HISTORY OF

INDIA. PART II.

Duryodhana proposes that

Bhishma should be Generalissimo.

on conditions.

Duryodhana then held a great Council on the plain of Kurukshetra of all the Rajas that had come to aid him, and all the Chieftains that were in his army; and standing up in the midst, he proposed that Bhishma should be made Generalissimo of all the allied armies on the side of the Kauravas, as one who had not his match in all the world. Bhishma agrees, Upon this Bhishma said:" My relationship to the Pándavas is precisely the same as my relationship to the Kauravas ; nevertheless, as I now find myself amongst your forces, I will engage not to relax my exertions in your behalf: With Arjuna I do not desire to fight, but I will engage readily with all others who may come out against me: Inasmuch, however, as Karna pretends to be on an equality with me, I most assuredly will not fight unless he abstains from the battle."

Karna absents himself so long as Bhishma is alive.

Bhishma so

ated as Com

of the Kauravas.

At these words Karna said: "I have already declared that so long as Bhishma is alive and takes the field, I will neither put on armour nor engage in combat; but if any accident befall him I will then stand forward as the equal of Arjuna, and engage in battle with him, that it may be seen to whom will be given the victory and triumph."

After this, Duryodhana said to Bhishma :-"Will you lemnly inaugur honour us by ascending the throne, that we may all stand mander-in-Chief with our hands reverently joined before you, and that all may know that you are the Generalissimo?" Then all the other Rajas united in soliciting Bhishma, and he rose up and bathed, and clothed himself with royal robes, and perfumed himself, and was brought into the assembly with a royal umbrella over his head; and all the Rajas and Chieftains placed him upon the throne of royalty, and they all stood before him with their hands joined, and the drums of royalty were beaten in the name of Bhíshma.

Pandavas marshall their forces, and appoint Dhrishtadyumna to be Generalissimo.

Meanwhile Yudhishthira and his brethren marshalled all the forces of themselves and their allies, and they took counsel together as to who should be elected to command the whole; and after much discourse they chose Dhrishtadyumna, the son of Raja Drupada, and brother of their wife Draupadí. So all the armies of the Pandavas were put under

INDIA. PART II.

to the plain of

centre of the

the command of Dhrishta-dyumna, and it was everywhere HISTORY OF proclaimed that all were to be obedient to him, and that no one was to transgress his orders. Then all the warriors on the side of the Pándavas fell into their ranks, and the drums Pandavas march were beaten, and they marched to the plain of Kurukshetra, Kurukshetra. and saw that the army of the Kauravas was encamped on the eastern side of the lake, which was in the centre of the plain. Then the army of the Pándavas halted on the west- Lake in the ern side of the lake, so that the lake lay between them and plain; the Panthe Kauravas; and Arjuna and Krishna blew their white on one side of shells with all their might. And the Pándavas had the river the Kauravas on Saraswati on one side of them, and on the other side they dug a deep trench for security; and they appointed signs or Appointment of watchwords, so that at night time each party might pass in words. safety to his own quarters, and the guards be ever on the alert.

davas encamp

the lake, and

the other.

signs and watch

throne Dhrish

the camp of the

refuses to engage

After this the Pándavas heard that the Kauravas had Pándavas enenthroned Bhishma as Generalissimo of all their armies, ta-dyumna. and they determined to perform the same ceremony with Dhrishta-dyumna. Accordingly they placed Dhrishtadyumna on a throne before all the assembly, and gave him all the ensigns of royalty, and stood before him with joined hands in the posture of servants. At this moment Balarama visits Balarama, the brother of Krishna, together with others of Pandavas, but the Yádavas, arrived at the camp of the Pándavas, and in the war. entered their assembly; and all present arose and saluted them. And Balaráma said:-"These two armies, which are directly opposed to each other, present only bad omens, and I cannot endure to behold this contention: Duryodhana and Bhíma are both my pupils, for I taught to each of them the use of the mace; and I will therefore go and worship at the tombs of my fathers at Prabhása." So Balaráma took leave of Krishna and the Pándavas, and went his way to the place called Prabhása, which is nigh unto the city of Generally auDwáraká.

thentic character of the foregoing narrative of the entrench

The foregoing simple details of the entrench- ment of the rival

camps and the inauguration of

2 Prabhása is a place of pilgrimage in the immediate neighbourhood of Generalissimos.

Dwaraká.

INDIA.

dents.

HISTORY OF ments of the rival camps on the plain of KurukPART II. shetra, and the ceremonies which accompanied the inauguration of a Generalissimo on either side, are Dubious inci- generally natural and interesting. It may be that the pots of snakes and scorpions, and pans of burning sand and boiling oil, which were employed by Duryodhana as a means of defence, are mere mythical embellishments of the later bards; and so too may be the description of the regal ceremonies which were performed on the appointment of a Generalissimo. But these incidents in no way mar the interest of the narrative, nor do they seriously detract from the authenticity of the tradition; and, indeed, may be regarded as exaggerations of what actually occurred, rather than as myths originating solely in the imaginations of the Brahmanical compilers.

