The Hindus consider this one of their most sacred books, attribute its authorship to Vyasa, and claim that the reading of a small portion of it will obliterate1 sin, while the perusal2 of the whole will insure heavenly bliss3. Its name signifies "the great war," and its historical kernel,—including one-fifth of the whole work,—consists of an account of an eighteen days' battle (in the thirteenth or fourteenth century B.C.) between rival tribes. The poem is, besides, a general repository of the mythological4, legendary5, and philosophical6 lore7 of the Hindus, and reached its present state of development only by degrees and at the end of several centuries.
Bharata, the real founder8 of the principal Indian dynasty, is so famous a character, that the Hindus often designate their whole country as "the land of Bharata." We are told that Rajah Dushyanta, a descendant of the Moon, while hunting one day beheld9 the beautiful Sakuntala, daughter of a sage10, whom he persuaded to consent to a clandestine11 marriage. But, after a short time, the bridegroom departed, leaving his bride a ring as a pledge of his troth.
Absorbed in thoughts of her absent lover, Sakuntala once failed to notice the approach of a sage, who cursed her, saying she should be forgotten by the man she loved, but who relenting after a while declared this curse would be annulled12 when her husband beheld his ring.
Some time after this, on the way to rejoin her spouse13 to inform him she was about to become a mother, Sakuntala, while bathing in a sacred pool, accidentally dropped this ring. On appearing without it before Dushyanta, he sternly denied all acquaintance with her and ordered her driven out into the jungle, where she soon gave birth to their son Bharata.
The lad was about six years old when a fisherman found in the stomach of a fish the lost ring, which he carried to the rajah. On beholding15 this token, Dushyanta, remembering all, hastened to seek poor Sakuntala, whom he discovered in the jungle, watching her boy fearlessly play with lion cubs16. Proud of such a son, the rajah bore his family home; and Bharata, after having a long reign17, gave birth to Hastin, founder of Hastinapur, a city on the bank of the Ganges about sixty miles from the modern Delhi.
A grandson of this Hastin married the Goddess of the Ganges,—who was doing penance18 on earth,—and their children were animated19 by the souls of deities20 condemned21 for a time to assume human form. In order to enable these fellow-gods to return to heaven as soon as possible, Ganga undertook to drown each of her babies soon after birth, provided the gods would pledge themselves to endow one of her descendants with their strength, and would allow him to live, if not to perpetuate22 his species.
After seeing seven of his children cast into the water without daring to object, the rajah, although he knew his goddess-wife would leave him if he found fault with anything she did, protested so vehemently23 against the similar disposal of his eighth son that his wife disappeared with the child. But a few years later this son, Bhishma, the terrible, having grown up, was restored to his father.
To comfort himself for the loss of his first wife, the king now married the beautiful daughter of a fisherman, solemnly promising24 her son should succeed him, for Bhishma voluntarily relinquished25 all right to the throne and took a vow27 to remain celibate28. The new wife's main attraction seems to have been a sweet odor, bestowed30 by a saint, who restored her virginity after she had borne him a son named Vyasa, the author of this poem.
By the Rajah the fishermaid now had two sons, one of whom was slain32 at the end of a three years' fight, while the other began his reign under the wise regency of Bhishma. When it was time for his royal step-brother to marry, Bhishma sent him to a Bride's Choice (Swayamvara), where three lovely princesses were to be awarded to the victor. Without waiting to win them fairly, the young prince kidnapped all three, and, when the disappointed suitors pursued him, Bhishma held them at bay by shooting ten thousand arrows at once, and thus enabled his step-brother and brides to escape.
Although thus provided with three royal wives, our prince was soon deserted34 by one of them and was never fortunate enough to have children by the two others. After he had died, custom required that his nearest kinsman35 should raise issue for him, so,—owing to Bhishma's vow,—Vyasa, who was fabulously36 ugly, undertook to visit the two widows. One of them, catching37 a glimpse of him, bore him a blind son (Dhritarashtra), while the other was so frightened that she bore a son of such pale complexion38 that he was known as Pandu, the White.
