Bhima Urges War Without Waiting

Verse 1 (3.35.1)

सन्धिं कृत्वैव कालेन ह्यन्तकेन पतत्रिणा । अनन्तेनाप्रमेयेण स्रोतसा सर्वहारिणा ॥

sandhiṃ kṛtvaiva kālena hyantakena patatriṇā | anantenāprameyeṇa srotasā sarvahāriṇā

You behave as though you had made a pact with Time — Time the Ender, swift as a winged arrow, without end and beyond all measure, a current that carries everything away.

Verse 2 (3.35.2)

प्रत्यक्षं मन्यसे कालं मर्त्यः सन्कालबन्धनः । फेनधर्मा महाराज फलधर्मा तथैव च ॥

pratyakṣaṃ manyase kālaṃ martyaḥ sankālabandhanaḥ | phenadharmā mahārāja phaladharmā tathaiva ca

Though you are a mortal, bound fast by Time, you think you can see Time plainly before you, great king. Yet man is like foam, and like a ripe fruit that must fall.

Verse 3 (3.35.3)

निमेषादपि कौन्तेय यस्यायुरपचीयते । सूच्येवाञ्जनचूर्णानि किमिति प्रतिपालयेत् ॥

nimeṣādapi kaunteya yasyāyurapacīyate | sūcyevāñjanacūrṇāni kimiti pratipālayet

When a man’s life wastes away with every blink of the eye, son of Kunti, as collyrium is used up grain by grain on the point of a needle, why should he sit and wait?

Verse 4 (3.35.4)

यो नूनममितायुः स्यादथवाऽऽयुःप्रमाणवित् । स कालं वै प्रतीक्षेत सर्वप्रत्यक्षदर्शिवान् ॥

yo nūnamamitāyuḥ syādathavā''yuḥpramāṇavit | sa kālaṃ vai pratīkṣeta sarvapratyakṣadarśivān

Only a man whose life was truly without limit, or who knew the exact measure of his days and saw all things plainly, could afford to wait upon Time.

Verse 5 (3.35.5)

प्रतीक्ष्यमाणः कालो नः समा राजंस्त्रयोदश । आयुषोऽपचयं कृत्वा मरणायोपनेष्यति ॥

pratīkṣyamāṇaḥ kālo naḥ samā rājaṃstrayodaśa | āyuṣo'pacayaṃ kṛtvā maraṇāyopaneṣyati

The time we are waiting out, O king, these thirteen years, will only wear down our lives and bring us nearer to death.

Note on the text: Corrected आयुषोपचयं → आयुषोऽपचयं (misprint in Wikisource; the missing avagraha turns अपचय "decrease" into उपचय "increase", reversing the sense; the critical edition reads āyuṣo 'pacayaṃ).

Verse 6 (3.35.6)

शरीरिणां हि मरणं शरीरे नित्यमाश्रितम् । प्रागेव मरणात्तस्माद्राज्यायैव घटामहे ॥

śarīriṇāṃ hi maraṇaṃ śarīre nityamāśritam | prāgeva maraṇāttasmādrājyāyaiva ghaṭāmahe

Death dwells for ever in the bodies of all embodied beings. So let us strive for the kingdom now, before death comes.

Verse 7 (3.35.7)

यो न याति प्रसंख्यानमस्पष्टो भूमिवर्धनः । अयातयित्वा वैराणि सोऽवसीदति गौरिव ॥

yo na yāti prasaṃkhyānamaspaṣṭo bhūmivardhanaḥ | ayātayitvā vairāṇi so'vasīdati gauriva

The man who wins no renown, who stays unknown and is merely a burden on the earth, and who never avenges his wrongs, sinks down like a feeble ox in the mire.

Verse 8 (3.35.8)

यो न यातयते वैरमल्पसत्त्वोद्यमः पुमान् । अफलं जन्म तस्याहं मन्ये दुर्जातजीविनः ॥

yo na yātayate vairamalpasattvodyamaḥ pumān | aphalaṃ janma tasyāhaṃ manye durjātajīvinaḥ

A man of little courage and effort who does not repay enmity — I count his birth as fruitless; he lives the life of one ill-born.

