The Journey to Kurukshetra; Yudhishthira Asks About Rama

Verse 1 (12.47.1)

ततः स च हृषीकेशः स च राजा युधिष्ठिरः । कृपादयश्च ते सर्वे चत्वारः पाण्डवाश्च ते ॥

tataḥ sa ca hṛṣīkeśaḥ sa ca rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | kṛpādayaśca te sarve catvāraḥ pāṇḍavāśca te

Then Hrishikesha and King Yudhishthira, together with Kripa and the others, all of them, and those four Pandavas as well,

Verse 2 (12.47.2)

रथैस्तैर्नगरप्रख्यैः पताकाध्वजशोभितैः । ययुराशु कुरुक्षेत्रं वाजिभिः शीघ्रगामिभिः ॥

rathaistairnagaraprakhyaiḥ patākādhvajaśobhitaiḥ | yayurāśu kurukṣetraṃ vājibhiḥ śīghragāmibhiḥ

rode swiftly to Kurukshetra in chariots that were like cities, bright with banners and standards, drawn by fast horses.

Verse 3 (12.47.3)

तेऽवतीर्य कुरुक्षेत्रे केशमज्जास्थिसंकुले । देहन्यासः कृतो यत्र क्षत्रियैस्तैर्महारथैः ॥

te'vatīrya kurukṣetre keśamajjāsthisaṃkule | dehanyāsaḥ kṛto yatra kṣatriyaistairmahārathaiḥ

They got down at Kurukshetra, which was thick with hair, marrow and bones, where those great chariot-warriors of the warrior class had laid down their bodies.

Note on the text: Corrected केशमढज्जास्थिसंकुले → केशमज्जास्थिसंकुले (misprint in Wikisource; a stray ढ् inserted; CE keśamajjāsthisaṃkulam). Corrected कृंतो → कृतो (misprint in Wikisource; stray anusvara; CE kṛto).

Verse 4 (12.47.4)

गजाश्वदेहास्थिचयैः पर्वतैरिव संचितम् । नरशीर्षकपालैश्च हंसैरिव च सर्वशः ॥

gajāśvadehāsthicayaiḥ parvatairiva saṃcitam | naraśīrṣakapālaiśca haṃsairiva ca sarvaśaḥ

It was heaped with the bones of elephants and horses like mountains, and everywhere strewn with men's skulls like flocks of swans.

Verse 5 (12.47.5)

चितासहस्रैर्निचितं वर्मशस्त्रसमाकुलम् । आपानभूमिं कालस्य तदा भुक्तोज्झितामिव ॥

citāsahasrairnicitaṃ varmaśastrasamākulam | āpānabhūmiṃ kālasya tadā bhuktojjhitāmiva

Crowded with thousands of funeral pyres and littered with armor and weapons, it looked like Time's drinking-ground, left behind when the feast was over.

Verse 6 (12.47.6)

भूतसङ्घानुचरितं रक्षोगणनिषेवितम् । पश्यन्तस्ते कुरुक्षेत्रं ययुराशु महारथाः ॥

bhūtasaṅghānucaritaṃ rakṣogaṇaniṣevitam | paśyantaste kurukṣetraṃ yayurāśu mahārathāḥ

Haunted by bands of spirits and thronged by hosts of rakshasas, that Kurukshetra the great warriors quickly passed over, gazing at it.

Verse 7 (12.47.7)

गच्छन्नेव महाबाहुः सर्वं यादवनन्दनः । युधिष्ठिराय प्रोवाच जामदग्न्यस्य विक्रमम् ॥

gacchanneva mahābāhuḥ sarvaṃ yādavanandanaḥ | yudhiṣṭhirāya provāca jāmadagnyasya vikramam

As he went, the mighty-armed joy of the Yadavas told Yudhishthira the whole story of the prowess of Jamadagni's son.

Verse 8 (12.47.8)

अमी रामह्रदाः पञ्च दृश्यन्ते पार्थ दूरतः । येषु संतर्पयामास पितॄन्क्षत्रियशोणितैः ॥

amī rāmahradāḥ pañca dṛśyante pārtha dūrataḥ | yeṣu saṃtarpayāmāsa pitṝnkṣatriyaśoṇitaiḥ

Those five lakes of Rama can be seen from far off, O Partha. In them he gratified his forefathers with the blood of the kshatriyas.

Note on the text: Speaker: Vasudeva (no heading printed; the input had Vaishampayana).

