pity, still Sighing, 'A little farther!' - till day waned; Then one by one they turned, and Kripa said: 'Let all turn back, Yuyutsu! These must go.' So came they homewards, but the Snake-King's child, Ulupi, leapt in Gunga, losing them; And Chitrangâda with his people went Mournful to Munipoor, whilst those three queens Brought Parikshita, in.

"Thus wended they, Pandu's five sons and loveliest Draupadí, Tasting no meat, and journeying due east, On righteousness their high hearts fed, to heaven Their souls assigned; and steadfast trod their feet By faith upborne - past nullah, ran, and wood, River and jheel and plain. King Yudhisthir Walked foremost, Bhima followed, after him Arjuna, and the twin-born brethren next, Nakula with Sahadev: in whose still steps- O Best of Bhârat's offspring! - Draupadí, That gem of women, paced, with soft, dark face, - Beautiful, wonderful! -and lustrous eyes, Clear-edged like lotus-petals; last the dog Following the Pandavas.

"At length they reach The far Lauchityan Sea, which foameth white Under Udayachala's ridge. - Know ye, That all this while Nakula had not ceased Bearing the holy bow, named Gandiva, And jewelled quiver, ever filled with shafts, Though one should shoot a thousand thousand times. Here - broad across their path - the heroes see Agni, the god. As though a mighty hill Took form of front and breast and limb, he spake. Seven streams of shining splendor rayed his brow, While the dread voice said: 'I am Agni, chiefs! O sons of Pandu, I am Agni! Hail! O long-armed Yudhisthira, blameless king, - O warlike Bhima, - O Arjuna, wise, - O brothers twin-born from a womb divine, - Hear! 1 am Agni, who consumed the wood By will of Narayan for Arjuna's sake. Let this your brother give Gandiva back, The matchless bow: the use for it is o'er. That gem-ringed battle-discus which he hurled Cometh again to Krishna in his hand For avatars to be; but need is none Henceforth of this most excellent bright bow, Gandiva, which I brought for Partha's aid From high Varuna. Let it be returned. Cast it herein!'

"And all the princes said, "Cast it, dear brother!' So Arjuna threw Into that sea the quiver ever-filled, And glittering bow; then, led by Agni's light, Unto the south they tumed, and so southwest, And afterwards right west, until they saw Dwaraka, washed and bounded by a main Loud -thundering on its shores; and here - O Best Vanished the god; while yet those heroes walked, Now to the northwest bending, where long coasts Shut in the sea of salt, now to the north, Accomplishing all quarters, journeyed they; The earth their altar of high sacrifice, Which these most patient feet did pace around Till Meru rose.

"At last it rose! These Six, Their senses subjugate, their spirits pure, Wending along, came into sight - far off In the eastern. sky -of awful Himavat; And, midway in the peaks of Himavat, Meru, the mountain of all mountains, rose, Whose head is heaven; and under Himavat Glared a wide waste of sand, dreadful as death. "Then, as they hastened o'er the deathly waste, Aiming for Meru, having thoughts at soul Infinite, eager, - lo! Draupadí reeled, With faltering heart and feet - and Bhima turned, Gazing upon her; aad that hero spake To Yudhisthira: 'Master, Brother, King! Why doth she fail? For never all her life Wrought our sweet lady one thing wrong, I think. Thou knowest; make us know, why hath she failed?'

"Then Yudhisthira, answered: 'Yea, one thing. She loved our brothers better than all else, - Better than heaven: that was her tender sin, Fault of a faultless soul; she pays for that.'

"So spake the monarch, turning not his eyes, Though Draupadí lay dead, - striding straight on For Meru, heart-fall of the things of heaven, Perfect and firm. But yet a little space And Sahadev fell down; which Bhima seeing, Cried once again: 'O King, great Madri's son Stumbles and sinks. Why hath he sunk? - so true, So brave and steadfast, and so free from pride!'

"'He was not free,' with countenance still fixed, Quoth Yudhisthira; 'he was true and fast And wise; yet wisdom made him proud; he hid One little hurt of soul, but now it kills.'

"So saying, he strode on, Kunti's strong son, And Bhima; and Arjuna followed him, And Nakula, and the hound; leaving behind Sahadev in the sands. But Nakula, Weakened and grieved to see Sahadev fall- His dear-loved brother -lagged and stayed; and then Prone on his face he fell, that noble face Which had no match for beauty in the land, Glorious and godlike Nakula! Then sighed Bhima anew: 'Brother and Lord! the man Who never erred from virtue, never broke Our fellowship, and never in the world Was matched for goodly perfectness of form Or gracious feature, - Nakula has fallen!'