Note on the text: Corrected अल्पसत्वोद्यमः → अल्पसत्त्वोद्यमः (misprint in Wikisource; the word is सत्त्व, with a dropped त्, as in the critical edition's alpasattvodyamaḥ). दुर्जातजीविनः is a recension variant of the critical edition's durjātajāyinaḥ and is kept.

Verse 9 (3.35.9)

हैरण्यौ भवतो बाहू श्रुतिर्भवति पार्थिवी । हत्वा द्विषन्तं संग्रामे भुङ्क्ष्व बाहुजितं वसु ॥

hairaṇyau bhavato bāhū śrutirbhavati pārthivī | hatvā dviṣantaṃ saṃgrāme bhuṅkṣva bāhujitaṃ vasu

Your arms are lords of gold, and your fame is like that of King Prithu. Slay your enemy in battle and enjoy the wealth won by your own arms.

Verse 10 (3.35.10)

हत्वा वै पुरुषो राजन्निकर्तारमरिंदम । अह्नाय नरकं गच्छेत्स्वर्गेणास्य स संमितः ॥

hatvā vai puruṣo rājannikartāramariṃdama | ahnāya narakaṃ gacchetsvargeṇāsya sa saṃmitaḥ

Truly, O king, tamer of foes, if a man who has slain the one who cheated him were to go straight to hell, that hell would be the same to him as heaven.

Note on the text: Corrected अरिंदम् → अरिंदम (misprint in Wikisource; the vocative अरिंदम takes no halanta, as in the critical edition's ariṃdama).

Verse 11 (3.35.11)

अमर्षजो हि संतापः पावकाद्दीप्तिमत्तरः । येनाहमभिसंतप्तो न नक्तं न दिवा शये ॥

amarṣajo hi saṃtāpaḥ pāvakāddīptimattaraḥ | yenāhamabhisaṃtapto na naktaṃ na divā śaye

The burning born of resentment is fiercer than fire. Scorched by it, I find no sleep by night or by day.

Verse 12 (3.35.12)

अयं च पार्थो बीभत्सुर्वरिष्ठो ज्याविकर्षणे । आस्ते परमसंतप्तो नूनं सिंह इवाशये ॥

ayaṃ ca pārtho bībhatsurvariṣṭho jyāvikarṣaṇe | āste paramasaṃtapto nūnaṃ siṃha ivāśaye

And this Partha, Bibhatsu, the foremost of all in drawing the bowstring, sits here in deep torment, like a lion in its den.

Verse 13 (3.35.13)

योऽयमेको नुदेत्सर्वांल्लोके राजन्धनुर्भृतः । सोऽयमात्मजमूष्माणं महाहस्तीव यच्छति ॥

yo'yameko nudetsarvāṃlloke rājandhanurbhṛtaḥ | so'yamātmajamūṣmāṇaṃ mahāhastīva yacchati

He who alone could drive back every bowman in the world, O king, holds down the fire rising within him, like a great elephant.

Note on the text: Corrected सोयम् → सोऽयम् (missing avagraha) and ग्रहाहस्तीव → महाहस्तीव (misprint in Wikisource; ग्रहाहस्ती is no word; the critical edition reads so 'yam … mahāhastīva). नुदेत् … राजन् is a recension variant of the critical edition's 'bhimanute and is kept.

Verse 14 (3.35.14)

नकुलः सहदेवश्च वृद्धा माता च वीरसूः । तवैव प्रियमिच्छन्त आसते जडमूकवत् ॥

nakulaḥ sahadevaśca vṛddhā mātā ca vīrasūḥ | tavaiva priyamicchanta āsate jaḍamūkavat

Nakula and Sahadeva, and our aged mother, the mother of heroes, sit as though dull and dumb, wishing only to please you.

Verse 15 (3.35.15)

सर्वे ते प्रियमिच्छन्ति बान्धवाः सह सृञ्जयैः । अहमेकश्च संतप्तो माता च प्रतिबिन्ध्यतः ॥

sarve te priyamicchanti bāndhavāḥ saha sṛñjayaiḥ | ahamekaśca saṃtapto mātā ca pratibindhyataḥ

All your kinsmen, together with the Srinjayas, wish only what pleases you. I alone am in torment, and the mother of Prativindhya.

