Mahabharata -Rajagopalachari 267

Mahabharata -Chakravarti Rajagopalachari

81.A FATHER'S GRIEF YUDHISHTHIRA was plunged in sorrow. "He has gone to the sleep that knows no waking, he who in battle overcame Drona, Aswatthama and Duryodhana and who was like a destroying fire to enemy forces. O warrior that made Duhsasana flee in fear, are you dead? What then is there for me to fight for or win? Why do we want kingdom now? What words of comfort can I offer to Arjuna? And what shall I say to Subhadra, quivering like a cow bereaved of her calf? How can I utter to them vain words of solace that serve no purpose? Truly, ambition destroys the understanding of men. Like the fool who, looking for honey, falls into a precipitous pit below and is destroyed, in my desire for victory I pushed to the battlefront this boy, whose life was all before him in love and joy. There is no fool like me in the world. I have killed Arjuna's beloved son, instead of protecting him during the absence of his father." Thus was Yudhishthira lamenting in histent. Around him were sitting warriors, silent in sorrowful thought of the valor of the youthful hero and his cruel death. It was always the custom with Vyasa to come and comfort the Pandavas, whenever they were in great sorrow. He was their great teacher as well as grandsire. So he appeared now before Yudhishthira. The sage was received with all honor and Yudhishthira, having made him sit, said: "I have tried very hard to find peace of mind, but I am unable to find it." "You are wise and a knower," said Vyasa, "and it is not meet that you should allow yourself to be lost in grief in this manner. Knowing the nature of death, it is not right that you should grieve like the unlearned." Vyasa proceeded to console the bereaved Dharmaputra: "When Brahma created living beings, he was filled with anxiety. These lives will multiply and soon their number will be beyond the capacity of the earth to bear. There seems to be no way of coping with this. This thought of Brahma grew into a flame which became bigger and bigger until it threatened to destroy all creation at once.