SECTION 22

SECTION 22

"Jarasandha said,--'I do not recollect if I ever acted injuriously towards ye! Even upon a careful mental scrutiny I fail to see the injury I did unto ye. When I have never done ye an injury, why, ye Brahmanas do ye regard me, who am innocent, as your foe? O, answer me truly, for this, indeed, is the rule followed by the honest. The mind is pained at the injury to one's pleasure and morality. That Kshatriya who injures an innocent man's sources of pleasure and morality even if he be otherwise a great warrior and well-versed in all rules of morality, obtains, without any doubt the fate of sinners hereafter and falls off from prosperity. The practices of the Kshatriyas are the best of those that are honest in the three worlds indeed, those that are acquainted with morality applaud the Kshatriya practices. Adhering to those practices of my order with steady soul, I never injure those that are under me. In bringing this charge, therefore, against me, it appears that ye speak erroneously!'

"Krishna said,--'There is a certain person of the head of a royal line who up holdeth the dignity of his race. At his command have we come against thee. Thou hast brought, O king, many of the Kshatriyas of the world as captives to thy city. Having perpetrated that wicked wrong how dost thou regard thyself as innocent? O monarch, how can a king act wrongfully towards other virtuous kings? But thou, treating other kings with cruelty, seekest to offer them as sacrifice unto the god Rudra! This sin committed by thee may touch even us, for as we are virtuous in our practices, we are capable of protecting virtue. The slaughter of human being as sacrifice unto the gods is never seen. Why dost thou, therefore, seek to perform a sacrifice unto god Sankara by slaughtering human beings? Thou art addressing persons belonging to thy own order as animals fit for sacrifice! Fool as thou art, who else, O Jarasandha, is capable of behaving in this way? One always obtaineth the fruits of whatever acts one performeth under whatever circumstances. Therefore, desirous as we are of helping all distressed people, we have, for the prosperity of our race, come hither to slay thee, the slaughterer of our relatives. Thou thinkest that there is no man among the Kshatriyas equal to thee. This, O king, is a great error of judgment on thy part. What Kshatriya is there, who endued with greatness of soul and recollecting the dignity of his own parentage, would not ascend to eternal heaven that hath not its like anywhere, falling in open fight? Know, that Kshatriyas engage themselves in battle, as persons installed in sacrifices, with heaven in view, and vanquish the whole world! Study of the Vedas, great fame, ascetic penances, and death in battle, are all acts that lead to heaven. The attainment of heaven by the three other acts may be uncertain, but death in battle hath that for its certain consequence. Death in battle is the sure cause of triumph like Indra's. It is graced by numerous merits. It is for this reason Indra hath become what he is, and by vanquishing the Asuras he ruleth the universe. Hostility with whom else than thee is so sure of leading to heaven proud as thou art of the excessive strength of thy vast Magadha host? Don't disregard others, O king. Valour dwelleth in every man. There are many men whose valour may be equal or superior to thine. As long as these are not known, so long only art thou noted for thy valour. Thy prowess can be borne by us. It is, therefore, that I say so. O king of Magadha cast off thy superiority and pride in the presence of those that are thy equals. Go not, with thy children and ministers and army, into the regions of Yama. Dambodhava, Kartavirya, Uttara, and Brihadratha, were kings that met with destruction, along with all their forces, for having disregarded their superiors. Desirous of liberating the captive monarchs from thee, know that we are certainly not Brahmanas. I am Hrishesha otherwise called Sauri, and these two men are the sons of Kundi. O king of Magadha, we challenge thee. Fight standing before us. Either set free all the monarchs, or go thou to the abode of Yama.

"Jarasandha said,--'I never make a captive of a king without first vanquishing him. Who hath been kept here that hath not been defeated in war? This, O Krishna, it hath been said, is the duty that should be followed by the Kshatriyas, to bring others under sway by the exhibition of prowess and then to treat them as slaves. Having gathered these monarchs with the intention of offering them as sacrifices unto the god, how shall I, from fear liberate them to-day, when I recollect also the duty I have recited of a Kshatriya? With troops against troops arrayed in order of battle, or alone against one, or against two, or against three, at the same time or separately, I am ready to fight.'"

Vaisampayana said,--"Having spoken thus, and desiring to fight with them, king Jarasandha ordered his son Sahadeva to be installed on the throne. Then, the king, on the eve of battle, thought of his two generals Kausika and Chitrasena. These two,  were formerly called by everybody in the world of men by the respectful appellations of Hansa and Dimbaka. And, the lord Sauri, keeping in view the command of Brahma and remembering that the ruler of Magadha was destinedto be slain in battle by Bhima and not by Krishnan, desired not to slay himself king Jarasandha."