He wiped his eyes with his
hands and shed tears of grief anew. The king then addressed all those
heroes headed by Kripa and said, "This liability to death (of all living
creatures) is said to have been ordained by the Creator himself. Death
comes to all beings in course of time. That death hath now come to me,
before the eyes of you all! I who reigned over the whole earth have now
been reduced to this plight! By good luck, I never turned back from
battle whatever calamities overtook me. By good luck, I have been slain
by those sinful men, by the aid particularly of deception. By good luck,
while engaged in hostilities, I always displayed courage and
perseverance. By good luck, I am slain in battle, along with all my
kinsmen and friends. By good luck, I behold you escaped with life from
this great slaughter, and safe and sound. This is highly agreeable to me.
Do not, from affection, grieve for my death. If the Vedas are any
authority, I have certainly acquired many eternal regions! I am not
ignorant of the glory of Krishna of immeasurable energy. He hath not
caused me to fall off from the proper observance of Kshatriya duties. I
have obtained him. On no account should anybody grieve from me. Ye have
done what persons like ye should do. Ye have always striven for my
success. Destiny, however, is incapable of being frustrated." Having said
this much, the king, with eyes laved with tears, became silent, O
monarch, agitated as he was with agony. Beholding the king in tears and
grief, Drona's son flamed up in anger like the fire that is seen at the
universal destruction.
Pages:
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853