Note on the text: Corrected तेऽप्रियम् → ते प्रियम् (misprint in Wikisource; the stray avagraha turns "what pleases you" into "what displeases you", against the sense of the preceding verse; the critical edition reads sarve te priyam icchanti). अहमेकश्च संतप्तो is a recension variant of the critical edition's aham eko 'bhisaṃtapto and is kept.

Verse 16 (3.35.16)

प्रियमेव तु सर्वेषां यद्ब्रवीम्युत किंचन । सर्वे हि व्यसनं प्राप्ताः सर्वे युद्धाभिनन्दिनः ॥

priyameva tu sarveṣāṃ yadbravīmyuta kiṃcana | sarve hi vyasanaṃ prāptāḥ sarve yuddhābhinandinaḥ

Yet whatever I say, however little, pleases them all; for all of them have been brought to misery, and all would welcome war.

Verse 17 (3.35.17)

नातः पापीयसी काचिदापद्राजन्भविष्यति । यन्नो नीचैरल्पबलै राज्यमाच्छिद्य भुज्यते ॥

nātaḥ pāpīyasī kācidāpadrājanbhaviṣyati | yanno nīcairalpabalai rājyamācchidya bhujyate

No calamity worse than this can befall us, O king: that our kingdom has been snatched away and is enjoyed by base men of little strength.

Verse 18 (3.35.18)

शीलदोषाद्घृणाविष्ट आनृशंस्यात्परंतप । क्लेशांस्तितिक्षसे राजन्नान्यः कश्चित्प्रशंसति ॥

śīladoṣādghṛṇāviṣṭa ānṛśaṃsyātparaṃtapa | kleśāṃstitikṣase rājannānyaḥ kaścitpraśaṃsati

Through a flaw in your nature, scorcher of foes, you are overcome by pity out of sheer gentleness and bear these hardships, O king. No one else approves of it.

Note on the text: Corrected शीलदोषाद्धृणाविष्ट → शीलदोषाद्घृणाविष्ट (misprint in Wikisource; the word is घृणा "pity", not धृणा, as in the critical edition's śīladoṣād ghṛṇāviṣṭa).

Verse 19 (3.35.19)

श्रोत्रियस्येव ते राजन्मन्दकस्याविपश्चितः । अनुवाकहता बुद्धिर्नैषा तत्त्वार्थदर्शिनी ॥

śrotriyasyeva te rājanmandakasyāvipaścitaḥ | anuvākahatā buddhirnaiṣā tattvārthadarśinī

Your mind, O king, is like that of a dull Vedic reciter without discernment: it has been deadened by rote repetition and does not see the true meaning of things.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension); it appears in the critical edition's apparatus as 3.36.18d*133.

Verse 20 (3.35.20)

घृणी ब्राह्मणरूपोऽसि कथं क्षत्रेष्वजायथाः । अस्यां हि योनौ जायन्ते प्रायशः क्रूरबुद्धयः ॥

ghṛṇī brāhmaṇarūpo'si kathaṃ kṣatreṣvajāyathāḥ | asyāṃ hi yonau jāyante prāyaśaḥ krūrabuddhayaḥ

You are full of pity, a brahmin in all but name. How did you come to be born among Kshatriyas? Those born of this stock are mostly hard of mind.

Note on the text: Corrected ब्राह्मणरूपोसि → ब्राह्मणरूपोऽसि (misprint in Wikisource; missing avagraha; the critical edition reads brāhmaṇarūpo 'si). क्षत्रेष्वजायथाः is a recension variant of the critical edition's kṣatre ajāyathāḥ and is kept.

Verse 21 (3.35.21)

अश्रौषीस्त्वं राजधर्मान्यथा वै मनुरब्रवीत् । क्रूरान्निकृतिसंपन्नान्विहितानशमात्मकान् ॥

aśrauṣīstvaṃ rājadharmānyathā vai manurabravīt | krūrānnikṛtisaṃpannānvihitānaśamātmakān

You have heard the duties of kings as Manu laid them down. The sons of Dhritarashtra are cruel, steeped in deceit and never at peace,

Verse 22 (3.35.22)

धार्तराष्ट्रान्महाराज क्षमसे किं दुरात्मनः । कर्तव्ये पुरुषव्याघ्र किमास्से पीठसर्पवत् ॥

dhārtarāṣṭrānmahārāja kṣamase kiṃ durātmanaḥ | kartavye puruṣavyāghra kimāsse pīṭhasarpavat

so why, great king, do you forgive these wicked men? When there is work to be done, tiger among men, why do you sit idle like a python?