"But Yudhisthira, holding fixed his eyes. That changeless, faithful, king, -replied 'Yea, but he erred! The Godlike form he wore Beguiled him to believe none like to him, And he alone desirable, and things Unlovely, to be slighted. Self-love slays Our noble brother. Bhima, follow! Each Pays what his debt was.'

"Which Arjuna heard, Weeping to see them fall; and that stout son Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes, That Prince, who drove through crimson waves of war, In old days, with his milk-white chariot-steeds, He, the arch-hero, sank! Beholding this, - The yielding of that soul unconquerable, Fearless, divine, from Sakra's self derived, Arjuna's, - Bhima cried aloud: 'O King! This man was surely perfect. Never once, Not even in slumber, when the lips are loosed, Spake he one word that was not true as truth. Ah, heart of gold! why art thou broke? O King! Whence falleth he?'

"And Yudhisthira said, Not pausing: 'Once he lied, a lordly lie! He bragged - our brother - that a single day Should see him utterly consume, alone, All those his enemies, -which could not be. Yet from a great heart sprang the unmeasured speech, Howbeit a finished hero should not shame Himself in such wise, nor his enemy, If he will faultless fight and blameless die This was Arjuna's sin. Follow thou me!'

"So the King still went on. Put Bhima next Fainted, and stayed upon the way, and sank , But, sinking, cried behind the steadfast Prince: 'Ah, brother, see I die! Look upon me, Thy well-beloved! Wherefore falter I, Who strove to stand?'

"And Yudhisthira said: More than was well the goodly things of earth Pleased thee, my pleasant brother! Light the offence, And large thy spirit - but the o'erfed soul Plumed itself over others. Pritha's son, For this thou failest, who so near didst gain.'

"Thenceforth alone the long-armed monarch strode, Not looking back, - nay, not for Bhima's sake, But walking with his face set for the Mount; And the hound followed him, - only the hound.

"After the deathly sands, the Mount! and, lo Sákra shone forth, - the God, - filling the earth And heavens with thunder of his chariot-wheels. 'Ascend,' he said, I with me, Pritha's great son! But Yudhisthira answered, sore at heart For those his kinsfolk, fallen on the way: O Thousand-eyed, O Lord of all the gods, Give that my brothers come with me, who fell! Not without them is Swarga sweet to me. She too, the dear and kind and queenly, - she Whose perfect virtue Paradise must crown, - Grant her to come with us! Dost thou grant this?'

"The God replied: 'In heaven thou shalt see Thy kinsmen and the Queen - these will attain And Krishna. Grieve no longer for thy dead, Thou chief of men I their mortal covering stripped, These have their places; but to thee the gods Allot an unknown grace: thou shalt go up, Living and in thy form, to the immortal homes.'

"But the King answered: 'O thou Wisest One, Who know'st what was, and is, and is to be, Still one more grace! This hound hath ate with me, Followed me, loved me; must I leave him now?'

"'Monarch,' spake Indra, I thou art now as we, Deathless, divine; thou art become a god; Glory and power and gifts celestial, And all the joys of heaven are thine for aye What hath a beast with these? Leave here thy hound.'

"Yet Yudhisthira answered: 'O Most High, O Thousand-eyed and wisest! can it be That one exalted should seem pitiless? Nay, let me lose such glory: for its sake I cannot leave one living thing I loved.'

"Then sternly Indra spake: 'He is unclean, And into Swarga such shall enter not. The Krodhavasha's wrath destroys the fruits Of sacrifice, if dogs defile the fire. Bethink thee, Dharmaraj; quit now this beast That which is seemly is not hard of heart.'

"Still he replied: ' 'Tis written that to spurn A suppliant equals in offence to slay A twice-born; wherefore, not for Swarga's bliss Quit I, Mahendra, this poor clinging dog, So without any hope or friend save me, So wistful, fawning for my faithfulness So agonized to die, unless I help Who among men was called steadfast and just.'

