Conclusion of chapter nine

Samjaya then said, “In this way said Atmaram, the Supreme person with dark coloured complexion, the very Kalpataru of his devotees.

The old man Dhritarashtra heard all this and was unmoved like a buffalo not budging even amidst floods. Samjaya nodded and said to himself,

“Inspite of the down-pour of words sweet as nectar, he (Dhritarashatra) although present on the spot, is miles away from here, having gone out to a neighbouring place. But as he is our Master, it would not be proper to befoul my tongue with such a blunt talk. That is his nature. (Yet) it is my great luck that the King of the sages—Vyasa—has given me protection in the guise of recounting the tale of the battle-field.”

Just as Samjaya said this, making his mind firm with great effort, he was overwhelmed with the emotion of piety that he was beside himself. His mind was swimming, he became tongue-tied, while there came a tremor, the hair standing on end. Tears of joy trickled down from his half-closed eyes, while his body began to shake, as waves of extremely pious emotion surged in his heart. Small globules of pure sweat began to glisten on the pores all over his body as if they were pearl-nettings worn on the body.

Losing himself in that rapture, he was prevented from going ahead with the story of the battle-field, with which he was charged by Vyasa. But Samjaya freed himself from the emotion and returned to his senses on hearing Lord Krishna’s torrential flow of talk and made himself ready to do his task. Wiping off his tears and perspiration all over his body, he requested Dhritarashtra to hear further. There is the choicest seeding of Lord Krishna’s talk: on the other hand there is the (tilled) soil in the form of Samjaya’s pious mind, ready to be sown with the seed. With such a combination there would be, undoubtedly a rich harvest of eternal truth to the hearers. Oh you (hearers) were you to listen with attention to the story, you would be sitting on the summit of great joy. Extremely good luck has dawned today for the ears. Therefore, Jnanadev, the disciple of Nivritti, requests (the hearers) to hear about that abode—‘Divine Manifestations’—that the Lord of the Perfect will preach to Arjuna.