Section XVIII

"Vasudeva continued,

'O king, afflicted with the arrows of Salva, when Pradyumna became senseless the Vrishnis who had come to the fight were all disheartened and filled with grief! And the combatants of the Vrishni and Andhaka races burst into exclamations of Oh! and Alas! while great joy was felt by the enemy and beholding him thus deprived of sense, his trained charioteer, the son of Daruka, soon carried him off the field by the help of his steeds.

The car had not gone far when that best of warriors regained his senses, and taking up his bow addressed his charioteer, saying,

'O son of the Suta tribe, what hast you done? Why dost you go leaving the field of battle? This is not the custom of the Vrishni heroes in battle! O son of a Suta, hast you been bewildered at the sight of a Salva in that fierce encounter? Or hast you been disheartened, beholding the fight? O! tell me truly your mind!'

The charioteer answered.

'O son of Janardana, I have not been confounded, nor has fear taken possession of me. On the other hand, O son of Kesava, the task, I ween, of vanquishing Salva is difficult for you! Therefore, O hero, I am slowly retiring from the field. This wretch is stronger than you are! It behoves a charioteer to protect the warrior on the car, however, when he is deprived of his senses!

O you gifted with length of days, you should always be protected by me, even as it behoves you to protect me! Thinking that the warrior on the car should always be protected (by his charioteer), I am carrying you away!

Further, O you of mighty arms, you are alone, while the Danavas are many. Thinking, O son of Rukmini, that you are not equal to them in the encounter, I am going away!'

"Vasudeva continued,

'When the charioteer had spoken thus, he, O Kauravya, who has the makara for his mark replied unto him, saying,

'Turn the car! O son of Daruka, never do so again; never, O Suta, turn you from the fight, while I am alive! He is no son of the Vrishni race who forsakes the field or slays the foe fallen at his feet and crying I am thine! or kills a woman, a boy, or an old man, or a warrior in distress, deprived of his car or with his weapons broken! You are born in the race of charioteers and trained to your craft!

And, O son of Daruka, you are acquainted with the customs of the Vrishnis in battle! Versed as you are with all the customs of the Vrishnis in battle, do you, O Suta, never again fly from the field as you have done! What will the irrepressible Madhava, the elder brother of Gada, say to me when he hears that I have left the field of battle in bewilderment or that I have been struck on the back—a run-away from the combat!

What will the elder brother of Kesava, the mighty-armed Baladeva, clad in blue and inebriate with wine, say, when he returns? What also, O Suta, will that lion among men, the grand-son of Sini (Satyaki), that great warrior, say on hearing that I have forsaken the fight?

And, O charioteer, what will the ever-victorious Shamva, the irrepressible Carudeshna. and Gada, and Sarana, and Akrura also of mighty arms, say unto me! What also will the wives of the Vrishni heroes when they meet together, say of me who had hitherto been considered as brave and well-conducted, respectable and possessed of manly pride?

They will even say This Pradyumna is a coward who comes here, leaving the battle! Fie on him! They will never say, Well done! Ridicule, with exclamation of Fie, is to me or a person like me O Suta, more than death! Therefore, do you never again leave the field of battle! Reposing the charge on me, Hari the slayer of Madhu, has gone to the sacrifice of the Bharata lion (Yudhishthira)!

Therefore, I cannot bear to be quiet now! O Suta, when the brave Kritavarman was sallying out to encounter Salva, I prevented him, saying I will resist Salva. Do you stay! For honouring me the son of Hridika desisted! Having left the field of battle, what shall I say unto that mighty warrior when I meet him?

When that irrepressible one of mighty arms—the holder of the conch, the discus, and the mace—returns, what shall I say unto him of eyes like lotus leaves? Satyaki, and Valadeva, and others of the Vrishni and Andhaka races always boast of me! What shall I say unto them? O Suta, having left the field of battle and with wounds of arrows on my back while being carried away by you, I shall, by no means, be able to live!

Therefore, O son of Daruka, turn that car speedily, and never do so again even in times of greatest danger! I do not, O Suta, think life worth much, having fled from the field like a coward, and my back pierced, with the arrows (of the enemy)! Hast you ever seen me.

O son of Suta, fly in fear from the field of battle like coward? O son of Daruka, it behoved you not to forsake the battle, while my desire of fight was not yet gratified! Do you, therefore, go back to the field.'"