Yudhishthira Laments the Fire

Verse 1 (15.40.1)

तथा महात्मनस्तस्य तपस्युग्रे च तस्थुषः । अनाथस्येव निधनं तिष्ठत्स्वस्मासु बन्धुषु ॥

tathā mahātmanastasya tapasyugre ca tasthuṣaḥ | anāthasyeva nidhanaṃ tiṣṭhatsvasmāsu bandhuṣu

That great-souled man, firm in severe austerity, met his end like one with no protector, while we, his kinsmen, were alive.

Note on the text: Recension variant (CE 15.46.1: 'tapasy ugre ca vartataḥ' for 'तपस्युग्रे च तस्थुषः'); kept.

Verse 2 (15.40.2)

दुर्विज्ञेया गतिर्ब्रह्मन्पुरुषाणां मतिर्मम । यत्र वैचित्रवीर्योसौ दग्ध एवं वनाग्निना ॥

durvijñeyā gatirbrahmanpuruṣāṇāṃ matirmama | yatra vaicitravīryosau dagdha evaṃ vanāgninā

The ways of men are hard to fathom, O brahmin, in my judgment, when the son of Vichitravirya has been burned thus by a forest fire.

Note on the text: Recension variant (CE 'durvijñeyā hi gatayaḥ puruṣāṇāṃ matā mama … dagdha evaṃ davāgninā'); kept.

Verse 3 (15.40.3)

यस्य पुत्रशतं श्रीमदभवद्बाहुशालिनः । नागायुतबलो राजा स दग्धो हि दवाग्निना ॥

yasya putraśataṃ śrīmadabhavadbāhuśālinaḥ | nāgāyutabalo rājā sa dagdho hi davāgninā

He who had a hundred splendid sons, that mighty-armed king with the strength of ten thousand elephants, has been burned by a forest fire.

Verse 4 (15.40.4)

यं पुरा पर्यवीजन्त तालवृन्तैर्वरस्त्रियः । तं गृध्राः पर्यवीजन्त दावाग्निपरिकालितम् ॥

yaṃ purā paryavījanta tālavṛntairvarastriyaḥ | taṃ gṛdhrāḥ paryavījanta dāvāgniparikālitam

Him whom beautiful women once fanned with palm-leaf fans, vultures now fanned with their wings, as the forest fire drove him down.

Verse 5 (15.40.5)

सूतमागधसङ्घैश्च शयानो यः प्रबोध्यते । धरण्यां स नृपः शेते विकृष्टो गृध्रवायसैः ॥

sūtamāgadhasaṅghaiśca śayāno yaḥ prabodhyate | dharaṇyāṃ sa nṛpaḥ śete vikṛṣṭo gṛdhravāyasaiḥ

He who was once woken by companies of bards and minstrels now lies on the ground, torn at by vultures and crows.

Note on the text: Recension variant (CE 15.46.5c: 'dharaṇyāṃ sa nṛpaḥ śete pāpasya mama karmabhiḥ'); Wikisource 'विकृष्टो गृध्रवायसैः' kept.

Verse 6 (15.40.6)

न च शोचामि गान्धारीं हतपुत्रां यशस्विनीम् । पतिलोकमनुप्राप्तां तथा भर्तृव्रते स्थिताम् ॥

na ca śocāmi gāndhārīṃ hataputrāṃ yaśasvinīm | patilokamanuprāptāṃ tathā bhartṛvrate sthitām

I do not grieve for Gandhari, the renowned, bereft of her sons, who has reached her husband's world, steadfast as she was in her vow of devotion to her husband.

Verse 7 (15.40.7)

पृथामेव च शोचामि या पुत्रैश्वर्यमृद्धिमत् । उत्सृज्य सुमहद्दीप्तं वनवासमरोचयत् ॥

pṛthāmeva ca śocāmi yā putraiśvaryamṛddhimat | utsṛjya sumahaddīptaṃ vanavāsamarocayat

I grieve for Pritha alone, who gave up the glittering prosperity of her sons' sovereignty, a blazing splendour, and chose to live in the forest.

