15.006
Yudhishthira said.
O king, when you are thus afflicted with sorrow, the kingdom does not please me. Fie upon me—let me, so very evil-minded, attached to the kingdom, and negligent, be condemned. (15-6-1)
O king, I did not find you, who are afflicted by suffering, emaciated by fasting, subsisting on little food, lying upon the ground, together with your brothers. (15-6-2)
Oh, I have been deceived, made a fool by you with hidden intelligence. Previously you made me trust you, so that now you experience this suffering. (15-6-3)
What use to me is kingship, enjoyments, or even sacrifices and happiness, O ruler of the earth, when you—who are everything to me—have attained these sufferings? (15-6-4)
O lord of men, I know both the kingdom and myself have been afflicted, and by these words to you, who are sorrowful. (15-6-5)
You are the father, you are the mother, you are our supreme teacher. Deprived of you, indeed, where indeed can we exist? (15-6-6)
O best of kings, your own legitimate son who desires to fight—let him, and whomever else you, O great king, consider, be king. (15-6-7)
I shall go to the forest; you should govern this kingdom. You ought not to burn me further with disgrace when I am already consumed by dishonor. (15-6-8)
I am not king; you are king; by you, I am dependent. How can I, here, permit you—my guru and knower of dharma? (15-6-9)
O sinless one, none of us harbors any anger in our hearts because of Duryodhana; it is fate indeed—thus, both we and you have been deluded. (15-6-10)
We are indeed your sons, just as Duryodhana and the others are; in my view, Gāndhārī and Kuntī, too, stand without distinction. (15-6-11)
If you, O king, abandon me and go, then I will follow you from behind; I bind myself to this vow with truth. (15-6-12)
This earth, though indeed filled with riches and girdled by the ocean, if bereft of the brāhmaṇa by you, would not be pleasing to me. (15-6-13)
O King, all this belongs to you; with my head (bowed), I entreat you. We are indeed subject to you—may the affliction of your mind pass away. (15-6-14)
I think what was destined has come to pass, and you, O lord of those people, have arrived. By good fortune, as I serve you, I shall free my mind of its distress. (15-6-15)
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said.
My mind, dear father, dwells on austerity, O joy of the Kurus. Indeed, it is proper for our lineage that we go to the forest, O lord. (15-6-16)
O son, I have lived a long time and have long been cared for by you. You should now permit me, who am old, O lord of the people. (15-6-17)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Having thus spoken to Dharmarāja, trembling and with joined palms, the king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, son of Ambikā, spoke as follows. (15-6-18)
I wish, with your help, to bring Sañjaya the minister and Kṛpa the great charioteer here, to pacify the king, the lord of the earth. (15-6-19)
My mind indeed withers, and this mouth also becomes parched, truly due to advanced age and great exertion of speech. (15-6-20)
Thus, having spoken these words, the righteous-souled, aged king, the chief of the Kurus, he, wise, suddenly approached Gandhari as if his life had departed. (15-6-21)
But having seen the Kuru king seated there motionless in that way, Kaunteya, the destroyer of enemy heroes, swiftly became distressed. (15-6-22)
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
He whose army, indeed, comprises a thousand elephants and ten thousand (soldiers), this king, having resorted to a woman, now lies as if lifeless. (15-6-23)
He who formerly crushed the iron statue of Bhīmasena, indeed by might, now seeking strength, has taken refuge in a woman. (15-6-24)
Shame be upon me, a knower of unrighteousness; shame upon my intellect and upon my learning, for whose sake this protector of the earth now lies thus, not as is fitting. (15-6-25)
I too will fast just as this elder of mine does, if the king does not eat, as will this Gandhari, the glorious woman. (15-6-26)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Then the king, the son of Pāṇḍu, who knew dharma, gently wiped his chest and face with cold water with his hand. (15-6-27)
By the touch of the meritorious and fragrant hand endowed with gem-medicines, the king indeed regained consciousness. (15-6-28)
