SECTION 109
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Upon the birth of those three children,
Kurujangala, Kurukshetra, and the Kurus grew in prosperity. The earth began to
yield abundant harvest, and the crops also were of good flavour. And the clouds
began to pour rain in season and trees became full of fruits and flowers. And
the draught cattle were all happy and the birds and other animals rejoiced
exceedingly. And the flowers became fragrant and the fruits became sweet; the
cities and towns became filled with merchants, artisans, traders and artists of
every description. And the people became brave, learned, honest and happy. And
there were no robbers then, nor anybody who was sinful. And it seemed that the
golden age had come upon every part of the kingdom. And the people devoted to
virtuous acts, sacrifices and truth, and regarding one another with love and
affection grew in prosperity. And free from pride, wrath and covetousness, they
rejoiced in perfectly innocent sports. And the capital of the Kurus, full as
the ocean, was a second Amaravati, teeming with hundreds of palaces and
mansions, and possessing gates and arches dark as the clouds. And men in great
cheerfulness sported constantly on rivers, lakes and tanks, and in fine groves
and charming woods. And the southern Kurus, in their virtuous rivalry with
their northern kinsmen, walked about in the company of Siddhas and Charanas and
Rishis. And all over that delightful country whose prosperity was thus
increased by the Kurus, there were no misers and no widowed women. And the
wells and lakes were ever full; the groves abounded with trees, and the houses
and abodes of Brahmanas were full of wealth and the whole kingdom was full of
festivities. And, O king, virtuously ruled by Bhishma, the kingdom was adorned
with hundreds of sacrificial stakes. And the wheel of virtue having been set in
motion by Bhishma, and the country became so contented that the subjects of
other kingdoms, quitting their homes, came to dwell there and increase its population.
And the citizens and the people were filled with hope, upon seeing the youthful
acts of their illustrious princes. And, O king, in the house of the Kuru chiefs
as also of the principal citizens, 'give', 'eat' were the only words constantly
heard. And Dhritarashtra and Pandu and Vidura of great intelligence were from
their birth brought up by Bhishma, as if they were his own sons. And the children,
having passed through the usual rites of their order, devoted themselves to
vows and study. And they grew up into fine young men skilled in the Vedas and
all athletic sports. And they became well-skilled in the practice of bow, in horsemanship,
in encounters with mace, sword and shield, in the management of elephants in
battle, and in the science of morality. Well-read in history and the Puranas
and various branches of learning, and acquainted with the truths of the Vedas
and their branches they acquired knowledge, which was versatile and deep. And
Pandu, possessed of great prowess, excelled all men in archery while
Dhritarashtra excelled all in personal strength, while in the three worlds
there was no one equal to Vidura in devotion to virtue and in the knowledge of
the dictates of morality. And beholding the restoration of the extinct line of
Santanu, the saying became current in all countries that among mothers of
heroes, the daughters of the king of Kasi were the first; that among countries
Kurujangala was the first; that among virtuous men, Vidura was the first; that
among cities Hastinapura was the first. Pandu became king, for Dhritarashtra,
owing to the blindness, and Vidura, for his birth by a Sudra woman, did not
obtain the kingdom. One day Bhishma, the foremost of those acquainted with the
duties of a statesman and dictates of morality, properly addressing Vidura
conversant with the truth of religion and virtue, said as follows."
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