Neither of these youths being deemed perfect enough to represent properly the royal race, Vyasa announced he would pay the widows another visit, but this time they hired a slave to take their place, so it was she who brought into the world Vidura, God of Justice. Because one prince was blind and the other the offspring of a slave, the third was set upon his throne by his uncle Bhishma, who in due time provided him with two lovely wives.
With these the monarch39 withdrew to the Himalayas to spend his honeymoon40, and while there proved unfortunate enough to wound a couple of deer who were hermits41 in disguise. In dying they predicted he would perish in the arms of one of his wives, whereupon Pandu decided42 to refrain from all intercourse43 with them, graciously allowing them instead to bear him five sons by five different gods. These youth, known in the poem as the sons of Pandu, the Pandavs (or the Pandavas), are the main heroes of India. As a prediction made by an ascetic44 was bound to come true, the king, momentarily forgetting the baleful curse, died in the embrace of his second wife, who, in token of grief, was burned with his remains46, this being the earliest mention of a suttee.
Meantime the blind prince had married a lady to whom a famous ascetic had promised she should be mother to one hundred sons! All these came into the world at one birth, in the shape of a lump of flesh, which the ascetic divided into one hundred and one pieces, each of which was enclosed in a pot of rarefied butter, where these germs gradually developed into one hundred sons and one daughter.
As long as Pandu sojourned in the Himalayas, the blind prince reigned48 in his stead, but when he died, his surviving widow brought to the capital (Hastinapur) her five divine sons, the Pandavs. There the blind uncle had them brought up with their cousins, the hundred Kurus (or Kauravas), with whom, however, they were never able to live in perfect peace. Once, as the result of a boyish quarrel, a Kuru flung Bhima, one of the Pandavs, into the Ganges, where, instead of sinking, this hero was inoculated49 by serpent-bites with the strength of ten thousand elephants before he returned to his wonted place at home.
The young princes, who had all been trained to fight by their tutor, Drona, and who had already given sundry50 proofs of their proficiency51 in arms, were finally invited by the blind monarch to give a public exhibition of their skill. The poem gives us a lengthy52 description of this tournament, expatiating53 on the flower-decked booths reserved for the principal spectators, and dilating54 particularly on the fact that the blind monarch, unable to see with, his own eyes, made some one sit beside him to describe all that was going on.
After the preliminary sacrifice offered by the tutor, the skill of the princes, as archers55, was tested on foot, on horseback, in howdahs, and in chariots; then they indulged in mock fights with swords and bucklers, closely watched by Drona, who pronounced his favorite Arjuna, the third Pandav, the finest athlete ever seen.
Still the princes shook their weapons, drove the deep resounding57 car,
Or on steed or tusker mounted waged the glorious mimic58 war!
Mighty59 sword and ample buckler, ponderous60 mace61 the princes wield62,
Brightly gleam their lightning rapiers as they range the listed field,
Brave and fearless is their action, and their movements quick and light,
Skilled and true the thrust and parry of their weapons flaming bright![42]
Thereupon, from the ranks of the spectators, emerged Karna, son of a charioteer, who challenged Arjuna to fight with him, but the prince refused on the score that they were not of equal rank. Still a legend assures us that Karna was a child of the Sun-god, set afloat by his mother on the river Jumna, whence this Hindu Moses, floating down into the Ganges, was rescued and brought up by the charioteer, his reputed father. Meantime the four Pandav brothers were greatly elated by the eulogy63 bestowed upon their brother, but their jealous cousins became so enraged64 that, when the time came for the youths to face each other in club exercises, the sham65 battle degenerated66 into an earnest fight.
With ponderous mace they waged the daring fight.
As for a tender mate two rival elephants
Engage in frantic67 fury, so the youths
Encountered, and amidst the rapid sphere
Of fire their whirling weapons clashing wove
Their persons vanished from the anxious eye.
Still more and more incensed68 their combat grew,
And life hung doubtful on the desperate conflict;
With awe69 the crowd beheld the fierce encounter
And amidst hope and fear suspended tossed,
Like ocean shaken by conflicting winds.
