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81.A FATHER'S GRIEF
If you give way to grief in this inordinate
way, your brothers and other kings will
lose heart. Stop grieving and infuse
courage and fortitude into the hearts of the
others,"
Dhananjaya desired to be told the full
story of his brave son's end and
Yudhishthira related it: "I incited
Abhimanyu to enter the enemy's
formation. For I knew that he alone could
do it among all of us. 'Make your way into
the lotus array and we shall follow
immediately behind you. This great deed
of yours will please the hearts of your
father and your uncle,' I said. The youthful
hero did accordingly and broke the great
formation and made his way in. We went
behind him according to plan. But, just
then, the wicked Jayadratha came and
effectively stopped us. He caused the
breach in the formation to be closed up at
once and we found ourselves unable to
follow Abhimanyu. The Sindhu kept us
out, and then, Oh, shame on kshatriyas
who could do this! A crowd of
redoubtable warriors hemmed him in, thus
isolated, and slew him."
When he heard the full story, Arjuna was
again over whelmed by grief and he fell
on the ground in a swoon.
When he recovered, he took an oath:
"Before sunset tomorrow, I shall slay this
Jayadratha who caused my son's death. If
Drona and Kripa come between him and
me these acharyas also shall be
overwhelmed and slain!"
Saying this, he twanged the Gandiva
string, and Krishna blew the Panchajanya.
And Bhima said:
"This twang of Arjuna's bow and this
blare of Krishna's conch shall be, unto the
sons of Dhritarashtra, the summons of
Death!"
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