Kunti Answers Yudhishthira

Verse 1 (1.176.1)

करिष्य इति भीमेन प्रतिज्ञातेऽथ भारत । आजग्मुस्ते ततः सर्वे भैक्षमादाय पाण्डवाः ॥

kariṣya iti bhīmena pratijñāte'tha bhārata | ājagmuste tataḥ sarve bhaikṣamādāya pāṇḍavāḥ

When Bhima had given his promise, saying "I will do it," O Bharata, all the Pandavas came back, bringing the alms they had gathered.

Verse 2 (1.176.2)

भीमसेनं ततो दृष्ट्वा आपूर्णवदनं तथा । बुबोध धर्मराजस्तु हृषितं भीममच्युतम् ॥

bhīmasenaṃ tato dṛṣṭvā āpūrṇavadanaṃ tathā | bubodha dharmarājastu hṛṣitaṃ bhīmamacyutam

Then, seeing Bhimasena with his face full and beaming, the King of Dharma understood that the steadfast Bhima was elated.

Note on the text: Removed a stray wiki mark (`) that opens Wikisource's bracketed passage. Not in the critical edition's main text (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.150.1*1635, lines 1–2).

Verse 3 (1.176.3)

तोषस्य कारणं यत्तु मनसाऽचिन्तयद्गुरुः । स समीक्ष्य तदा राजन्योद्धुकामं युधिष्ठिरः ॥

toṣasya kāraṇaṃ yattu manasā'cintayadguruḥ | sa samīkṣya tadā rājanyoddhukāmaṃ yudhiṣṭhiraḥ

The eldest brother pondered in his mind the reason for that delight; and Yudhishthira, watching him closely then, O king, saw that he was eager to fight.

Note on the text: Removed a stray wiki mark (') and a doubled danda that close Wikisource's bracketed passage. Not in the critical edition's main text (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.150.1*1635, lines 3–4, which read śrotukāmo yudhāṃ patiḥ for योद्धुकामं युधिष्ठिरः).

Verse 4 (1.176.4)

आकारेणैव तं ज्ञात्वा पाण्डुपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः । रहः समुपविश्यैकस्ततः पप्रच्छ मातरम् ॥

ākāreṇaiva taṃ jñātvā pāṇḍuputro yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | rahaḥ samupaviśyaikastataḥ papraccha mātaram

Knowing his intent from his bearing alone, Yudhishthira, son of Pandu, sat down alone with his mother in private and questioned her.

Verse 5 (1.176.5)

किं चिकीर्षत्ययं कर्म भीमो भीमपराक्रमः । भवत्यनुमते कच्चित्स्वयं वा कर्तुमिच्छति ॥

kiṃ cikīrṣatyayaṃ karma bhīmo bhīmaparākramaḥ | bhavatyanumate kaccitsvayaṃ vā kartumicchati

"What deed does Bhima of terrible prowess mean to do? Is it with your consent, or does he wish to do it of his own accord?"

Note on the text: Corrected भमपराक्रमः → भीमपराक्रमः (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped vowel sign ी, as in the critical edition). Speaker set to Yudhishthira (input carried over Vaishampayana): Wikisource prints no heading, but the whole verse is the question to his mother introduced in the verse before.

Verse 6 (1.176.6)

ममैव वचनादेष करिष्यति परन्तपः । ब्राह्मणार्थे महत्कृत्यं मोक्षाय नगरस्य च ॥

mamaiva vacanādeṣa kariṣyati parantapaḥ | brāhmaṇārthe mahatkṛtyaṃ mokṣāya nagarasya ca

"It is at my own word that this scorcher of foes will do it: a great deed for the brahmin's sake, and to set the city free.

Verse 7 (1.176.7)

बकाय कल्पितं पुत्र महान्तं बलिमुत्तमम् । भीमो भुनक्तु सुस्पष्टमप्येकाहं तपःसुत ॥

bakāya kalpitaṃ putra mahāntaṃ balimuttamam | bhīmo bhunaktu suspaṣṭamapyekāhaṃ tapaḥsuta

Let Bhima openly eat the great and choice offering prepared for Baka, my son, even if only for a single day, O son of Dharma."

