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The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

o >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3






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 thy son.
Then Yudhishthira, addressing Vasudeva, said, "Behold, the son of
Dhritarashtra hath applied his power of illusion to these waters! Having
enchanted the waters, he lieth 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 hath 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 thy 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 thy 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 thou also display thy powers! Those two ancient Daityas,
Taraka and Viprachitti of great energy, were in ancient times, O king,
slain by the aid of acts and means! Similarly, Vatapi and Ilwala, 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 thou take therefore, the help of act!"'

"Sanjaya continued, 'Thus addressed by Vasudeva, Pandu's son of rigid
vows, smiling the while, addressed, O monarch, thy son of great might,
who, O Bharata, was then within the waters of that lake, saying, "Why, O
Suyodhana, hast thou entered these waters, after having caused all the
Kshatriyas to perish and after having, O king, caused thy own race to be
annihilated? Why hast thou entered into this lake today, wishing to save
thy own life? Arise, O king, and fight us, O Suyodhana! Where, O foremost
of men, hath that pride and that sense of honour which thou hadst now
gone, since, O king, thou hast enchanted these waters and art now lying
within them? All men speak of thee in assemblies as a hero. All that,
however, is entirely untrue, I think, since thou art now concealed within
these waters! Arise, O king, and fight, for thou art a Kshatriya born of
a noble race! Thou art Kauraveya in particular! Remember thy birth! How
canst thou boast of thy birth in Kuru's race when thou 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 thou wert with the
desire of victory, thou stayest now within this lake, after having caused
and witnessed the slaughter of thy sons and brothers and sires and
relatives and friends and maternal uncles and kinsmen? Ever boastful of
thy courage, thou art, however, not a hero! Falsely dost thou describe
thyself, O Bharata, when thou sayst in the hearing of all men that thou
art a hero, O thou 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 thou hast fled from battle! Arise, O
prince, and fight, casting off thy fears! Having caused all thy troops
and thy brothers to be slain, O Suyodhana, thou shouldst not, if thou art
inspired with righteous motives, think now of saving thy life! One like
thee, O Suyodhana, that has adopted Kshatriya duties, should not act in
this way! Relying upon Karna, as also upon Shakuni the son of Subala,
thou hadst regarded thyself immortal and hadst, from folly, failed to
understand thy own self! Having perpetrated such grievous sin, fight now,
O Bharata! How dost that flight from battle recommend itself to one like
thee? Surely, thou forgettest thyself! Where is that manliness of thine,
O sire, and where, O Suyodhana, is that pride cherished by thee! Where
hath that prowess of thine now gone, and where also that swelling and
great energy which thou hadst? Where is that accomplishment of thine in
weapons? Why dost thou 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 thy 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, thy 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 thou, O son of Kunti, rest a
while with those that follow thee! 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 thee! Rise then, even now, O
Suyodhana, and give us battle! Either slaying the Parthas in battle make
this kingdom that swelleth with prosperity thy 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 hath, therefore, become like a widowed lady! I,
however, still hope to vanquish thee, 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 hath been slain! This shorn earth,
O king, now exists for thee! 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 thee, O king! Do thou 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 thou choosest!"'

"Sanjaya continued, 'Hearing these words of poignant grief the
illustrious Yudhishthira addressed thy 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 thee, O king, for such words as these! Thou 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 thee! I cannot sinfully accept this earth
from thee! 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 thee! I shall, on the other hand, enjoy the earth after
vanquishing thee in battle! Thou art now the lord of the earth! Why then
dost thou desire to make a gift of that over which thou hast no dominion?
Why, O king, didst thou not then give us the earth when we, observant of
the rules of righteousness and desirous of the welfare of our race, had
begged thee for our portion? Having first refused the request of the
mighty Krishna, why dost thou 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 thou art not
competent to give away the earth! Why then dost thou wish to make a gift
of that over which thou hast no power? Vanquishing me in battle, rule
thou this earth! Thou 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 thou make me a gift of the whole earth? How is it that
thou, 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, thou seest not the impropriety of this!
Although thou desirest to give away the earth, thou 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. Thy life, O thou of limited foresight,
now depends upon me! If I like, I can suffer thee to live, but thou art
not capable of protecting thy own life! Thou hadst 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
thee, O king, by the deprivation of our kingdom, by the cruel words
spoken by thee, and by thy maltreatment of Draupadi! For these reasons, O
wretch, thy life must be taken! Rise, rise, and fight us! That will
benefit thee!"'

