What need have I now of life itself, left as I am of kinsmen and friends
and resembling as I do a bird shorn of its wings and afflicted with
decrepitude? Shorn of kingdom, deprived of kinsmen, and destitute of
eyes, I cannot, O thou of great wisdom, shine any longer on earth like a
luminary shorn of its splendours! I did not follow the counsels of
friends of Jamadagnis son, of the celestial rishi Narada, and of
island-born Krishna, while they offered me counsel. In the midst of the
assembly, Krishna told me what was for my good, saying, "A truce (tense)
to hostilities, O king! Let thy son take the whole kingdom! Give but five
villages to the Pandavas!" Fool that I was, for not following that
advice, I am now obliged to repent so poignantly! I did not listen to the
righteous counsels of Bhishma. Alas, having heard of the slaughter of
Duryodhana whose roars were as deep as those of a bull, having heard also
of the death of Duhshasana and the extinction of Karna and the setting of
the Drona-sun, my heart does not break into pieces. I do not, O Sanjaya,
remember any evil act committed by me in former days, whose consequences,
fool that I am, I am suffering today. Without doubt, I committed great
sins in my former lives, for which the Supreme Ordainer has set me to
endure such a measure of grief. This destruction of all my kinsmen, this
extermination of all my well-wishers and friends, at this old age, has
come upon me through the force of Destiny.
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