Seeing this, the horrified70 tutor separated the contestants71, whom he soon after sent off separately to war against a neighboring rajah. In this conflict the one hundred Kurus were badly worsted, while the five Pandavs scored a brilliant triumph. They also subdued72 sundry other kings, thereby73 so rousing the jealous hatred74 of their uncle and cousins that these finally began to plot their death. The five Pandavs and their mother were therefore invited to a feast in a neighboring city (Allahabad), where the Kurus arranged they should be burned alive in their booth. But, duly warned by the God of Justice, the Pandavs had an underground passage dug from their hut to the forest, by means of which they escaped, little suspecting that a beggar woman and her five children—who had sought refuge in the empty hut—would be burned to death there in their stead.
Disguised as Brahmans, the five brothers and their mother now dwelt for a time in the jungle, where they proceeded to slay75 some demons76, to marry others, and to perform sundry astounding78 feats79 of strength. We are told, for instance, that whenever the mother and brothers were tired, the strongest of the Pandavs, Bhima, carried them all with the utmost ease.
While in the jungle they were visited by their grandfather Vyasa, who bade them attend the Bride's Choice of Draupadi, daughter of a neighboring king, who—Minerva-like—came into the world full grown.
Human mother never bore her, human bosom80 never fed,
From the altar sprang the maiden81 who some prince will wed31!
She was so beautiful that her father decided the suitor she favored would have to prove himself worthy82 of her by spanning a bow which no one as yet had been able to bend, and by sending an arrow through a rapidly revolving83 wheel into the eye of a gold fish stationed beyond it.
Owing to the extreme loveliness of Draupadi, many rajahs flocked to the tournament to compete for her hand, and the five Pandavs betook themselves thither84 in Brahman garb85. After the preliminary exercises, the beautiful princess—to whom all her suitors had been duly named—gave the signal for the contest to begin. The mere86 sight of the huge bow proved enough to decide several of the contestants to withdraw, but a few determined87 to risk all in hopes of obtaining Draupadi's hand. No man, however, proved able to bend the bow until Arjuna stepped forward, begging permission to try his luck. While the rajahs were protesting that no Brahman should compete, this Pandav spanned the bow and sent five successive shafts88 straight to the goal, amid the loud acclamations of all present.
He grasped the ponderous weapon in his hand
And with one vigorous effort braced89 the string.
Quickly the shafts were aimed and swiftly they flew;
The mark fell pierced; a shout of victory
Rang through the vast arena90; from the sky
Garlands of flowers crowned the hero's head,
Ten thousand fluttering scarfs waved in the air,
And drum and trumpet91 sounded forth92 his triumph.
The beautiful princess, captivated by the goodly appearance of this suitor, immediately hung around his neck the crown of flowers, although the defeated rajahs muttered a mere Brahman should not aspire93 to the hand of a princess. In fact, had not his four brothers, aided by Krishna (a divine suitor), stood beside him, and had not the king insisted there should be no fracas94, the young winner might have had a hard time. Then, as the princess seemed perfectly95 willing, the wedding was celebrated96, and the five brothers returned to the humble97 hut where they lived on alms, calling out to their mother that they had won a prize! On hearing these tidings, the mother—without knowing what the prize was—rejoined, "Share it among you," an injunction which settled for good and all that Draupadi should be common wife to all five. But the legend adds that this came to pass mainly because the maiden had prayed five times for a husband, and that the gods were answering each of her prayers separately!
Shortly after this fivefold marriage,—which assured the Pandavs a royal ally,—Bhishma persuaded the blind rajah—who had meantime discovered his nephews were not dead—to give them one half of his realm. Taking up their abode98 there, the Pandavs built the city of Indraprastha (Delhi) on the banks of the Jumna, before they decided that the eldest99 among them (Yudhishthira) should be king, the others humbly100 serving as his escort wherever he went.
One day this eldest Pandav went to visit the eldest Kuru, a proficient101 gambler, with whom he played until he had lost realm, brothers, wife, and freedom! But, when the victor undertook to take forcible possession of the fair Draupadi, and publicly stripped her of her garments, the gods, in pity, supplied her with one layer of vesture after another, so that the brutal102 Kuru was not able to shame her as he wished. Furious to see the treatment their common wife was undergoing at the victor's hands, the five Pandavs made grim threats, and raised such a protest that the blind uncle, interfering103, sent them off to the forest with their wife for twelve years. He also decreed that, during the thirteenth, all must serve in some menial capacity, with the proviso that, if discovered by their cousins, they should never regain104 their realm.