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



32

(Gada-yuddha Parva)

"Dhritarashtra said, 'Thus admonished (by his foes), how, indeed, did
that scorcher of enemies, my heroic and royal son, who was wrathful by
nature, then behave? He had never before listened to admonitions such as
these! He had, again, been treated by all with the respect due to a king!
He, who had formerly grieved to stand in the shade of an umbrella,
thinking he had taken another's shelter, he, who could not endure the
very effulgence of the sun in consequence of his sensitive pride, how
could he endure these words of his foes? Thou hast, with thy own eyes, O
Sanjaya, seen the whole earth, with even her Mlecchas and nomad tribes,
depend upon his grace! Rebuked thus at that spot by the sons of Pandu in
particular, while lying concealed in such a solitary place after having
been deprived of his followers and attendants, alas, what answer did he
make unto the Pandavas upon hearing such bitter and repeated taunts from
his victorious enemies? Tell me everything, O Sanjaya, about it!'

"Sanjaya continued, 'Thus rebuked, O monarch, by Yudhishthira and his
brothers, thy royal son, lying within those waters, O king of kings,
heard those bitter words and became very miserable. Breathing hot and
long sighs repeatedly, the king waved his arms again and again, and
setting his heart on battle, thus answered, from within the waters, the
royal son of Pandu.

"'Duryodhana said, "Ye Parthas, all of you are possessed of friends, of
cars, and of animals! I, however, am alone, cheerless, without a car, and
without an animal! Being alone and destitute of weapons, how can I
venture to fight on foot, against numerous foes all well-armed and
possessed of cars? Do you, however, O Yudhishthira, fight me one at a
time! It is not proper that one should in battle fight many endued with
courage, especially when that one is without armour, fatigued, afflicted
with calamity, exceedingly mangled in his limbs, and destitute of both
animals and troops! I do not entertain the least fear, O monarch, of
either thee, or Vrikodara, the son of Pritha, or Phalguna, or Vasudeva,
or all the Pancalas, or the twins, or Yuyudhana, or all the other troops
thou hast! Standing in battle, alone as I am, I shall resist all of you!
The fame, O king, of all righteous men hath righteousness for its basis!
I say all this to you, observant of both righteousness and fame! Rising
(from this lake), I shall fight all of you in battle! Like the year that
gradually meets all the seasons, I shall meet all of you in fight! Wait,
ye Pandavas! Like the sun destroying by his energy the light of all stars
at dawn, I shall today, though weaponless and carless, destroy all of you
possessed of cars and steeds! Today I shall free myself from the debt I
owe to the many illustrious Kshatriyas (that have fallen for me), to
Bahlika and Drona and Bhishma and the high-souled Karna, to the heroic
Jayadratha and Bhagadatta, to Shalya the ruler of the Madras and
Bhurishrava, to my sons, O chief of Bharata's race, and Shakuni the son
of Subala, to all my friends and well-wishers and kinsmen! Today I shall
free myself from that debt by slaying thee with thy brothers!" With these
words, the (Kuru) king ceased speaking.

"'Yudhishthira said, "By good luck, O Suyodhana, thou knowest the duties
of a Kshatriya! By good luck, O thou of mighty arms, thy heart inclineth
to battle! By good luck, thou art a hero, O thou of Kuru's race, and, by
good luck, thou art conversant with battle, since, single-handed, thou
wishest to meet all of us in battle! Fight any one of us, taking whatever
weapon thou likest! All of us will stand as spectators here! I grant thee
also, O hero, this (other) wish of thy heart, that if thou slayest any of
us, thou shalt then become king! Otherwise, slain by us, go to heaven!"

