SECTION 14
(Rajasuyarambha Parva)
"Krishna said,--'O king, thou art a
worthy possessor of all the qualities
essential for the performance of the Rajasuya sacrifice. Thou knowest
everything. I shall, however, still tell thee something.
Those persons in the world that now go by the name of Kshatriyas
are inferior in everything to those Kshatriyas that Rama, the
son of Jamadagnya, exterminated.' Thou
knowest what form of rule these Kshatriyas, guided by the instructions
traditionally handed down from generation to generation, have established
amongst their own order, and how far they are competent to perform the Rajasuya
sacrifice. The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent
themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku. The descendants of Aila,
O king, as, indeed, the kings of Ikshwaku's race, are, know, each divided into
a hundred separate dynasties. The descendants of Yayati and the Bhojas are
great, both in extent and accomplishments. O king, these last are to-day scattered
all over the earth. And all the Kshatriyas worship the prosperity of those
monarchs. At present, however, king Jarasandha, overcoming that prosperity
enjoyed by their whole order, and overpowering them by his energy hath set
himself over the heads of all these kings. And Jarasandha, enjoying the
sovereignty over the middle portion of the earth Mathura, resolved to create disunion
amongst ourselves. The king who is the lord paramount of all kings, and in whom
alone the dominion of the universe is centered, properly deserves to be called
an emperor. And, king Sisupala endued with great energy hath placed himself
under his protection and hath become the generalissimo of his forces. And, the mighty
Baka, the king of the Karushas, capable of fighting by putting forth his powers
of illusion, waiteth, upon Jarasandha, as his disciple. There are two others,
Hansa and Dimbaka, who have sought the shelter of the mighty Jarasandha. There
are others also, Dantavakra, Karusha, Karava, Meghavahana, that wait upon Jarasandha.
He also that beareth on his head that gem which is known as the most wonderful
on earth, that king of the Yavanas, who hath chastised Muru and Naraka, whose
power is unlimited, and who ruleth the west like another Varuna, who is called
Bhagadatta, and who is the old friend of thy father, hath bowed his head before
Jarasandha, by speech and specially by act. In his heart, however, tied as he
is by affection to thee, he regardeth thee as a father regardeth his child. O
king, that lord of the earth who hath his dominions on the west and the south,
who is thy maternal uncle and who is called Purujit, that perpetuator of the
Kunti race, is the single king that regardeth thee from affection. He whom I
did not formerly slay, the Chedis, who represented himself in this world as a
divine personage and who hath become known also as such, and who always
beareth, the signs that distinguish me that king of Vanga Pundra and the
Kiratas, endowed with great strength, and who is known on earth by the names of
Paundraka and Vasudeva hath also espoused the side of Jarasandha. And,
Bhishmaka, the mighty king of the Bhojas--the friend of Indra—who governs a
fourth part of the world, who by his learning conquered the Pandyas and the
Kratha-Kausikas, whose brother the brave Akriti was like Rama, the son of
Jamdagni, hath become a servitor to the king of Magadha. We are his relatives
and are, therefore, engaged everyday in doing what is agreeable unto him. But
although we regard him much, still he regardeth us not and is engaged in doing
us ill. And, O king, without knowing his own strength and the dignity of the
race to which he belongeth, he hath placed himself under Jarasandha's shelter
at sight of the latter's blazing fame alone. And, the eighteen tribes of the
Bhojas, from fear of Jarasandha, have all fled towards the west; so also have
the Surasenas, the Bhadrakas, the Bodhas, the Salwas, the Patachchavas, the
Susthalas, the Mukuttas, and the Kulindas, along with the Kuntis. And the king
of the Salwayana tribe with their brethren and followers; and the southern
Panchalas and the eastern Kosalas have all fled to the country of the Kuntis.