Note on the text: Corrected उत्सृज्य् → उत्सृज्य (misprint in Wikisource; stray virama; CE 'utsṛjya').

Verse 8 (15.40.8)

धिग्राज्यमिदमस्माकं धिग्बलं धिक्पराक्रमम् । क्षत्रधर्मं च धिग्यस्मान्मृता जीवामहे वयम् ॥

dhigrājyamidamasmākaṃ dhigbalaṃ dhikparākramam | kṣatradharmaṃ ca dhigyasmānmṛtā jīvāmahe vayam

Shame on this kingdom of ours, shame on our strength, shame on our valour, and shame on the warrior's duty, since we live on though dead!

Verse 9 (15.40.9)

सुसूक्ष्मा किल लोकस्य गतिर्द्विजवरोत्तम । यत्समुत्सृज्य राज्यं सा वनवासमरोचयत् ॥

susūkṣmā kila lokasya gatirdvijavarottama | yatsamutsṛjya rājyaṃ sā vanavāsamarocayat

Subtle indeed is the course of the world, best of brahmins, that she should abandon a kingdom and choose to live in the forest.

Note on the text: Recension variant (CE 'kālasya' for 'लोकस्य'); kept.

Verse 10 (15.40.10)

युधिष्ठिरस्य जननी भीमस्य विजयस्य च । अनाथवत्कथं दग्धा इति मुह्यामि चिन्तयन् ॥

yudhiṣṭhirasya jananī bhīmasya vijayasya ca | anāthavatkathaṃ dagdhā iti muhyāmi cintayan

The mother of Yudhishthira, of Bhima and of Vijaya, burned like one with no protector: I am bewildered, thinking of it.

Verse 11 (15.40.11)

वृथा संतर्पितो वह्निः खाण्डवे सव्यसाचिना । उपकारमजानन्स कृतघ्न इति मे मतिः ॥

vṛthā saṃtarpito vahniḥ khāṇḍave savyasācinā | upakāramajānansa kṛtaghna iti me matiḥ

In vain was Fire gratified by Savyasachin at Khandava; not knowing the favour done him, he is ungrateful, so I think.

Verse 12 (15.40.12)

यत्रादहत्स भगवान्मातरं सव्यसाचिनः । कृत्वा यो ब्राह्मणच्छद्म भिक्षार्थी समुपागतः ॥

yatrādahatsa bhagavānmātaraṃ savyasācinaḥ | kṛtvā yo brāhmaṇacchadma bhikṣārthī samupāgataḥ

Where that blessed Lord burned the mother of Savyasachin, he who had come as a beggar in the disguise of a brahmin,

Note on the text: Not matched by the aligner; maps to CE 15.46.12a, c (unmatched CE verse 15.46.12 is a three-line verse; its third line is the first line of Wikisource 13).

Verse 13 (15.40.13)

धिगग्निं धिक् च पार्थस्य विश्रुतां सत्यसन्धताम् । इदं कष्टतरं चान्यद्भगवन्प्रतिभाति मे ॥

dhigagniṃ dhik ca pārthasya viśrutāṃ satyasandhatām | idaṃ kaṣṭataraṃ cānyadbhagavanpratibhāti me

Shame on Fire, and shame on Partha's famed fidelity to his word! And this other thing seems to me even more painful, venerable sir:

Note on the text: Not matched by the aligner; line 1 is CE 15.46.12e, line 2 is CE 15.46.13a (Wikisource divides the CE verses into couplets differently).

Verse 14 (15.40.14)

वृथाऽग्निना समायोगो यदभूत्पृथिवीपतेः । तथा तपस्विनस्तस्य राजर्षेः कौरवस्य ह ॥

vṛthā'gninā samāyogo yadabhūtpṛthivīpateḥ | tathā tapasvinastasya rājarṣeḥ kauravasya ha

that the lord of the earth should have met with a fire in vain, and likewise that royal sage of the Kurus, that ascetic,

Note on the text: Not matched by the aligner; line 1 is CE 15.46.13c, line 2 is CE 15.46.14a.