"'Tis no fault of thine, fair princess! fallen to this servile state,
Wife and son rule not their actions, others rule their hapless fate!
Thy Yudhishthir sold his birthright, sold thee at the impious play,
And the wife falls with the husband, and her duty—to obey!"
During the twelve years which the Pandavs spent in the forest, with the beautiful and faithful Draupadi (who was once carried away by a demon77 but rescued by one of her spouses), they met with sundry adventures. Not only did they clear the jungle, rescue from cannibals the jealous cousins who came to humiliate106 them, and perform other astounding feats, but they were entertained by tales told by Vyasa, among which are a quaint14 account of the Deluge107, of the descent of the Ganges, a recitation of the Ramayana, and the romance of Nala and of Savitri, of which brief sketches108 are given at the end of this article. All this material is contained in the "Forest Book," the third and longest parvan of the Mahabharata, wherein we also find a curious account of Arjuna's voluntary exile because he entered into Draupadi's presence when one of his brothers was with her! To atone109 for this crime, Arjuna underwent a series of austerities on the Himalayas, in reward for which his father Indra took him up to heaven, whence he brought back sundry weapons, among which we note Siva's miraculous110 bow.
Meantime his four brothers and Draupadi had undertaken pious105 pilgrimages to all the sacred waters of India, and had learned sundry useful trades and arts, before they, too, visited the Himalayas. There Arjuna joined them in Indra's chariot, and led them to the top of a mountain, whence they beheld the glittering palace of Kuvera, God of Wealth.
After the twelve years' sojourn47 in the jungle were ended, the Pandavs, thanks to divine aid, entered the service of a neighboring king as teachers of dice111 and music, as charioteer, cook, cow-herd, and maid. There the five men and their wife remained for a whole year, without being discovered by their enemies, and, toward the end of their sojourn, rendered so signal a service to their master that he offered his daughter in marriage to Arjuna. Although this prince virtuously112 refused to accept her for himself, he bestowed her upon a son begotten113 during his exile when he indulged in sundry romantic adventures.
Having completed their penance, the Pandavs returned home, to demand of the Kurus the surrender of their realm. As these greedy cousins refused to relinquish26 their authority, both parties prepared for war. Seeing the Kurus had ten allies, the Pandavs became anxious to secure some too. The most powerful person in the region being the rajah Krishna, one of the Kurus hastened to his palace to bespeak114 his aid, and, finding him asleep, seated himself at the head of the bed. A moment later one of the Pandavs arrived, and modestly placed himself at the foot of the sleeping monarch's couch. On awakening115, Krishna, of course, saw the Pandav first, but, after listening impartially116 to both petitioners117, informed them that one party should have the benefit of his advice and the other the aid of his one hundred million soldiers. The greedy Kuru immediately bespoke118 the use of the army, while the Pandav was only too glad to secure the advice of Krishna (an embodiment of all the gods), who throughout the war acted as Arjuna's charioteer.
All preparations finished, the Great War (Mahabharata) began, the two families pitted against each other meeting on the plain of Kurukshetra (the modern Panipat) where the battle was fought. After many speeches, and after erecting120 fortifications which bristled121 with defences and were liberally stocked with jars of scorpions122, hot oil, and missiles, the two parties drew up rules of battle, which neither was to infringe123 under penalty of incurring124 the world's execration125.
Even nature now showed by unmistakable signs that a terrible conflict was about to take place, and when the two armies—which the Hindus claim numbered several billion men—came face to face, Krishna delayed the fight long enough to recite with Arjuna a dialogue of eighteen cantos called the Bhagavad-gita, or Divine Song, which contains a complete system of Indian religious philosophy.
The Pandavs, having besought126 the aid of the monkeys, were informed they would derive127 great benefit by bearing a monkey banner, so it was armed with this standard that they marched on to victory.
The sons of Pandu marked the coming storm
And swift arrayed their force. The chief divine
And Arjuna at the king's request
Raised in the van the ape-emblazoned banner,
The host's conducting star, the guiding light
That cheered the bravest heart, and as it swept
The air, it warmed each breast with martial128 fires.