So also the Matsyas and the Sannyastapadas, overcome with fear, leaving their
dominions in the north, have fled into the southern country. And so all the
Panchalas, alarmed at the power of Jarasandha, have left their own kingdom and
fled in all directions. Some time before, the foolish Kansa, having persecuted
the Yadavas, married two of the daughters of Jarasandha. They are called Asti and
Prapti and are the sister of Sahadeva. Strengthened by such an alliance, the
fool persecuting his relatives gained an ascendency over them all. But by this
conduct he earned great obloquy. The wretch also began to oppress the old kings
of the Bhoja tribe, but they, to protect themselves from the persecution of
their relative, sought our help. Having bestowed upon Akrura the handsome
daughter of Ahuka, with Sankarshana as my second I did a service to my
relatives, for both Kansa and Sunaman were slain by me assisted by Rama. But
after the immediate cause of fear was removed by the death of Kansa,
Jarasandha, his father-in-law, took up arms. Ourselves consisting of the
eighteen younger branches of the Yadavas arrived at the conclusion that even if
we struck our enemies continually with excellent weapons capable of taking the lives
of the foes, we should still be unable to do anything unto him even in three
hundred years. He hath two friends that are like unto the immortals, and in
point of strength the foremost of all men endued with might. They are called
Hansa and Dimbaka who are both incapable of being slain by weapons. Jarasandha,
being united with them, becomes incapable, I think, of being vanquished by even
the three worlds. This is not our opinion alone but all other kings also are of
the same mind. There lived, a king of the name of Hansa, who was slain by Baladeva
after a battle of eighteen days. But, hearing people say that Hansa had been killed,
Dimbaka, O king, thought that he could not live without Hansa. He accordingly
jumped into the waters of the Yamuna and killed himself. Afterwards when Hansa,
heard that Dimbaka, had killed him, he went to the Yamuna and jumped into its waters.
Then, king Jarasandha, hearing that both Hansa and Dimbaka had been killed,
returned to his kingdom with an empty heart. After Jarasandha had returned, we
were filled with pleasure and continued to live at Mathura. Then the widow of Hansa
and the daughter of Jarasandha, that handsome woman with eyes like lotus-petals,
grieved at the death of her lord, went unto her father, and repeatedly urged,
the king of Magadha, saying,--Kill thou the slayer of my husband.--Then,
remembering the conclusion to which we had come of old we became exceedingly
cheerless and fled from Mathura. Dividing our large wealth into small portions
so as to make each portion easily portable, we fled from fear of Jarasandha,
with our cousins and relatives. Reflecting upon everything, we fled towards the
west. There is a delightful town towards the west called Kusasthali, adorned by
the mountains of Raivata. In that city, we took up our abode. We rebuilt its
fort and made it so strong that it has become impregnable even to the Gods. And
from within it even the women might fight the foe, what to speak of the Yadava
heroes without fear of any kind? We are now living in that city. And,
considering the inaccessibility of that first of mountains and regarding
themselves as having already crossed the fear of Jarasandha, the descendants of
Madhu have become exceedingly glad. Thus, though possessed of strength and
energy, yet from the oppressions of Jarasandha we have been obliged to repair
to the mountains of Gomanta, measuring three Yojanas in length. Within each yojana
have been established one and twenty posts of armed men. And at intervals of
each yojana are hundred gates with arches which are defended by valourous
heroes engaged in guarding them. And innumerable Kshatriyas invincible in war,
belonging to the eighteen younger branches of the Yadavas, are employed in
defending these works. In our race, there are full eighteen thousand brothers
and cousins. Ahuka hath had a
hundred sons, each of whom is almost like a
god in prowess, Charudeshna with his brother Chakradeva, Satyaki, myself, Baladeva
the son of Rohini, and my son Samba who is equal unto me in battle--these
seven, O king are Atirathas. Besides these, there are others, whom I shall presently
name. They are Kritavarman, Anadhrishti, Samika, Samitinjaya, Kanka, Sanku and
Kunti. These seven are Maharathas. There are also two sons of Andhakabhoja, and
the old king himself. Endued with great energy these are all heroes, each
mighty as the thunderbolt. These Maharathas, choosing the middle country, are
now living amongst the Vrishnis. Thou alone art worthy of being an emperor. It behoveth
thee, to establish thy empire over all the Kshatriyas. But this is my judgment,
that thou wilt not be able to celebrate the Rajasuya sacrifice as long as the
mighty Jarasandha liveth. By him have been immured in his hill fort numerous
monarchs. Jarasandha,desirous of offering in sacrifice hundred monarchs, adored
for his fierce ascetic penances the illustrious god of gods, Mahaceva. It is by
this means that the kings of the earth have been vanquished by Jarasandha. And,
he hath by that means been able to fulfil the vow he had made relative to his
sacrifice. By defeating the kings with their troops and bringing all of them as
captives into this city, he had swelled its crowds enormously. We also, O king,
from fear of Jarasandha, at one time had to leave Mathura and fly to the city
of Dwaravati. If, thou desirest to perform this sacrifice, strive to release
the kings confined by Jarasandha, as also to compass his death. Otherwise this
undertaking of thine can never be completed. If the Rajasuya is to be performed
by thee, you must do this in this way and not otherwise. This, O king, is my
view on the matter. Do, as thou thinkest. Under these circumstances, having
reflected upon everything, taking note of causes, tell us what thou thyself thinkest
proper."
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