Verse 9 (12.47.9)

त्रिःसप्तकृत्वो वसुधां कृत्वा निःक्षत्रियां प्रभुः । इहेदानीं ततो रामः कर्मणो विरराम ह ॥

triḥsaptakṛtvo vasudhāṃ kṛtvā niḥkṣatriyāṃ prabhuḥ | ihedānīṃ tato rāmaḥ karmaṇo virarāma ha

Having made the earth free of kshatriyas three times seven times, the lord Rama then, here, at last ceased from that work.

Note on the text: Speaker: Vasudeva (no heading printed; the input had Vaishampayana).

Verse 10 (12.47.10)

त्रिःसप्तकृत्वः पृथिवी कृता निःक्षत्रिया पुरा । रामेणेति यदात्थ त्वमत्र मे संशयो महान् ॥

triḥsaptakṛtvaḥ pṛthivī kṛtā niḥkṣatriyā purā | rāmeṇeti yadāttha tvamatra me saṃśayo mahān

You say that Rama made the earth free of kshatriyas three times seven times in ancient days. About this I have a great doubt.

Verse 11 (12.47.11)

क्षत्रबीजं यथा दग्धं रामेण यदुपुङ्गव । कथं भूयः समुत्पत्तिः क्षत्रस्यामितविक्रम ॥

kṣatrabījaṃ yathā dagdhaṃ rāmeṇa yadupuṅgava | kathaṃ bhūyaḥ samutpattiḥ kṣatrasyāmitavikrama

O best of the Yadus, if the seed of the warrior class was burned away by Rama, how did the kshatriyas arise again, O you of boundless valor?

Note on the text: Corrected समुत्यत्तिः → समुत्पत्तिः (misprint in Wikisource; broken conjunct; CE samutpattiḥ).

Verse 12 (12.47.12)

महात्मना भगवता रामेण यदुपुङ्गव । कथमुत्सादितं क्षत्रं कथमृद्धिगतं पुनः ॥

mahātmanā bhagavatā rāmeṇa yadupuṅgava | kathamutsāditaṃ kṣatraṃ kathamṛddhigataṃ punaḥ

How did the great-souled, blessed Rama destroy the warrior class, O best of the Yadus, and how did it rise to prosperity again?

Note on the text: Corrected कथमुत्सादित्तं → कथमुत्सादितं (misprint in Wikisource; doubled त; CE katham utsāditaṃ).

Verse 13 (12.47.13)

महता रथयुद्धेन कोटिशः क्षत्रिया हताः । तथाऽभूच्च मही कीर्णा क्षत्रियैर्वदतां वर ॥

mahatā rathayuddhena koṭiśaḥ kṣatriyā hatāḥ | tathā'bhūcca mahī kīrṇā kṣatriyairvadatāṃ vara

In a great chariot-war the kshatriyas were slain by the crore, and the earth was strewn with kshatriyas, O best of speakers.

Verse 14 (12.47.14)

किमर्थं भार्गवेणेदं क्षत्रमुत्सादितं पुरा । रामेण यदुशार्दूल कुरुक्षेत्रे महात्मना ॥

kimarthaṃ bhārgaveṇedaṃ kṣatramutsāditaṃ purā | rāmeṇa yaduśārdūla kurukṣetre mahātmanā

Why did Bhargava Rama, the great-souled, destroy the warrior class in former times at Kurukshetra, O tiger of the Yadus?

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition records it as the star passage 12.48.13d*0100 (lines 01–02), printed after CE 12.48.13.

Verse 15 (12.47.15)

एतन्मे छिन्धि वार्ष्णेय संशयं तार्क्ष्यकेतन । आगमो हि परः कृष्ण त्वत्तो नो वासवानुज ॥

etanme chindhi vārṣṇeya saṃśayaṃ tārkṣyaketana | āgamo hi paraḥ kṛṣṇa tvatto no vāsavānuja

Resolve this doubt for me, O Varshneya, you whose banner bears Garuda. For you, Krishna, younger brother of Vasava, are our highest authority.

Verse 16 (12.47.16)

ततो व्रजन्नेव गदाग्रजः प्रभुः । शशंस तस्मै निखिलेन तत्त्वतः । युधिष्ठिरायाप्रतिमौजसे तदा । यथाऽभवत्क्षत्रियसंकुला मही ॥

tato vrajanneva gadāgrajaḥ prabhuḥ | śaśaṃsa tasmai nikhilena tattvataḥ | yudhiṣṭhirāyāpratimaujase tadā | yathā'bhavatkṣatriyasaṃkulā mahī

Then, still driving on, the lord, elder brother of Gada, told Yudhishthira of matchless might the whole account, exactly as it was, of how the earth had come to teem with kshatriyas.

Note on the text: Four lines, as on the page (labelled 12-47-16a–d); the CE prints it as 12.48.15 in two long lines (15a, 15c).