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki marks (` and ') and a doubled danda around Wikisource's bracketed passage. Corrected तपःसुतः → तपःसुत (misprint in Wikisource; the vocative tapaḥsuta, an epithet of Yudhishthira, as in the critical edition's apparatus; the nominative would wrongly make Bhima the 'son of Tapas'). Not in the critical edition's main text (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.150.4*1636).

Verse 8 (1.176.8)

किमिदं साहसं तीक्ष्णं भवत्या दुष्करं कृतम् । परित्यागं हि पुत्रस्य न प्रशंसन्ति साधवः ॥

kimidaṃ sāhasaṃ tīkṣṇaṃ bhavatyā duṣkaraṃ kṛtam | parityāgaṃ hi putrasya na praśaṃsanti sādhavaḥ

"What is this rash and cruel thing you have done, so hard to bring oneself to do? The good do not praise the abandoning of a son.

Verse 9 (1.176.9)

कथं परसुतस्यार्थे स्वसुतं त्यक्तुमिच्छसि । लोकवेदविरुद्धं हि पुत्रत्यागात्कृतं त्वया ॥

kathaṃ parasutasyārthe svasutaṃ tyaktumicchasi | lokavedaviruddhaṃ hi putratyāgātkṛtaṃ tvayā

How can you wish to give up your own son for the sake of another's? In giving up your son you have done what is against both the ways of the world and the Veda.

Verse 10 (1.176.10)

यस्य बाहू समाश्रित्य सुखं सर्वे शयामहे । राज्यं चापहृतं क्षुद्रैराजिहीर्षामहे पुनः ॥

yasya bāhū samāśritya sukhaṃ sarve śayāmahe | rājyaṃ cāpahṛtaṃ kṣudrairājihīrṣāmahe punaḥ

He on whose arms we all rely as we sleep in comfort, through whom we hope to win back the kingdom that petty men have stolen;

Verse 11 (1.176.11)

यस्य दुर्योधनो वीर्यं चिन्तयन्नमितौजसः । न शेते रजनीः सर्वा दुःखाच्छकुनिना सह ॥

yasya duryodhano vīryaṃ cintayannamitaujasaḥ | na śete rajanīḥ sarvā duḥkhācchakuninā saha

he whose might, so boundless in power, Duryodhana broods upon, so that he and Shakuni lie awake whole nights in distress;

Verse 12 (1.176.12)

यस्य वीरस्य वीर्येण मुक्ता जतुगृहाद्वयम् । अन्येभ्यश्चैव पापेभ्यो निहतश्च पुरोचनः ॥

yasya vīrasya vīryeṇa muktā jatugṛhādvayam | anyebhyaścaiva pāpebhyo nihataśca purocanaḥ

he by whose valour we were freed from the house of lac and from other evils, and through whom Purochana was slain;

Verse 13 (1.176.13)

यस्य वीर्यं समाश्रित्य वसुपूर्णां वसुन्धराम् । इमां मन्यामहे प्राप्तां निहत्य धृतराष्ट्रजान् ॥

yasya vīryaṃ samāśritya vasupūrṇāṃ vasundharām | imāṃ manyāmahe prāptāṃ nihatya dhṛtarāṣṭrajān

he on whose valour we rely when we count this earth, full of riches, as already ours once we have slain the sons of Dhritarashtra:

Verse 14 (1.176.14)

तस्य व्यवसितस्त्यागो बुद्धिमास्थाय कां त्वया । कच्चिन्नु दुःखैर्बुद्धिस्ते विलुप्ता गतचेतसः ॥

tasya vyavasitastyāgo buddhimāsthāya kāṃ tvayā | kaccinnu duḥkhairbuddhiste viluptā gatacetasaḥ

on what reasoning have you resolved to give him up? Has your mind been swept away by your sorrows, so that you no longer know what you do?"

Verse 15 (1.176.15)

युधिष्ठिर न संतापस्त्वया कार्यो वृकोदरे । न चायं बुद्धिदौर्बल्याद्व्यवसायः कृतो मया ॥

yudhiṣṭhira na saṃtāpastvayā kāryo vṛkodare | na cāyaṃ buddhidaurbalyādvyavasāyaḥ kṛto mayā

"Yudhishthira, you need not grieve over Vrikodara. I did not reach this resolve out of any weakness of mind.