Verse 15 (15.40.15)

कथमेवंविधो मृत्युः प्रशास्य पृथिवीमिमाम् ॥

kathamevaṃvidho mṛtyuḥ praśāsya pṛthivīmimām

that such a death should come to him after he had ruled this earth!

Note on the text: Not matched by the aligner; a complete single line, which is CE 15.46.14c. The sentence runs on from the previous verse; the page prints this half-verse alone (label 15-40-15a). No text is lost.

Verse 16 (15.40.16)

तिष्ठत्सु मन्त्रपूतेषु तस्याग्निषु महावने । वृथाऽग्निना समायुक्तो निष्ठां प्राप्तः पिता मम ॥

tiṣṭhatsu mantrapūteṣu tasyāgniṣu mahāvane | vṛthā'gninā samāyukto niṣṭhāṃ prāptaḥ pitā mama

While the fires purified by mantras remained in that great forest, my father met his end joined to a fire in vain.

Verse 17 (15.40.17)

मन्ये पृथा वेपमाना कृशा धमनिसंतता । हा तात धर्मराजेति मामाक्रन्दन्महाभये ॥

manye pṛthā vepamānā kṛśā dhamanisaṃtatā | hā tāta dharmarājeti māmākrandanmahābhaye

I imagine Pritha, trembling and emaciated, her veins showing, crying out to me in that great terror, "Ah, my child, Dharmaraja!"

Note on the text: Recension variant (CE 'samākrandan' for 'मामाक्रन्दन्'); kept.

Verse 18 (15.40.18)

भीम पर्याप्नुहि भयादिति चैवाभिवाशती । समन्ततः परिक्षिप्ता माताऽभून्मे दवाग्निना ॥

bhīma paryāpnuhi bhayāditi caivābhivāśatī | samantataḥ parikṣiptā mātā'bhūnme davāgninā

and, crying, "Bhima, save me from this fear!", my mother was surrounded on every side by the forest fire.

Verse 19 (15.40.19)

सहदेवः प्रियस्तस्याः पुत्रेभ्योधिक एव तु । न चैनां मोक्षयामास वीरो माद्रवतीसुतः ॥

sahadevaḥ priyastasyāḥ putrebhyodhika eva tu | na caināṃ mokṣayāmāsa vīro mādravatīsutaḥ

Sahadeva was dearer to her than her own sons, yet the heroic son of Madri did not rescue her.

Verse 20 (15.40.20)

तच्छ्रुत्वा रुरुदुः सर्वे समालिङ्ग्य परस्परम् । पाण्डवाः पञ्च दुःखार्ता भूतानीव युगक्षये ॥

tacchrutvā ruruduḥ sarve samāliṅgya parasparam | pāṇḍavāḥ pañca duḥkhārtā bhūtānīva yugakṣaye

Hearing this, all five Pandavas wept, embracing one another, afflicted with grief, like living beings at the end of the age.

Note on the text: Corrected पाण्डवाःक → पाण्डवाः (misprint in Wikisource; stray क; CE 'pāṇḍavāḥ pañca'). Speaker: Vaishampayana (narration; the input carried the heading of Yudhishthira's speech over onto it).

Verse 21 (15.40.21)

तेषां तु पुरुषेन्द्राणां रुदतां रुदितस्वनः । प्रासादाभोगसंरुद्धे अन्वरौत्सीत्स रोदसी ॥

teṣāṃ tu puruṣendrāṇāṃ rudatāṃ ruditasvanaḥ | prāsādābhogasaṃruddhe anvarautsītsa rodasī

The sound of those lords of men weeping, filling the wide spaces of the palace, resounded through heaven and earth.

Note on the text: Speaker: Vaishampayana (narration; input carried Yudhishthira). Wikisource reads 'संरुद्धे … रोदसी' where CE reads 'saṃruddho anvarautsīt sa rodasī'; kept.