Throughout the war the Pandav forces were directed by the same general, but their opponents had four. A moment after the first collision, the sky was filled with whistling arrows, while the air resounded129 with the neighing of horses and the roaring of elephants; the plain shook, and clouds of dust, dimming the light of the sun, formed a heavy pall130, beneath which Pandavs and Kurus struggled in deadly fight. This frightful131 conflict lasted eighteen days, the battle always stopping at sunset, to enable the combatants to recover their strength.
And ever and anon the thunder roared,
And angry lightnings flashed across the gloom,
Or blazing meteors fearful shot to earth.
Regardless of these awful signs, the chiefs
Pressed on to mutual132 slaughter133, and the peal134
Of shouting hosts commingling135 shook the world.
The Kurus' general, Bhishma, fell on the tenth day,—after a terrible fight with Arjuna,—riddled with so many arrows that his body could not touch the ground. Although mortally wounded, he lay in this state, his head supported by three arrows, for fifty-eight days, and was thus able to bestow29 good advice on those who came to consult him.
Darker grew the gloomy midnight, and the princes went their way;
On his bed of pointed33 arrows, Bhishma lone136 and dying lay.
He was succeeded as leader of the Kurus by the tutor Drona, who during his five days' generalship proved almost invincible137. But, some one suggesting that his courage would evaporate should he hear his son was dead, a cry arose in the Pandav ranks that Aswathaman had perished! Unable to credit this news, Drona called to the eldest Pandav—who was strictly138 truthful—to know whether it was so, and heard him rejoin it was true in regard to the elephant by that name, but not of the man.
Said Yudhishthir: "Lordly tusker, Aswathaman named, is dead;"
Drona heard but half the accents, feebly dropped his sinking head!
The poor father, who heard only a small part of the sentence—the remainder being drowned by the sound of the trumpets—lost all courage, and allowed himself to be slain without further resistance.
The whole poem bristles139 with thrilling hand-to-hand conflicts, the three greatest during the eighteen days' battle being between Karna and the eldest Pandav, between the eldest Kuru and Bhima, and between Karna and Arjuna. During the first sixteen days of battle, countless140 men were slain, including Arjuna's son by one of his many wives. Although the fighting had hitherto invariably ceased at sunset, darkness on the seventeenth day failed to check the fury of the fighters, so when the moon refused to afford them light they kindled141 torches in order to find each other. It was therefore midnight before the exhausted142 combatants dropped down on the battle-field, pillowing their heads on their horses and elephants to snatch a brief rest so as to be able to renew the war of extermination143 on the morrow.
On the eighteenth day—the last of the Great War—the soil showed red with blood and was so thickly strewn with corpses144 that there was no room to move. Although the Kurus again charged boldly, all but three were slain by the enemies' golden maces. In fact, the fight of the day proved so fierce that only eleven men remained alive of the billions which, according to the poem, took part in the fight. But during that night the three remaining Kurus stole into the Pandav camp, killed the five sons which Draupadi had born to her five husbands, carried off their heads, and laid them at the feet of the mortally wounded eldest Kuru, who fancied at first his cousins had been slain. The battle ending from sheer lack of combatants, the eldest Pandav ordered solemn funeral rites145, which are duly described in the poem.
Pious rites are due to foemen and to friends and kinsmen146 slain,
None shall lack a fitting funeral, none shall perish on the plain.
Then, no one being there to dispute it, he took possession of the realm, always dutifully according precedence to his blind uncle, who deeply mourned his fallen sons.
Wishing to govern wisely, the eldest Pandav sought the wounded general, Bhishma,—who still lay on his arrowy bed in the battle-field,—and who, having given him rules for wise government, breathed his last in the presence of this Pandav, who saw his spirit rise from his divided skull147 and mount to the skies "like a bright star." The body was then covered with flowers and borne down to the Ganges, where, after it had been purified by the sacred waters, it was duly burned.
The new king's mind was, however, so continually haunted by the horrors of the great battle-field that, hoping to find relief, he decided to perform a horse sacrifice. Many chapters of the poem are taken up in relating the twelve adventures of this steed, which was accompanied everywhere by Arjuna, who had to wage many a fight to retain possession of the sacred animal and prevent any hand being laid upon him. Then we have a full description of the seventeen ceremonies pertaining148 to this strange rite56.