Note on the text: The first line is not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension; it appears in the apparatus as 3.36.20d*134); the second line is the critical edition's 3.36.21ab.

Verse 23 (3.35.23)

बुद्ध्या वीर्येण संयुक्तः श्रुतेनाभिजनेन च । तृणानां मुष्टिनैकेन हिमवन्तं च पर्वतम् । छन्नमिच्छसि कौन्तेय योऽस्मान्संवर्तुमिच्छसि ॥

buddhyā vīryeṇa saṃyuktaḥ śrutenābhijanena ca | tṛṇānāṃ muṣṭinaikena himavantaṃ ca parvatam | channamicchasi kaunteya yo'smānsaṃvartumicchasi

Endowed as you are with intelligence, valour, learning and noble birth, son of Kunti, you wish to keep us hidden — which is like wishing to cover the Himalaya mountain with a single fistful of grass.

Note on the text: Three-line verse: the first line is the critical edition's 3.36.21cd and the other two are 3.36.22 (where the critical edition reads himavantaṃ tu).

Verse 24 (3.35.24)

अज्ञातचर्या गूढेन पृथिव्यां विश्रुतेन च । दिवीव पार्थ सूर्येण न शक्याऽऽचरितुं त्वया ॥

ajñātacaryā gūḍhena pṛthivyāṃ viśrutena ca | divīva pārtha sūryeṇa na śakyā''carituṃ tvayā

You are famous across the earth, Partha; you can no more live in hiding than the sun can hide in the sky.

Note on the text: Restored a missing word space (अज्ञातचर्यागूढेन → अज्ञातचर्या गूढेन; अज्ञातचर्या is the subject of शक्या, as in the critical edition's ajñātacaryā gūḍhena).

Verse 25 (3.35.25)

बृहत्साल इवानूपे शाखापुष्पपलाशवान् । हस्ती श्वेत इवाज्ञातः कथं जिष्णुश्चरिष्यति ॥

bṛhatsāla ivānūpe śākhāpuṣpapalāśavān | hastī śveta ivājñātaḥ kathaṃ jiṣṇuścariṣyati

Like a great sal tree in marshy ground, full of branches, flowers and leaves, or like a white elephant — how will Jishnu go about unrecognized?

Note on the text: Corrected शाखापुष्पपलावान् → शाखापुष्पपलाशवान् (dropped akshara श) and चरिष्ति → चरिष्यति (dropped य) (misprints in Wikisource; the critical edition reads śākhāpuṣpapalāśavān … cariṣyati). बृहत्साल is a spelling variant of the critical edition's bṛhacchāla and is kept.

Verse 26 (3.35.26)

इमौ च सिंहसंकाशौ भ्रातरौ सहितौ शिशू । नकुलः सहदेवश्च कथं पार्थ चरिष्यतः ॥

imau ca siṃhasaṃkāśau bhrātarau sahitau śiśū | nakulaḥ sahadevaśca kathaṃ pārtha cariṣyataḥ

And these two lion-like brothers, young and always together, Nakula and Sahadeva — how will they go about unknown, Partha?

Verse 27 (3.35.27)

पुण्यकीर्ती राजपुत्री द्रौपदी वीरसूरियम् । विश्रुता कथमज्ञाता कृष्णा पार्थ चरिष्यति ॥

puṇyakīrtī rājaputrī draupadī vīrasūriyam | viśrutā kathamajñātā kṛṣṇā pārtha cariṣyati

This princess Draupadi, of holy fame, the mother of heroes, known to all — how will Krishna go about unrecognized, Partha?

Verse 28 (3.35.28)

मां चापि राजञ्जानन्ति ह्याकुमारमिमाः प्रजाः । अज्ञातचर्यां पश्यन्ति मेरोरिव निगूहनम् ॥

māṃ cāpi rājañjānanti hyākumāramimāḥ prajāḥ | ajñātacaryāṃ paśyanti meroriva nigūhanam

And these people know me, O king, down to the youngest child. To them a life in hiding for me looks like trying to hide Mount Meru.

