Brahmanyan
27 November 2011, 08:28 AM
9 ity ukto dharmarājas tu mātrā bāṣpākulekṣaṇaḥ
uvāca vākyaṃ dharmātmā śokavyākula cetanaḥ
10 bhavatyā gūḍhamantratvāt pīḍito 'smīty uvāca tām
śaśāpa ca mahātejāḥ sarvalokeṣu ca striyaḥ
na guhyaṃ dhārayiṣyantīty atiduḥkha samanvitaḥ
MB: 12-6 (9&10)
King Yudhishthira, with tearful eyes and heart agitated by grief, said these words, 'In consequence of thyself having concealed thy counsels, this great affliction has overtaken me!' Possessed of great energy, the righteous king, then, in sorrow, cursed all the women of the world, saying, 'Henceforth no woman shall succeed in keeping a secret.' The king, then, recollecting his sons and grandsons and kinsmen and friends, became filled with anxiety and grief. Afflicted with sorrow, the intelligent king, resembling a fire covered with smoke, became overwhelmed with despair."
The above is taken from Shanti Parva of the Great Epic Srimath Mahabharatham. This I would consider the most poignant scene in the great epic.
The war was over. King Yuthishtira followed by his brothers and the grieving Kshatriya ladies who had lost their husbands and kins proceeded slowly to the mother Ganga to perform last rites to the departed souls in the form of Tharpanam (Oblations) as prescribed by scriptures. After completion of the ritual,Yuthishtra looked at his mother and told that he had completed his duty to the departed souls of all his relatives who had given up their lives in the battle. But he saw his mother shedding tears and tried to express some thing more. Then Sri Krishna looked at Rajamatha Kunthi and nodded his head. Accordingly Kunthi told in a feeble voice about one more person of the clan who deserves the ritual oblation, that he was their elder brother Karna. Hearing the whole story of Karna from his mother,the royal sage Yudhishthira, shocked and filled with grief, became plunged in meditation. Beholding that hero cheerless and unmanned by sorrow, sighing like a snake and shedding copious tears, Kunti herself filled with grief and almost deprived of her senses by sorrow, addressed him in these sweet words of grave import and well-suited to the occasion, 'O mighty-armed Yudhishthira, you should not to give way to sorrow thus. O you are of great wisdom, kill this grief of yours, and listen to what I say. I tried in past times to apprise Karna of his brothership with you. The god Surya also, O foremost of all righteous persons, did the same. All that a well-wishing friend, from desire of good, should say to one, was said to Karna by that god in a dream and once more in my presence. Neither by affliction nor by reasons could Surya or myself succeed in pacifying him or inducing him to unite himself with his brothers. Succumbing to the influence of Time (Kaala), he became resolved upon wreaking his enmity on you. As he was bent upon doing injuries upon you all, I myself gave up the attempt.' But Dharmaraja Yudhishthira, overwhelmed by grief, possessed of great energy, then, in sorrow, cursed all the women of the World thus.
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
uvāca vākyaṃ dharmātmā śokavyākula cetanaḥ
10 bhavatyā gūḍhamantratvāt pīḍito 'smīty uvāca tām
śaśāpa ca mahātejāḥ sarvalokeṣu ca striyaḥ
na guhyaṃ dhārayiṣyantīty atiduḥkha samanvitaḥ
MB: 12-6 (9&10)
King Yudhishthira, with tearful eyes and heart agitated by grief, said these words, 'In consequence of thyself having concealed thy counsels, this great affliction has overtaken me!' Possessed of great energy, the righteous king, then, in sorrow, cursed all the women of the world, saying, 'Henceforth no woman shall succeed in keeping a secret.' The king, then, recollecting his sons and grandsons and kinsmen and friends, became filled with anxiety and grief. Afflicted with sorrow, the intelligent king, resembling a fire covered with smoke, became overwhelmed with despair."
The above is taken from Shanti Parva of the Great Epic Srimath Mahabharatham. This I would consider the most poignant scene in the great epic.
The war was over. King Yuthishtira followed by his brothers and the grieving Kshatriya ladies who had lost their husbands and kins proceeded slowly to the mother Ganga to perform last rites to the departed souls in the form of Tharpanam (Oblations) as prescribed by scriptures. After completion of the ritual,Yuthishtra looked at his mother and told that he had completed his duty to the departed souls of all his relatives who had given up their lives in the battle. But he saw his mother shedding tears and tried to express some thing more. Then Sri Krishna looked at Rajamatha Kunthi and nodded his head. Accordingly Kunthi told in a feeble voice about one more person of the clan who deserves the ritual oblation, that he was their elder brother Karna. Hearing the whole story of Karna from his mother,the royal sage Yudhishthira, shocked and filled with grief, became plunged in meditation. Beholding that hero cheerless and unmanned by sorrow, sighing like a snake and shedding copious tears, Kunti herself filled with grief and almost deprived of her senses by sorrow, addressed him in these sweet words of grave import and well-suited to the occasion, 'O mighty-armed Yudhishthira, you should not to give way to sorrow thus. O you are of great wisdom, kill this grief of yours, and listen to what I say. I tried in past times to apprise Karna of his brothership with you. The god Surya also, O foremost of all righteous persons, did the same. All that a well-wishing friend, from desire of good, should say to one, was said to Karna by that god in a dream and once more in my presence. Neither by affliction nor by reasons could Surya or myself succeed in pacifying him or inducing him to unite himself with his brothers. Succumbing to the influence of Time (Kaala), he became resolved upon wreaking his enmity on you. As he was bent upon doing injuries upon you all, I myself gave up the attempt.' But Dharmaraja Yudhishthira, overwhelmed by grief, possessed of great energy, then, in sorrow, cursed all the women of the World thus.
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.