Victor of a hundred battles, Arjun bent149 his homeward way,
Following still the sacred charger free to wander as it may,
Strolling minstrels to Yudhishthir spake of the returning steed,
Spake of Arjun wending homeward with the victor's crown of meed.
Next we learn that the blind king, still mourning the death of his sons, retired150 to the bank of the Ganges, where he and his wife spent their last years listening to the monotonous151 ripple152 of the sacred waters. Fifteen years after the great battle, the five Pandavs and Draupadi came to visit him, and, after sitting for a while on the banks of the sacred stream, bathed in its waters as Vyasa advised them. While doing so they saw the wraiths153 of all their kinsmen slain in the Great Battle rise from the boiling waters, and passed the night in conversation with them, although these spirits vanished at dawn into thin air. But the widows of the slain then obtained permission to drown themselves in the Ganges, in order to join their beloved husbands beyond the tomb.
"These and other mighty warriors154, in the earthly battle slain,
By their valor155 and their virtue156 walk the bright ethereal plain!
They have cast their mortal bodies, crossed the radiant gate of heaven,
For to win celestial157 mansions158 unto mortals it is given!
Let them strive by kindly159 action, gentle speech, endurance long,
Brighter life and holier future unto sons of men belong!"
Then the Pandav brothers and their wife took leave of the blind king, whom they were destined160 never to see again, for some two years later a terrible jungle fire consumed both cottage and inmates161. This death was viewed by the Pandavs as a bad omen45, as was also the destruction of Krishna's capital because his people drank too much wine. Krishna himself was slain by accident, while a hurricane or tidal wave sweeping162 over the "city of Drunkenness" wiped it off the face of the earth.
Having found life a tragedy of sorrow, the eldest Pandav, after reigning163 thirty-six years, decided to abdicate164 in favor of Arjuna's grandson, and to start on a pilgrimage for Mount Meru, or Indra's heaven. As the Hindu universe consists of seven concentric rings, each of which is separated by a liquid from the next continent, he had to cross successive oceans of salt water, sugar-cane juice, wine, clarified butter, curdled165 milk, sweet milk, and fresh water. In the very centre of these alternate rings of land and liquid rises Mount Meru to a height of sixty-four thousand miles, crowned by the Hindu heaven, toward which the Pandav was to wend his way. But, although all their subjects would fain have gone with them, the five brothers, Draupadi, and a faithful dog set out alone in single file, "to accomplish their union with the infinite."
Then the high-minded sons of Pandu and the noble Draupadi
Roamed onward166, fasting, with their faces toward the east; their
hearts
Yearning167 for union with the Infinite, bent on abandonment
Of worldly things.
* * * * *
And by degrees they reached the briny168 sea;
They reached the northern region and beheld with heaven-aspiring
hearts
The mighty mountain Himavat. Beyond its lofty peak they passed
Toward a sea of sand, and saw at last the rocky Meru, king
Of mountains. As with eager steps they hastened on, their souls
intent
On union with the Eternal, Draupadi lost hold of her high hope,
And faltering169 fell upon the earth.
—Edwin Arnold.
Thus during this toilsome journey, one by one fell, never to rise again, until presently only two of the brothers and the dog were left. The eldest Pandav, who had marched on without heeding170 the rest, now explained to his companion how Draupadi sinned through excessive love for her husbands, and that his fallen brothers were victims of pride, vanity, and falsehood. He further predicted that the speaker himself would fall, owing to selfishness, a prediction which was soon verified, leaving the eldest Pandav alone with his dog.
On arriving, Indra bade this hero enter heaven, assuring him the other spirits had preceded him thither, but warning him that he alone could be admitted there in bodily form. When the Pandav begged that his dog might enter too, Indra indignantly rejoined that heaven was no place for animals, and inquired why the Pandav made more fuss about a four-legged companion than about his wife and brothers. Thereupon the Pandav returned he had no power to bring the others back to life, but considered it cowardly to abandon a faithful living creature. The dog, listening intently to this dialogue, now resumed his proper form,—for it seems he was the king's father in a former birth,—and, having become human once more, he too was allowed to enter Paradise.