2nd, Legend of the humiliation of Rukmin.

Rukmin, Raja

of Vidarbha,

of the Pandavas,

for his extravagant preten

sions.

The story of the humiliation of Rukmin belongs to a somewhat different category; but before offering any remarks it will be necessary to glance at the outline of the legend, which may be related as follows:

After this, Rukmin, Raja of Vidarbha, came up with an joins the army army to aid the Pándavas, and he was received with much but is dismissed respect by Yudhishthira and his brethren, and a great feast was given to him. And when Rukmin had feasted, he went into the assembly and spoke with a loud voice to Arjuna, saying:-"Now that I am come hither from so great a distance, you need be under no apprehensions: I am not as other men, for even Indra dreads my power, and as for Drona, or Bhishma, or Karna, I pledge myself to conquer all of them; but you on your part must pledge yourselves to me, that when you shall enter into possession of the Raj of the Kauravas, you will allot me a portion of the country." When Arjuna saw that Rukmin gave himself such conse

INDIA. PART II.

over to the Кац

missed by Dur

same reason.

quence, he was very wroth, and said :- "What idle preten- HISTORY OF sions are these? For your coming hither we are much obliged, but your extravagant boasting is more than we can bear; so you may stay or go, just as you please." Then Rukmin goes Rukmin was very angry, and he set off with drums beating ravas, but is disto visit Duryodhana; and Duryodhana received him with yodhana for the great respect, and manifested as much joy as Yudhishthira had done. But after awhile Rukmin became boastful and arrogant as before, and Duryodhana said to him:"Although you have come to my aid, yet I cannot be friends with a man like you; and I therefore beseech you to take your army to some other place." So Rukmin arose in Returns to his great wrath, and returned back to his own country.

own country.

Mythical cha

apparent want

Connection of

the legendary

Krishna.

The foregoing legend is suspicious, from its ap- Meter of the parent want of purpose. That a pretentious Chief- indicated by its tain should have offended both parties by his arro- of purpose. gance and boasting is intelligible and true to human nature; but the question arises of why such a simple occurrence should have found its way into the national Epic. The episode, however, is apparently a the myth with later myth belonging to the Krishna group. In the history of traditionary history of Krishna, Rukmin takes a prominent part, by refusing to give his beautiful sister Rukminí in marriage to Krishna, who accordingly carried her away on the eve of her marriage to Sisupála. The object of the episode thus appears to have been to represent Rukmin in an unfavourable light, because he had contemptuously refused to give his sister in marriage to the divine hero.

3

change of chal

The next event which intervened between the 3rd, Intermythical embassy of Krishna and the actual com-lenges between mencement of the war, was the interchange of and Pandavas,

The legend of the slaughter of Supisála by Krishna at the Rajasúya of Yudhishthira has already been narrated at page 169.

the Kauravas

PART II.

riors to abuse

to fighting.

ter of the present

challenges.

HISTORY OF challenges between the Kauravas and the Pándavas. INDIA. It should here be remarked that it was the custom Custom of war- amongst the ancient warriors to abuse each other in each other prior exaggerating language prior to engaging in combat; probably with the view of exciting their enmity against each other to the highest possible pitch Abusive charac- before coming to close quarters. It will now be seen that the challenges between the rival armies partook very much of this exasperating character. Instead of a formal declaration of a war, accompanied perhaps by a solemn appeal to the God of battles, as is customary with more civilized nations, the messages which were interchanged by these rude warriors were couched in the barbarous but outspoken language of anger and hatred; and as such, are strikingly illustrative of that uncultivated stage of moral development when men delight in provoking the wrath of their enemies, and regard revenge as a duty and moderation as a crime. The legend of this interchange of challenges may be thus narrated:

Duryodhana sends a kinsman

to the Pandavas.

challenge.

Now when the armies on both sides were prepared for with a challenge battle, Duryodhana called one of his kinsmen to carry a challenge to the Pándavas according to the custom. So Language of the the kinsman went to the Pándavas, and said:-"You have sworn, O Pandavas, that when your exile was expired you would come out to war against us; and the time has now arrived when you should fulfil your oath: You have been deprived of your Raj, and your wife Draupadí has been grievously insulted, and you yourselves have been driven into exile: Why then do you sit unconcerned, when you ought to rush into war with your hearts on fire? Where is the sleepy Bhíma that threatened to drink the blood of Duhsásana ? Lo Duhsásana is here, but where is Bhíma? Where too is the presumptuous Arjuna, who thought to