Verse 16 (1.176.16)

न च शोकेन बुद्धिः सा विलुप्ता गतचेतसः । इह विप्रस्य भवने वयं पुत्र सुखोषिताः । अज्ञाता धार्तराष्ट्राणां सत्कृता वीतमन्यवः ॥

na ca śokena buddhiḥ sā viluptā gatacetasaḥ | iha viprasya bhavane vayaṃ putra sukhoṣitāḥ | ajñātā dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃ satkṛtā vītamanyavaḥ

Nor has grief so clouded my mind that I have lost my senses. Here in the brahmin's house we have lived happily, my son, unknown to the sons of Dhritarashtra, honoured and free of resentment.

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki marks (` and ') around the first line. Corrected गतचेकसः → गतचेतसः (misprint in Wikisource; क for त, the same word as in verse 14). A three-line verse as printed: the first line is not in the critical edition's main text (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.150.12*1639); the second is CE 1.150.13ab; the third is CE apparatus 1.150.13*1640.

Verse 17 (1.176.17)

तस्य प्रतिक्रिया पार्थ मयेयं प्रसमीक्षिता । एतावानेव पुरुषः कृतं यस्मिन्न नश्यति ॥

tasya pratikriyā pārtha mayeyaṃ prasamīkṣitā | etāvāneva puruṣaḥ kṛtaṃ yasminna naśyati

This, son of Pritha, is the return I have weighed for him. He alone is a true man in whom a kindness done is never lost.

Note on the text: Corresponds to CE 1.150.13cd–ef (पार्थ for tāta).

Verse 18 (1.176.18)

यावच्च कुर्यादन्योऽस्य कुर्याद्बहुगुणं ततः । ब्राह्मणार्थे महान्धर्मो जानामीत्थं वृकोदरे ॥

yāvacca kuryādanyo'sya kuryādbahuguṇaṃ tataḥ | brāhmaṇārthe mahāndharmo jānāmītthaṃ vṛkodare

Whatever another may do for him, he should repay many times over. Great merit lies in acting for a brahmin's sake, and I know what Vrikodara can do.

Note on the text: Corrected बहुगुमं → बहुगुणं (misprint in Wikisource; म for ण, as in the critical edition's apparatus). Removed stray wiki marks (` and ') around the second line. Not in the critical edition's main text (found in the vulgate recension; CE apparatus 1.150.13*1642 and *1641).

Verse 19 (1.176.19)

दृष्ट्वा भीमस्य विक्रान्तं तदा जतुगृहे महत् । हिडिम्बस्य वधाच्चैवं विश्वासो मे वृकोदरे ॥

dṛṣṭvā bhīmasya vikrāntaṃ tadā jatugṛhe mahat | hiḍimbasya vadhāccaivaṃ viśvāso me vṛkodare

I saw Bhima's great valour at the house of lac, and again in the slaying of Hidimba; that is why I trust Vrikodara.

Verse 20 (1.176.20)

बाह्वोर्बलं हि भीमस्य नागायुतसमं महत् । येन यूयं गजप्रख्या निर्व्यूढा वारणावतात् ॥

bāhvorbalaṃ hi bhīmasya nāgāyutasamaṃ mahat | yena yūyaṃ gajaprakhyā nirvyūḍhā vāraṇāvatāt

Great is the strength of Bhima's arms, equal to that of ten thousand elephants; it was by him that all of you, mighty as elephants, were carried out of Varanavata.

Verse 21 (1.176.21)

वृकोदरेण सदृशो बलेनान्यो न विद्यते । यो व्यतीयाद्युधि श्रेष्ठमपि वज्रधरं स्वयम् ॥

vṛkodareṇa sadṛśo balenānyo na vidyate | yo vyatīyādyudhi śreṣṭhamapi vajradharaṃ svayam

No one else equals Vrikodara in strength; he could overcome in battle even the foremost of all, the wielder of the thunderbolt himself.

Note on the text: A variant of CE 1.150.16: the first line differs (CE vṛkodarabalo nānyo na bhūto na bhaviṣyati); the second matches, with व्यतीयाद् for abhyudīyād.

Verse 22 (1.176.22)

जातमात्रः पुरा चैव ममाङ्कात्पतितो गिरौ । शरीरगौरवादस्य शिला गात्रैर्विचूर्णिता ॥

jātamātraḥ purā caiva mamāṅkātpatito girau | śarīragauravādasya śilā gātrairvicūrṇitā

Long ago, just after he was born, he fell from my lap onto a mountain, and under the weight of his body the rock was ground to powder by his limbs.