Straight as he spoke119, brightly great Indra smiled,
Vanished the hound, and in its stead stood there,
The lord of death and justice, Dharma's self.
—Edwin Arnold.
Beneath a golden canopy171, seated on jewelled thrones, the Pandav found his blind uncle and cousins, but failed to discern any trace of his brothers or Draupadi. He, therefore, refusing to remain, begged Indra's permission to share their fate in hell; so a radiant messenger was sent to guide him along a road paved with upturned razor edges, which passed through a dense172 forest whose leaves were thorns and swords. Along this frightful road the Pandav toiled173, with cut and mangled174 feet, until he reached the place of burning, where he beheld Draupadi and his brothers writhing175 in the flames. Unable to rescue them, the Rajah determined to share their fate, so bade his heavenly guide return to Paradise without him. This, however, proved the last test to which his great heart was to be subjected, for no sooner had he expressed a generous determination to share his kinsmen's lot, than he was told to bathe in the Ganges and all would be well. He had no sooner done so than the heavens opened above him, allowing him to perceive, amid undying flowers, the fair Draupadi and his four brothers, who, thanks to his unselfishness, had been rescued from hell.
The grandson of Arjuna reigned at Hastinapur until he died of a snake-bite, and his son instituted snake sacrifices, where this epic176 was recited by a bard177 who learned it from the mouth of Vyasa. There is also a continuation of the poem in three sections called the Harivam?a, which relates that Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, and describes his exploits and the future doom178 of the world.
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obliterate
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| v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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mythological
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| adj.神话的 | |
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legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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annulled
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| v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 )；取消；使消失；抹去 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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14
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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15
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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16
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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17
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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18
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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19
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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20
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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21
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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22
perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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23
vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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24
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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25
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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26
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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27
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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28
celibate
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| adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者 | |
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29
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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30
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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32
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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33
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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34
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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35
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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36
fabulously
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| 难以置信地，惊人地 | |
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37
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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38
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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39
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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40
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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41
hermits
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| （尤指早期基督教的）隐居修道士，隐士，遁世者( hermit的名词复数 ) | |
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42
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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43
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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44
ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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45
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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46
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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47
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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48
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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49
inoculated
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| v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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51
proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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52
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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53
expatiating
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| v.详述，细说( expatiate的现在分词 ) | |
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54
dilating
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| v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的现在分词 ) | |
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55
archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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56
rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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57
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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58
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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59
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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60
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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61
mace
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| n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮 | |
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62
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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63
eulogy
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| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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64
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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65
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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66
degenerated
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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68
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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69
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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70
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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71
contestants
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| n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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72
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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73
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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74
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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75
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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76
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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77
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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78
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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79
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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80
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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81
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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82
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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83
revolving
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|
| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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84
thither
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|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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85
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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86
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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87
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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88
shafts
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|
| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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89
braced
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|
| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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90
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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91
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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92
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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93
aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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94
fracas
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| n.打架；吵闹 | |
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95
perfectly
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|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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96
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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97
humble
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|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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98
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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99
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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100
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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101
proficient
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| adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家 | |
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102
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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103
interfering
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| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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104
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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105
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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106
humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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107
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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108
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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109
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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110
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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111
dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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112
virtuously
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| 合乎道德地，善良地 | |
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113
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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114
bespeak
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| v.预定；预先请求 | |
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115
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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116
impartially
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| adv.公平地，无私地 | |
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117
petitioners
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| n.请求人，请愿人( petitioner的名词复数 )；离婚案原告 | |
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118
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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119
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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120
erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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121
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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122
scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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123
infringe
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| v.违反，触犯，侵害 | |
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124
incurring
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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125
execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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126
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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127
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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128
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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129
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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130
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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131
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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132
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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133
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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134
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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135
commingling
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的现在分词 ) | |
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136
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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137
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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138
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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139
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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140
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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141
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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142
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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143
extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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144
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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153
wraiths
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| n.幽灵( wraith的名词复数 )；（传说中人在将死或死后不久的）显形阴魂 | |
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154
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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158
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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162
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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abdicate
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| v.让位，辞职，放弃 | |
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curdled
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| v.（使）凝结( curdle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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briny
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| adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋 | |
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faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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174
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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175
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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