"'Duryodhana said, "A brave man as thou art, if thou grantest me the
option of fighting only one of you, this mace that I hold in my hand is
the weapon that I select! Let any one amongst you who thinks that he will
be my match come forward and fight with me on foot, armed with mace! Many
wonderful single combats have occurred on cars! Let this one great and
wonderful combat with the mace happen today! Men (while fighting) desire
to change weapons. Let the manner of the fight be changed today, with thy
permission! O thou of mighty arms, I shall, with my mace, vanquish thee
today with all thy younger brothers, as also all the Pancalas and the
Srinjayas and all the other troops thou still hast! I do not cherish the
least fear, O Yudhishthira, of even Shakra himself!'

"'Yudhishthira said, "Rise, rise, O son of Gandhari, and fight me,
Suyodhana! Alone as thou art, fight us, encountering one at a time, thou
of great might, armed with thy mace! Be a man, O son of Gandhari, and
fight with good care! Today thou shalt have to lay down thy life even if
Indra becomes thy ally!"

"Sanjaya continued, 'That tiger among men, thy son, could not bear these
words of Yudhishthira. He breathed long and heavy sighs from within the
water like a mighty snake from within its hole. Struck repeatedly with
such wordy goads, he could not endure it at all, like a horse of high
breed that cannot endure the whip. Agitating the waters with great force,
that valiant warrior rose like a prince of elephants from within the
lake, breathing heavily in rage, and armed with his heavy mace that was
endued with the strength of adamant and decked with gold. Piercing the
solidified waters, thy son rose, shouldering his mace of iron, like the
sun himself scorching everything with his rays. Endued with great
strength, thy son, possessed of great intelligence, began to handle his
heavy mace made of iron and equipped with a sling. Beholding him armed
with mace and resembling a crested mountain or the trident-wielding Rudra
himself casting angry glances on living creatures, they observed that
Bharata chief shedding an effulgence around like the scorching sun
himself in the sky. Indeed, all creatures then regarded that mighty-armed
chastiser of foes, as he stood shouldering his mace after rising from the
waters, looking like the Destroyer himself armed with his bludgeon.
Indeed, all the Pancalas then saw thy royal son to look like the
thunder-wielding Shakra or the trident-bearing Hara. Seeing him, however,
rise from within the waters, all the Pancalas and the Pandavas began to
rejoice and seize each other's hands. Thy son Duryodhana regarded that
action of the spectators to be an insult directed towards him. Rolling
his eyes in wrath, and as if burning the Pandavas with his glances, and
contracting his brow into three furrows, and repeatedly biting his nether
lip, he addressed the Pandavas with Keshava in their midst, saying, "You
Pandavas, you shall have to bear the fruit of these taunts! Slain by me
today, you shall, with the Pancalas, have to repair to the abode of
Yama!"'

"Sanjaya continued, 'Rising from the water, thy son Duryodhana stood
there, armed with mace, and with limbs bathed in blood. Covered with
blood and drenched with water, his body then looked like a mountain
shedding water from within. As he stood armed with mace, the Pandavas
regarded him to be the angry son of Surya himself armed with the bludgeon
called Kinkara. With voice deep as that of the clouds or of a bull
roaring in joy, Duryodhana then, of great prowess, armed with his mace,
summoned the Parthas to battle.'

"'Duryodhana said, "You will have, O Yudhishthira, to encounter me one at
a time! It is not proper, that one hero should fight with many at the
same time, especially when that single warrior is divested of armour,
fatigued with exertion, covered with water, exceedingly mangled in limbs,
and without cars, animals and troops! Let the gods in heaven behold me
fight single-handed destitute of all equipment and deprived of even
armour and weapons! I shall certainly fight all of you! Thou shalt be
judge, as thou hast the necessary qualifications, of the propriety and
impropriety of everything!"