Verse 29 (3.35.29)

तथैव बहवोऽस्माभी राष्ट्रेभ्यो विप्रवासिताः । राजानो राजपुत्राश्च धार्तराष्ट्रमनुव्रताः ॥

tathaiva bahavo'smābhī rāṣṭrebhyo vipravāsitāḥ | rājāno rājaputrāśca dhārtarāṣṭramanuvratāḥ

In the same way, many kings and princes whom we drove from their realms have now become followers of Dhritarashtra’s son.

Note on the text: Corrected बहव्रोऽस्माभी → बहवोऽस्माभी (misprint in Wikisource; a stray र्; the critical edition reads bahavo 'smābhī). धार्तराष्ट्रमनुव्रताः is a recension variant of the critical edition's dhṛtarāṣṭram anuvratāḥ and is kept.

Verse 30 (3.35.30)

न हि तेऽप्युपशाम्यन्ति निकृता वा निराकृताः । अवश्यं तैर्निकर्तव्यमस्माकं तत्प्रियैषिभिः ॥

na hi te'pyupaśāmyanti nikṛtā vā nirākṛtāḥ | avaśyaṃ tairnikartavyamasmākaṃ tatpriyaiṣibhiḥ

Wronged or humiliated, they will never be appeased; to please him, they will surely work against us.

Verse 31 (3.35.31)

तेऽप्यस्मासु प्रयुञ्जीरन्प्रच्छन्नान्सुबहूंश्चरान् । आचक्षीरंश्च नो ज्ञात्वा ततः स्यात्सुमहद्भयम् ॥

te'pyasmāsu prayuñjīranpracchannānsubahūṃścarān | ācakṣīraṃśca no jñātvā tataḥ syātsumahadbhayam

They too would set many spies on us in secret, and once they found us out they would report it; then great danger would follow.

Verse 32 (3.35.32)

अस्माभिरुषिताः सम्यग्वने मासास्त्रयोदश । परिमाणेन तान्पश्य तावतः परिवत्सरान् ॥

asmābhiruṣitāḥ samyagvane māsāstrayodaśa | parimāṇena tānpaśya tāvataḥ parivatsarān

We have lived in the forest a full thirteen months. Count them, by measure, as so many years.

Note on the text: Corrected परिमाणएन → परिमाणेन (misprint in Wikisource; a stray independent vowel ए in place of the vowel sign, as in the critical edition's parimāṇena).

Verse 33 (3.35.33)

अस्ति मासः प्रतिनिधिर्यथा प्राहुर्मनीषिणः । पूतिकानिव सोमस्य तथेदं क्रियतामिति ॥

asti māsaḥ pratinidhiryathā prāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ | pūtikāniva somasya tathedaṃ kriyatāmiti

There is such a thing as a month standing in for a year, as the wise declare, just as the putika plant stands in for soma. Let that be done here.

Verse 34 (3.35.34)

अथवाऽनडुहे राजन्साधवे साधुवाहिने । सौहित्यदानादेतस्मादेनसः प्रतिमुच्यते ॥

athavā'naḍuhe rājansādhave sādhuvāhine | sauhityadānādetasmādenasaḥ pratimucyate

Or else, O king, by giving a good, strong draught ox its fill to eat, one is freed from this sin.

Note on the text: Corrected साधने → साधवे (misprint in Wikisource; the adjective must be dative to agree with अनडुहे and साधुवाहिने; the critical edition reads sādhave). सौहित्यदानादेतस्मात् is a recension variant of the critical edition's sauhityadānād ekasmād and is kept.

Verse 35 (3.35.35)

तस्माच्छत्रुवधे राजन्क्रियतां निश्चयस्त्वया । क्षत्रियस्य हि सर्वस्य नान्यो धर्मोऽस्ति संयुगात् ॥

tasmācchatruvadhe rājankriyatāṃ niścayastvayā | kṣatriyasya hi sarvasya nānyo dharmo'sti saṃyugāt

Therefore, O king, make up your mind to slay the enemy; for every Kshatriya there is no duty other than battle.

Note on the text: Corrected धर्मोस्ति → धर्मोऽस्ति (misprint in Wikisource; missing avagraha; the critical edition reads dharmo 'sti).