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METRICAL VERSIONS FROM THE MAHABHARATA.
AUGUST, 1878.]
Too weak to rise,-with none to guide, They watch the turn of fortune's tide. But if men saw thee bent on war Allies would flock from near and far. With these combined, thy plans prepare, Thy standard raise, and war declare.
Thy foe is mortal, bears no charm To guard his life from deadly harm. Go forward, then; to battle stride; Successes yet thine arms abide. Thy name is Victor; prove thy right To bear it: triumph now in fight. Whilst thou wast but a child, of old A Brahman seer thy lot foretold, That after dire reverses thou
Once more in pride should'st rear thy brow. The sage's word remembering, I Expect thy coming victory.
But what a life is this we lead, Starvation dreading, sunk in need! What sad vicissitudes I've seen! A princess born, a wedded queen, Resplendent once with jewels bright, My husband's joy, my friends' delight, In splendour nursed, I knew no care; And now!-but yet I'll not despair.
Should'st thou continue still to see Thus plunged in woe thy spouse and me, What joy could life then have for thee P
Our servants, all attached and good, Have left us, forced by lack of food. Our honoured teachers, Brahman priests, Enjoy no more their former feasts. What comfort have I yet in store P Shall glad bright mornings dawn no more ? It rends my heart, augments my woe, To say a needy Brahman "no." In happier days my spouse and I A Brahman's suit could ne'er deny. We stand before a trackless sea, We have no raft, no guide but thee: Be thou our pilot, steer us o'er, And land us on a happier shore. A dying life is this we live ; Do thou full life and vigour give. What joy have I if thou disgrace By shrinking fear thy fathers' race P I could not bear to see thee act
A flatterer's part with servile tact.
A manly Kshatriya, highly born,
All base unworthy arts should scorn; By fawning, cringing aspect meek
His name," Sanjaya," means "victorious," or "victory."
In the original these ideas are repeated here.
5 Dharma and Artha, or Duty and Prosperity.
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For others' grace should never seek. Think what our race's law requires,A law observed by all our sires, On all their hearts inscribed, divine, And why not, too, engraved on thine PA Kshatriya bold, with lofty brow, To lower men should never bow,
But always grandly stand erect With conscious, noble, self-respect. And even when nought can doom forefend Defiant let him meet his end;
By force be broken,-never bend..
To duty, Brahmans, gods above, A Kshatriya bows with reverent love: To these alone he homage pays;
All humbler men he lord-like sways."
Sanjaya.
"Thou hast a hard, an iron heart,
And play'st no loving mother's part,True daughter of a warrior line; A fierce unbending soul is thine. To all thy Kshatriya instincts true, Thou dost not yield to love its due; Nor seek to guard me as thy one Supreme delight, thine only son! But spurr'st me on, devoid of ruth,As if I were an alien youth,To join again in hopeless strife, And all in vain to peril life.
What worth would earth, its wealth, its joys, Its power, its state, its glittering toys,What worth would life,-possess for thee, My mother, if thou hadst not me?"
Viduld.
"Life has two aims,-with zeal pursued By thoughtful men,-the right, the good." These worthy ends of life to gain I've urged thee on, as yet in vain. The time has come, the favoured day For action,-long it may not stay;Improve it e'er it pass away: Thy fame is perilled by delay.. Should I to warn thee now decline, I'd show a fondness asinine."
Thou cravest love, then prove thy right To be indeed my heart's delight. When thou shalt play the hero's part, I then will clasp thee to my heart.
The Kshatriya race was formed for fight, In martial deeds should take delight; For heaven is earned by warriors all,
By those who conquer, those who fall."
This follows the original: "Were I not to address thee when thou art affected by infamy, this would be the weak, causeless fondness of a she-ass."