"'Yudhishthira said, "How is it, O Duryodhana, that thou hadst not this
knowledge when many great car-warriors, uniting together, slew Abhimanyu
in battle? Kshatriya duties are exceedingly cruel, unmindful of all
considerations, and without the least compassion! Otherwise, how could
you slay Abhimanyu under those circumstances? All of you were acquainted
with righteousness! All of you were heroes! All of you were prepared to
lay down your lives in battle! The high end declared for those that fight
righteously is the attainment of the regions of Shakra! If this be your
duty, that one should never be slain by many, why is it then that
Abhimanyu was slain by many, acting in accord with thy counsels? All
creatures, when in difficulty forget considerations of virtue. They then
view the gates of the other world to be closed. Put on armour, O hero,
and bind thy locks! Take everything else, O Bharata, of which thou
standest in need! This another wish of thine, O hero, I grant thee in
addition, that if thou canst slay him amongst the five Pandavas with whom
thou wishest an encounter, thou shalt then be king! Otherwise, slain (by
him), thou shalt proceed to heaven! Except thy life, O hero, tell us what
boon we may grant thee."

"Sanjaya continued, 'Then thy son, O king, cased his body with armour
made of gold, and put on a beautiful head-gear adorned with pure gold.
Clad in bright armour of gold, he put on that head-gear. Indeed, O king,
thy son then looked resplendent like a golden cliff. Clad in mail, armed
with mace, and accoutred with other equipments, thy son Duryodhana then,
O king, standing on the field of battle, addressed all the Pandavas,
saying, 'Amongst you (five) brothers, let any one fight me, armed with
mace! As regards myself, I am willing to fight either Sahadeva, or Bhima,
or Nakula, or Phalguna, or thee today, O bull of Bharata's race! Accorded
an encounter, I will fight any one amongst you and will certainly gain
the victory on the field! Today I will reach the end of these hostilities
that is difficult to reach, with the aid, O tiger among men, of my mace
wrapped with cloth of gold. I think, there is none to be my match in an
encounter with the mace! With my mace I shall slay all of you one after
another! Amongst all of you there is no one who is competent to fight
fairly with me! It is not proper for me to speak such words of pride with
respect to my own self! I shall, however, make these words of mine true
in your presence! Within this very hour, these words will become either
true or false! Let him amongst you take up the mace that will fight with
me!'"



33

"Sanjaya said, 'Whilst Duryodhana, O king, was repeatedly roaring in this
strain, Vasudeva, filled with wrath, said these words unto Yudhishthira,
"What rash words hast thou spoken, O king, to the effect, 'Slaying one
amongst us be thou king among the Kurus.' If, indeed, O Yudhishthira,
Duryodhana select thee for battle, or Arjuna, or Nakula, or Sahadeva
(what will be the consequence)? From desire of slaying Bhimasena, O king,
for these thirteen years hath Duryodhana practised with the mace upon a
statue of iron! How then, O bull of Bharata's race, will our purpose be
achieved? From compassion, O best of kings, thou hast acted with great
rashness! I do not at this moment behold a match (for Duryodhana) except
Pritha's son Vrikodara! His practice, again, with the mace, is not so
great! Thou hast, therefore, once more allowed a wretched game of chance
to commence as that one in former days between thyself and Shakuni, O
monarch! Bhima is possessed of might and prowess. King Suyodhana,
however, is possessed of skill! In a contest between might and skill, he
that is possessed of skill, O king, always prevails! Such a foe, O king,
thou hast, by thy words, placed in a position of ease and comfort! Thou
hast placed thine own self, however, in a position of difficulty. We
have, in consequence of this, been placed in great danger! Who is there
that would abandon sovereignty within grasp, after having vanquished all
his foes and when he hath only one foe to dispose of and that one plunged
in difficulties? I do not see that man in the world today, be he a god,
who is competent to vanquish the mace-armed Duryodhana in battle! Neither
thou nor Bhima, nor Nakula nor Sahadeva, nor Phalguna, is capable of
vanquishing Duryodhana in fair fight! King Duryodhana is possessed of
great skill! How then, O Bharata, canst thou say unto such a foe words
such as these, 'Fight, selecting the mace as thy weapon, and if thou
canst slay one amongst us, thou shalt then be king?' If Duryodhana
encounters Vrikodara amongst us wishing to fight fairly with him, even
then our victory would be doubtful. Duryodhana is possessed of great
might and great skill. How couldst thou say unto him, 'Slaying only one
amongst us be thou king'? Without a doubt, the offspring of Pandu and
Kunti are not destined to enjoy sovereignty! They were born for passing
their lives in continued exile in the woods or in mendicancy!"

