Section 31

"Sanjaya said,'After those three car-warriors had left that spot, the Pandavas arrived at that lake within which Duryodhana was resting himself. Having reached the banks of the Dvaipayana lake, O chief of Kuru’s race, they beheld that receptacle of waters enchanted by your son. Then Yudhishthira, addressing Vasudeva, said, "Behold, the son of Dhritarashtra has applied his power of illusion to these waters! Having enchanted the waters, he lies within them. He can have now no fear (of injury) from man! Having invoked a celestial illusion, he is now within the waters! By an act of deception, that wight conversant with every deception has sought this refuge! He shall not, however, escape me with life! Even if the wielder of the thunderbolt himself aid him in battle, people, O Madhava, shall yet behold him slain today!'

"'Vasudeva said, "With your own powers of illusion, O Bharata, destroy this illusion of Duryodhana who is an adept in it! One conversant with illusion should be slain with illusion! This is the truth, O Yudhishthira! With acts and means and applying your power of illusion to these waters, slay, O chief of the Bharatas, this Suyodhana, who is the very soul of illusion! With acts and means Indra himself slew the Daityas and the Danavas! Vali himself was bound by that high-souled one (Upendra), with the aid of many acts and means! The great Asura Hiranyaksha, as also that other one, Hiranyakasipu, was slain by the aid of many acts and means. Without doubt, O king, Vritra also was slain by the aid of acts! Similarly was the Rakshasa Ravana of Pulastya’s race, with his relatives and followers, slain by Rama! Relying upon acts and contrivances, do you also display your powers! Those two ancient Daityas, Taraka and Vipracitti of great energy, were in ancient times, O king, slain by the aid of acts and means! Similarly, Vatapi and Ilvala, and Trisiras, O lord, and the Asuras Sunda and Upasunda, were all slain by the aid of means! Indra himself enjoys heaven by the aid of acts and means! Acts are very efficacious, O king, and nothing else so, O Yudhishthira! Daityas and Danavas and Rakshasas and kings had been slain by the aid of acts and means. Do you take therefore, the help of act!"'

"Sanjaya continued,'Thus addressed by Vasudeva, Pandu’s son of rigid vows, smiling the while, addressed, O monarch, your son of great might, who, O Bharata, was then within the waters of that lake, saying, "Why, O Suyodhana, hast you entered these waters, after having caused all the Kshatriyas to perish and after having, O king, caused your own race to be annihilated? Why hast you entered into this lake today, wishing to save your own life? Arise, O king, and fight us, O Suyodhana! Where, O foremost of men, has that pride and that sense of honour which you had now gone, since, O king, you have enchanted these waters and art now lying within them? All men speak of you in assemblies as a hero. All that, however, is entirely untrue, I think, since you are now concealed within these waters! Arise, O king, and fight, for you are a Kshatriya born of a noble race! You are Kauraveya in particular! Remember your birth! How canst you boast of your birth in Kuru’s race when you concealest thyself within the depths of this lake, having fled away from battle in fear? This is not the eternal duty of a Kshatriya, staying away from battle! Flight from battle, O king, is not the practice of those that are honourable, nor does it lead to heaven! How is it that without having attained to the end of this war, inspired though you were with the desire of victory, you stayest now within this lake, after having caused and witnessed the slaughter of your sons and brothers and sires and relatives and friends and maternal uncles and kinsmen? Ever boastful of your courage, you are, however, not a hero! Falsely dost you describe thyself, O Bharata, when you sayst in the hearing of all men that you are a hero, O you of wicked understanding! They that are heroes never fly away at sight of foes! Or, tell us, O hero, about (the nature of) that courage in consequence of which you have fled from battle! Arise, O prince, and fight, casting off your fears! Having caused all your troops and your brothers to be slain, O Suyodhana, you should not, if you are inspired with righteous motives, think now of saving your life! One like you, O Suyodhana, that has adopted Kshatriya duties, should not act in this way! Relying upon Karna, as also upon Shakuni the son of Subala, you had regarded thyself immortal and hadst, from folly, failed to understand your own self! Having perpetrated such grievous sin, fight now, O Bharata! How dost that flight from battle recommend itself to one like you? Surely, you forgettest thyself! Where is that manliness of thine, O sire, and where, O Suyodhana, is that pride cherished by you! Where has that prowess of thine now gone, and where also that swelling and great energy which you had? Where is that accomplishment of thine in weapons? Why dost you lie within this lake now? Arise, O Bharata, and fight, observing the duties of a Kshatriya! Either rule the wide earth after vanquishing us, or sleep, O Bharata, on the bare ground, slain by us! Even this is your highest duty, as laid down by the illustrious Creator himself! Act as it has been laid down truly in the scriptures, and be a king, O great car-warrior!"'

