11.025
Pancharatra and Core: Finally, anger takes over Gandhari and she curses Krishna, saying Yadavas will meet a similar end 36 years from now, fighting among themselves.
Gandhari said:
O Mādhava, behold the formidable Kamboja, worthy of the Kamboja's couch, lying with bull-like shoulders, slain and fallen in the dust.
Seeing her husband's arms, smeared with blood from wounds and anointed with sandalwood, the pitiful wife laments in great distress.
These two arms, resembling iron bars and adorned with auspicious fingers, whose embrace once gave me pleasure that never left me.
O lord of people, to what state shall I go, bereft of you? Like a sweet-voiced woman with distant relatives and no protector, I am exceedingly forlorn.
Just as, in the heat, garlands of various kinds become wilted, even when women are weary, their beauty indeed does not abandon their bodies.
O Madhusudana, behold the heroic Kalinga lying nearby, his mighty arms fastened with a pair of shining armlets.
O Janardana, behold how the Magadhi women, having gathered around Jayatsena, the king of the Magadhas, are weeping.
O Janardana, the sound of these wide-eyed, melodious-voiced women seems to enchant and bewilder my mind.
The women of Magadha, with all their ornaments scattered, weeping and emaciated by grief, lie on the ground, having approached their own spread beds.
The women, having surrounded Bṛhadbala, the prince and lord of the Kosalas, their husband, wept loudly, each one separately.
Afflicted by pain, they repeatedly faint as they try to pull out the arrows embedded in his body by the force of Kṛṣṇa's arm.
O Mādhava, the faces of all these blameless women look like withered lotuses because of the heat and their exertion.
The heroes adorned with beautiful armlets, slain by Droṇa, lie there. All five Kekaya brothers, who faced Droṇa, have fallen.
Armored in heated gold, with copper banners and garlands on their chariots, they shine upon the earth with their radiance, blazing like fires.
O Mādhava, see Drupada, who has been struck down in battle by Droṇa, lying like a great elephant slain by a mighty lion in the forest.
O lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, the great white parasol of the king of the Pāñcālas shines resplendently, just as the sun does in the autumn season.
But these distressed wives and the daughter-in-law, having burnt the aged Drupada, proceed counterclockwise to the Panchala king.
The women, their minds distraught, carry away the heroic Dhṛṣṭaketu, the great archer and foremost among the Cedis, who was slain by Droṇa.
O Madhusudana, this great archer, having been struck down by Drona's weapon in the battle, lies slain like a tree carried away by the river.
Here lies Dhṛṣṭaketu, the heroic lord of the Cedis and a great chariot-warrior, slain on the battlefield after having killed thousands of enemies.
O Hṛṣīkeśa, the wives approached the king of Cedi, who had been slain with his relatives and army, as he was being pecked by birds.
These noble ladies of the king of Chedi, having placed the heroic son of Dasharha, who was of true valor and lay dead, on their laps, are weeping.
O Hṛṣīkeśa, behold his son, whose face is beautiful and who wears lovely earrings, cut down in many ways by Droṇa's arrows in battle.
O Madhusudana, even today, he did not abandon his father, the heroic warrior, who was fighting with enemies in battle, from behind.
In the same way, O mighty-armed one, Lakṣmaṇa, the son of my son and destroyer of enemy heroes, followed his father Duryodhana.
O Mādhava, see Vinda and Anuvinda, the princes of Avanti, fallen like two śāla trees in bloom at winter's end, cast down by the wind.
They lay there, armored with golden armlets, holding arrows, swords, and bows, their eyes like those of a bull, adorned with pure garlands.
O Kṛṣṇa, all the Pāṇḍavas, along with you, are invincible; those who have been spared by Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Karṇa (the son of Vikartana), and Kṛpa.
From Duryodhana, Droṇa's son, the Sindhu king, the great chariot-warrior, Somadatta, Vikarṇa, the hero, and Kṛtavarman—these bulls among men, who by the force of their weapons could even slay the gods.
O Mādhava, see these who have been slain in battle; behold the turn of time. For fate, there is no excessive burden—this is certain for anyone. If these heroic kṣatriyas, the foremost among kṣatriyas, are slain by kṣatriyas...
O Kṛṣṇa, at that very moment my mighty sons were slain, when you, whose wishes were not fulfilled, returned again to Upaplavya.
At that very time, I was told by Vidura, the wise son of Śantanu: "Do not become attached to your own sons."
O Janardana, O dear one, the sight of those two is not false; very soon, my sons have truly been reduced to ashes.
Vaiśampāyana said:
O Bharata, after saying this, Gandhari, worn out by grief and her mind overwhelmed by sorrow, gave up her fortitude and collapsed to the ground.
Then Gāndhārī, her body overcome by anger and her senses distressed by grief for her son, went to Kṛṣṇa (Śauri), blaming him.
Gandhari said:
O Janārdana, why do you, Kṛṣṇa, neglect the Pāṇḍavas and the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who are hostile to each other and perishing?
It is by a powerful person, one with many attendants, standing firm in a vast army, capable in both situations, and whose words are heeded, that success is surely attained.
O Madhusudana, the destruction of the Kurus was overlooked by one who desired it. Therefore, O mighty-armed one, you must now attain the result.
By whatever austerity I have acquired through service to my husband, with that I will curse you, O wielder of the discus and mace, whose nature is difficult to attain.
Because the Kurus and Pāṇḍavas, who are kinsmen, are mutually killing each other and have been neglected by you, Govinda, therefore you will slay your kinsmen.
O Madhusudana, you too, when the thirty-sixth year has come, will be one whose relatives, ministers, and sons are slain, living in the forest.
You will meet your end by a contemptible method.
In the same way, your women, whose sons, relatives, and kinsmen are slain, will fall down, just as these women of the Bharatas.
Vaiśampāyana said:
Hearing those dreadful words, the great-minded Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) spoke to the goddess Gāndhārī, appearing as if he smiled a little.
O auspicious one, none but I can destroy the Vṛṣṇi clan. I am aware, O Kṣatriya lady, that you have done this and are acting accordingly.
The Yādavas cannot be slain by men, others, or even by gods and demons; therefore, they will bring about their own destruction by fighting among themselves.
When Krishna (the descendant of Dasharha) had spoken thus, the Pandavas became deeply agitated, their minds filled with fear, and they lost all hope for their lives.