"'Bhimasena said, "O slayer of Madhu, do not, O delighter of the Yadus,
give way to sorrow! However, difficult to reach it, I shall today reach
the end of these hostilities! Without doubt, I shall slay Suyodhana in
battle! It appears, O Krishna, that the victory of Yudhishthira the just
is certain! This mace of mine is heavier than Duryodhana's by one and a
half times! Do not, O Madhava, give way to grief! I dare fight him,
selecting the mace as the weapon! Let all of you, O Janardana, stand as
spectators of the encounter! What do you say of Suyodhana, I would fight
with the three worlds including the very gods, even if they be armed with
every kind of weapon!"'

"Sanjaya continued, 'After Vrikodara had said these words, Vasudeva,
filled with joy, applauded him highly and said unto him, "Relying on
thee, O thou of mighty arms, king Yudhishthira the just will, without
doubt, get back his own blazing prosperity after the slaughter of all his
foes! Thou hast slain all the sons of Dhritarashtra in battle! At thy
hands many kings and princes and elephants have met with their fate! The
Kalingas, the Magadhas, the Kauravas the Westerners, the Gandharas have
all been slain in dreadful battle, O son of Pandu! Slaying Duryodhana
then, O son of Kunti, bestow the earth with her oceans upon Yudhishthira
the just, like Vishnu (conferring the sovereignty of three worlds) upon
the Lord of Sachi! The wretched son of Dhritarashtra, obtaining thee for
a foe in battle, will, without doubt, meet with his fate! Thou wilt
certainly accomplish thy vow by breaking his bones! Thou shouldst,
however, O son of Pritha, always fight with care with the son of
Dhritarashtra! He is possessed of both skill and strength and always
takes delight in battle!" Then Satyaki, O king, applauded the son of
Pandu. The Pancalas and the Pandavas, also, headed by king Yudhishthira
the just, all applauded those words of Bhimasena. Then Bhima of terrible
might addressed Yudhishthira, who was staying amid the Srinjayas like the
blazing sun himself, saying, "Encountering this one in battle, I venture
to fight with him! This wretch among men is not competent to vanquish me
in fight! Today I shall vomit that wrath which hath been nursed in my
bosom upon Suyodhana, the son of Dhritarashtra, like Arjuna throwing fire
on the forest of Khandava! I shall today pluck out the dart, O son of
Pandu, that lay so long sticking to thy heart! Be happy, O king, after I
shall have laid low this wretch with my mace! Today I shall recover, O
sinless one, thy wreath of glory! Today Suyodhana shall abandon his life
breath, his prosperity, and his kingdom! Today king Dhritarashtra also,
hearing of his son's slaughter, will remember all those wrongs (that he
did unto us) arising from the suggestions of Shakuni!" Having said these
words that prince of Bharata's race, possessed of great energy, stood up
for battle, like Shakra summoning Vritra (to an encounter). Unable to
endure that summons, thy son, of great energy, proceeded to the
encounter, like one infuriated elephant proceeding to assail another. The
Pandavas beheld thy son, as he came armed with mace, look like the
crested mountain of Kailasa. Indeed, seeing that mighty son of thine
standing alone like a prince of elephants separated from the herd, the
Pandavas became filled with delight. Standing in battle like a very lion,
Duryodhana had no fear, no alarm, no pain, no anxiety. Beholding him
stand there with uplifted mace like the crested mountain of Kailasa,
Bhimasena, O monarch, addressed him, saying, "Call to thy mind all those
wrongs that king Dhritarashtra and thyself have done unto us! Recollect
what happened at Varanavata! Recollect how Draupadi, while in her season,
was maltreated in the midst of the assembly and how king Yudhishthira was
defeated at dice through Shakuni's suggestion! See now, O thou of wicked
soul, the terrible consequence of those acts as also of the other wrongs
that thou didst unto the innocent Parthas! It is for thee that that
illustrious chief of the Bharatas, the son of Ganga, the grandsire of us
all, lieth now on a bed of arrows, struck down (by us)! Drona also hath
been slain! Karna hath been slain! Shalya of great valour hath been
slain! Yonder Shakuni also, the root of these hostilities, hath been
slain in battle! Thy heroic brothers, as also thy sons, with all thy
troops, have been slain! Other kings also, possessed of heroism, and
never retreating from battle, have been slain. These and many other bulls
among Kshatriyas, as also the Pratikamin, that wretch who had seized the
tresses of Draupadi, have been slain! Thou alone art still alive, thou
exterminator of thy race, thou wretch among men! Thee also I shall today
slay with my mace! Of this there is no doubt! Today, O king, I shall, in
battle, quell all thy pride! I shall destroy also thy hope of
sovereignty, O king, and pay off all thy misdeeds unto the sons of Pandu!"