"Sanjaya continued,'Thus addressed, O monarch, by the intelligent son of Dharma, your son answered him from within the waters in these words.

"'Duryodhana said, "It is not at all a matter of surprise, O king, that fear should enter the hearts of living creatures. As regards myself, however, O Bharata, I have not fled from the field of battle actuated by the fear of life! My car was destroyed, my quivers were gone, and my Parshni drivers were killed! I was alone, without a single follower to stand by me in battle! It was for this that I desired a little rest! It was not for the sake of saving my life, it was not from fear, it was not from grief, O king, that I entered these waters! It was only in consequence of fatigue that I did so! Do you, O son of Kunti, rest a while with those that follow you! Rising from this lake I will certainly fight all of you in battle!"

"'Yudhishthira said, 'All of us have rested sufficiently. For a long while we were engaged in a search after you! Rise then, even now, O Suyodhana, and give us battle! Either slaying the Parthas in battle make this kingdom that swells with prosperity your own, or slain by us in battle, proceed to those regions that are reserved for heroes!"

"'Duryodhana said, "They amongst the Kurus, O son of Kurus' race, for whose sake I desired sovereignty, that is, those brothers of mine, O king, all lie dead on the field! I do not, again, like to enjoy any longer the earth that is now shorn of wealth and reft of superior Kshatriyas, and that has, therefore, become like a widowed lady! I, however, still hope to vanquish you, O Yudhishthira, after curbing the pride, O bull of Bharata’s race, of the Pancalas and the Pandus! There is, however, no longer any need for battle when Drona and Karna have been quieted and when our grandsire Bhishma has been slain! This shorn earth, O king, now exists for you! What king is there that would like to rule a kingdom divested of friends and allies? Having caused friends such as I had to be slain and even sons and brothers and sires, and seeing my kingdom wrested by you, who is there like myself that would like to live? Clad in deer-skins I would retire into the woods! I have no desire for kingdom, deprived as I am of friends and allies, O Bharata! Reft almost entirely of friends and allies, of heroes and elephants, this earth exists for you, O king! Do you enjoy her now cheerfully! As for myself, clad in deerskins, I shall go to the woods! Friendless as I am, I have no desire, O lord, for even life! Go, O monarch, and rule the earth destitute of lords, without warriors, reft of wealth, and without citadels, as you choosest!"'

"Sanjaya continued,'Hearing these words of poignant grief the illustrious Yudhishthira addressed your son Duryodhana who was still within those waters, saying, "Do not utter such ravings of sorrow, O sire, from within the waters! I do not, like Shakuni, feel any compassion for you, O king, for such words as these! You mayest now, O Suyodhana, be willing to make a gift of the earth to me. I, however, do not wish to rule the earth thus given by you! I cannot sinfully accept this earth from you! Acceptance of a gift, O king, is not the duty laid down for a Kshatriya! I do not, therefore, wish to have the wide earth thus given away by you! I shall, on the other hand, enjoy the earth after vanquishing you in battle! You are now the lord of the earth! Why then dost you desire to make a gift of that over which you have no dominion? Why, O king, didst you not then give us the earth when we, observant of the rules of righteousness and desirous of the welfare of our race, had begged you for our portion? Having first refused the request of the mighty Krishna, why dost you now desire to give away the earth? What is this folly of thine? What king is there, who, assailed by foes, would wish to give away his kingdom? O son of Kuru’s race, today you are not competent to give away the earth! Why then dost you wish to make a gift of that over which you have no power? Vanquishing me in battle, rule you this earth! You didst not formerly agree to give me even that much of the earth which would be covered by the point of a needle! How then, O monarch, dost you make me a gift of the whole earth? How is it that you, who couldst not formerly abandon even that much of land which the point of a needle would cover, now wishest to abandon the whole earth? What fool is there that would, after having obtained such prosperity and ruled the entire earth, think of making a gift of that earth to his enemies? Stupefied by folly, you seest not the impropriety of this! Although you desirest to give away the earth, you shalt not yet escape me with life! Either rule the earth after having vanquished us, or go to regions of blessedness after being slain by us! If both of us, that is, thyself and myself, be alive, then all creatures will remain in doubt about to whom the victory belongs. Your life, O you of limited foresight, now depends upon me! If I like, I can suffer you to live, but you are not capable of protecting your own life! You had at one time especially endeavoured to burn us to death and to take our lives by means of snakes and other kinds of poison and by drowning us! We were also wronged by you, O king, by the deprivation of our kingdom, by the cruel words spoken by you, and by your maltreatment of Draupadi! For these reasons, O wretch, your life must be taken! Rise, rise, and fight us! That will benefit you!"'

"Sanjaya continued,'In this strain, O king, those heroes, the Pandavas, flushed with victory, repeatedly spoke there (rebuking and mocking Duryodhana).'"