Verse 23 (1.176.23)

तदहं प्रज्ञया ज्ञात्वा बलं भीमस्य पाण्डव । प्रतिकार्ये च विप्रस्य ततः कृतवती मतिम् ॥

tadahaṃ prajñayā jñātvā balaṃ bhīmasya pāṇḍava | pratikārye ca viprasya tataḥ kṛtavatī matim

Knowing Bhima's strength through my understanding, O son of Pandu, I then made up my mind to repay the brahmin.

Note on the text: Corresponds to CE 1.150.18 (ज्ञात्वा for smṛtvā, प्रतिकार्ये for pratīkāraṃ).

Verse 24 (1.176.24)

नेदं लोभान्न चाज्ञानान्न च मोहाद्विनिश्चितम् । बुद्धिपूर्वं तु धर्मस्य व्यवसायः कृतो मया ॥

nedaṃ lobhānna cājñānānna ca mohādviniścitam | buddhipūrvaṃ tu dharmasya vyavasāyaḥ kṛto mayā

This was not decided out of greed, nor ignorance, nor delusion. I made this resolve deliberately, for the sake of dharma.

Verse 25 (1.176.25)

अर्थौ द्वावपि निष्पन्नौ युधिष्ठिर भविष्यतः । प्रतीकारश्च वासस्य धर्मश्च चरितो महान् ॥

arthau dvāvapi niṣpannau yudhiṣṭhira bhaviṣyataḥ | pratīkāraśca vāsasya dharmaśca carito mahān

Yudhishthira, two aims will both be achieved: a return for our lodging, and great merit gained.

Verse 26 (1.176.26)

यो ब्राह्मणस्य साहाय्यं कुर्यादर्थेषु कर्हिचित् । क्षत्रियः स शुभाँल्लोकानाप्नुयादिति मे मतिः ॥

yo brāhmaṇasya sāhāyyaṃ kuryādartheṣu karhicit | kṣatriyaḥ sa śubhām̐llokānāpnuyāditi me matiḥ

A kshatriya who at any time helps a brahmin in his affairs attains the auspicious worlds; that is my belief.

Verse 27 (1.176.27)

क्षत्रियस्यैव कुर्वाणः क्षत्रियो वधमोक्षणम् । विपुलां कीर्तिमाप्नोति लोकेऽस्मिंश्च परत्र च ॥

kṣatriyasyaiva kurvāṇaḥ kṣatriyo vadhamokṣaṇam | vipulāṃ kīrtimāpnoti loke'smiṃśca paratra ca

A kshatriya who saves a kshatriya from death wins wide fame in this world and the next.

Verse 28 (1.176.28)

वैश्यस्यार्थे च साहाय्यं कुर्वाणः क्षत्रियो भुवि । स सर्वेष्वपि लोकेषु प्रजा रञ्जयते ध्रुवम् ॥

vaiśyasyārthe ca sāhāyyaṃ kurvāṇaḥ kṣatriyo bhuvi | sa sarveṣvapi lokeṣu prajā rañjayate dhruvam

A kshatriya on earth who gives help for a vaishya's sake surely wins the affection of the people in all the worlds.

Verse 29 (1.176.29)

शूद्रं तु मोचयेद्राजा शरणार्थिनमागतम् । प्राप्नोतीह कुले जन्म सद्द्रव्ये राजपूजिते ॥

śūdraṃ tu mocayedrājā śaraṇārthinamāgatam | prāpnotīha kule janma saddravye rājapūjite

And a king who rescues a shudra who has come to him for refuge is born here in a family rich in goods and honoured by kings.

Verse 30 (1.176.30)

एवं मां भगवान्व्यासः पुरा पौरवनन्दन । प्रोवाचासुकरप्रज्ञस्तस्मादेवं चिकीर्षितम् ॥

evaṃ māṃ bhagavānvyāsaḥ purā pauravanandana | provācāsukaraprajñastasmādevaṃ cikīrṣitam

So the blessed Vyasa, whose wisdom is hard to equal, told me long ago, O delight of the Pauravas; that is why I chose to act this way."