"Quoth Indra: 'Nay, the altar-flame is foul Where a dog passeth; angry angels sweep The ascending smoke aside, and all the fruits Of offering, and the merit of the prayer Of him whom a hound toucheth. Leave it here! He that will enter heaven must enter pure. Why didst thou quit thy brethren on the way, And Krishna, and the dear-loved Draupadî, Attaining, firm and glorious, to this Mount Through perfect deeds, to linger for a brute? Hath Yudhisthira vanquished self, to melt With one poor passion at the door of bliss? Stay'st thou for this, who didst not stay for them, - Draupadí, Bhima?'

"But the King yet spake: ''Tis known that none can hurt or help the dead. They, the delightful ones, who sank and died, Following my footsteps, could not live again Though I had turned, - therefore I did not turn But could help profit, I had stayed to help. There be four sins, O Sákra, grievous sins The first is making suppliants despair, The second is to slay a nursing wife, The third is spoiling Brahmans' goods by force, The fourth is injuring an ancient friend. These four I deem not direr than the crime, If one, in coming forth from woe to weal, Abandon any meanest comrade then.'

"Straight as he spake, brightly great Indra smiled Vanished the hound, and in its stead stood there The Lord of Death and justice, Dharma's self! Sweet were the words which fell from those dread lips, Precious the lovely praise: 'O thou true King, Thou that dost bring to harvest the good seed Of Pandu's righteousness; thou that hast ruth As he before, on all which lives! - O Son! I tried thee in the Dwaita wood, what time They smote thy brothers, bringing water; then Thou prayed'st for Nakula's life - tender and just - Nor Bhima's nor Arjuna's, true to both, To Madri as to Kunti, to both queens,[1] Hear thou my word! Because thou didst not mount This car divine, lest the poor hound be shent Who looked to thee, lo! there is none in heaven Shall sit above thee, King! - Bhârata's son Enter thou now to the eternal joys, Living and in thy form. justice and Love Welcome thee, Monarch! thou shalt throne with us!'

"Thereat those mightiest gods, in glorious train, Mahendra, Dharma, - with bright retinue

[1. A reference to the concluding part of "The Enchanted Lake will explain this. See P. 234.]

Of Maruts, Saints, Aswin-Kumâras, Nats Spirits, and angels bore the King aloft, The thundering chariot first, and after it Those airy-moving Presences. Serene, Clad in great glory, potent, wonderful, They glide at will, - at will they know and see, At wish their wills are wrought; for these are pure Passionless, hallowed, perfect, free of earth. In such celestial midst the Kuru king Soared upward, and a sweet light filled the sky. And fell on earth, cast by his face and form, Transfigured as he rose and there was heard The voice of Narad, - it is he who sings, Sitting in heaven, the deeds that good men do In all the quarters, - Narad, chief of bards, Narad the wise, who laudeth purity, - So cried he: 'Thou art risen, Kuru king! Whose greatness is above all royal saints. Hail, son of Pandu! like to thee is none Now or before among the sons of men, Whose fame hath filled the three wide worlds, who corn's Bearing thy mortal body, which doth shine With radiance as a god's.'

"The glad King heard Narad's loud praise; he saw the immortal gods, - Dharina, Mahendra and dead chiefs and saints, Known upon earth, in blessèd heaven he saw, But only those. 'I do desire,' he said, 'That region, be it of the Blest as this, Or of the Sorrowful some otherwhere, Where my dcar brothers are, and Draupadí. I cannot stay elsewhere! 1 see them not!'

"Then answer made Purandará, the God: O thou compassionate and noblest one, Rest in the pleasures which thy deeds have gained. How, being as are the gods, canst thou live bound By mortal chains? Thou art become of us, Who live above hatred and love, in bliss Pinnacled, safe, supreme. Sun of thy race, Thy brothers cannot reach where thou hast climbed Most glorious lord of men, let not thy peace Be touched by stir of earth! Look! this is heaven. See where the saints sit, and the happy souls, Siddhas and angels, and the gods who live Forever and forever.'

"'King of gods,' Spake Vudhisthira, I but I will not live A little space without those souls I loved. O Slayer of the demons! let me go Where Bhima and my brothers are, and she, My Draupadí, the Princess with the face Softer and darker than the Vrihat-leaf, And soul as sweet as are its odors. Lo! Where they have gone, there will I surely go.'"[1]

[1. Contrast this magnificent unselfishness with Dante or St. Thomas Aquinas! The Sanskrit text has a noble simplicity, - Gantum ichchami tatra aham yatra mê bhrataro gata.]