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Various - "Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 103, August 27, 1892"

T. P. O'Connor - "Sketches In The House (1893)"

Robert Ballantyne - "The Lighthouse"

William Carleton - "Willy Reilly"

Poster poems: Ballads
Articles published by guardian.co.uk Books

Fidel and Che: a revolutionary friendship

After last week's fairly open theme, I thought I'd go with something a bit more structured this time. As I type this, I'm listening to Steeleye Span and thinking about the great ballad traditions of Britain and Ireland. What is a ballad? I suppose the most inclusive definition would be that it's a singable narrative poem: that covers a multitude but will do for the moment.

Ballads in English stretch back to the middle ages, with fine examples to be found among the Scottish border ballads and the English Robin Hood poems. These early ballads are among the best-known poems and stories in the language, and form part of the common heritage of English speakers everywhere. They gave rise to a tradition of ballad-making that endures down to the present day.

In fact, most poets since have tried their hand at the ballad at one time or another, and the result has been to deny any definition more specific than the one I ventured in my first paragraph. If you look around the internet, you'll come up with a wide selection of poems that are called ballads but have little in common formally. Stanza length varies from two to 10 or more lines, and all sorts of metrical and rhyming patterns are used. A good number will be singable in only the loosest possible sense, and at times the narrative tends to get lost in a mesh of more-or-less successful verbal embroidery.

So, what should a ballad be? Well, "proper" ballad stanzas are quatrains in which the first and third lines have four stresses and the second and third have three. The lines will rhyme A-B-C-B or A-B-A-B. It's as simple, and as difficult, as that. Here's an example, from Robert Burns's extremely singable Comin Thro' the Rye:

Gin a body meet a body
          Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body –
          Need a body cry.

Burns wrote a good number of ballads, and his lead was followed by many 19th-century poets. Two examples that I particularly like are Robert Browning's Confessions and Christina Rossetti's Up-Hill, but you can find ballads by just about any Romantic or Victorian poet if you look for them.

There is a long, strong tradition of ballads and ballad singers in Ireland, too. It is hardly surprising, then, that the great appropriator of tradition, WB Yeats, tried his hand at the form. At least four of his poems have the word "ballad" in the title; the pick of the bunch, for my money, is The Ballad of Father Gilligan, which may have benefited from having been written with a specific tune in mind.

Ballads continued to be written in the 20th century; perhaps the most unexpected exponents were Ezra Pound, with his Ballad of the Goodly Fere, and WH Auden. In fact, the ballad The Quarry is probably my favourite Auden poem.

And so, this week I invite a chorus of balladeering. You may choose to go the whole hog and write in ballad stanzas or you might prefer to take a more liberal view of the formal requirements. Either way, sing up and – as they say at all the best Irish sessions when calling for a bit of hush for the singer – one voice please.

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