The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 1.115: pañcadaśādhikaśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ

1.115.1

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |
kuntīputreṣu jāteṣu dhṛtarāṣṭrātmajeṣu ca |
madrarājasutā pāṇḍuṃ raho vacanamabravīt || 1 ||

"Vaisampayana said, 'After the birth of Kunti's sons and also of the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra the daughter of the king of the Madras privately addressed Pandu, saying, 'O slayer of foes, I have no complaint even if thou beest unpropitious to me. I have, O sinless one, also no complaint that though by birth I am superior to Kunti yet I am inferior to her in station. I do not grieve, O thou of Kuru's race, that Gandhari hath obtained a hundred sons. This, however, is my great grief that while Kunti and I are equal, I should be childless, while it should so chance that thou shouldst have offspring by Kunti alone. If the daughter of Kuntibhoja should so provide that I should have offspring, she would then be really doing me a great favour and benefiting thee likewise. She being my rival, I feel a delicacy in soliciting any favour of her. If thou beest, O king, propitiously disposed to me, then ask her to grant my desire.'

1.115.2

na me'sti tvayi saṃtāpo viguṇe'pi paraṃtapa |
nāvaratve varārhāyāḥ sthitvā cānagha nityadā || 2 ||

1.115.3

gāndhāryāścaiva nṛpate jātaṃ putraśataṃ tathā |
śrutvā na me tathā duḥkhamabhavatkurunandana || 3 ||

1.115.4

idaṃ tu me mahadduḥkhaṃ tulyatāyāmaputratā |
diṣṭyā tvidānīṃ bharturme kuntyāmapyasti saṃtatiḥ || 4 ||

1.115.5

yadi tvapatyasaṃtānaṃ kuntirājasutā mayi |
kuryādanugraho me syāttava cāpi hitaṃ bhavet || 5 ||

1.115.6

stambho hi me sapatnītvādvaktuṃ kuntisutāṃ prati |
yadi tu tvaṃ prasanno me svayamenāṃ pracodaya || 6 ||

1.115.7

pāṇḍuruvāca |
mamāpyeṣa sadā mādri hṛdyarthaḥ parivartate |
na tu tvāṃ prasahe vaktumiṣṭāniṣṭavivakṣayā || 7 ||

"Hearing her, Pandu replied, 'O Madri, I do revolve this matter often in my own mind, but I have hitherto hesitated to tell thee anything, not knowing how thou wouldst receive it. Now that I know what your wishes are, I shall certainly strive after that end. I think that, asked by me, Kunti will not refuse.'

1.115.8

tava tvidaṃ mataṃ jñātvā prayatiṣyāmyataḥ param |
manye dhruvaṃ mayoktā sā vaco me pratipatsyate || 8 ||

1.115.9

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |
tataḥ kuntīṃ punaḥ pāṇḍurvivikta idamabravīt |
kulasya mama saṃtānaṃ lokasya ca kuru priyam || 9 ||

"Vaisampayana continued, 'After this, Pandu addressed Kunti in private, saying, 'O Kunti, grant me some more offspring for the expansion of my race and for the benefit of the world. O blessed one, provide thou that I myself, my ancestors, and thine also, may always have the funeral cake offered to us. O, do what is beneficial to me, and grant me and the world what, indeed, is the best of benefits. O, do what, indeed, may be difficult for thee, moved by the desire of achieving undying fame. Behold, Indra, even though he hath obtained the sovereignty of the celestials, doth yet, for fame alone, perform sacrifices. O handsome one, Brahmanas, well-acquainted with the Vedas, and having achieved high ascetic merit, do yet, for fame alone, approach their spiritual masters with reverence. So also all royal sages and Brahmanas possessed of ascetic wealth have achieved, for fame only, the most difficult of ascetic feat. Therefore, O blameless one, rescue this Madri as by a raft (by granting her the means of obtaining offspring), and achieve thou imperishable fame by making her a mother of children.'

1.115.10

mama cāpiṇḍanāśāya pūrveṣāmapi cātmanaḥ |
matpriyārthaṃ ca kalyāṇi kuru kalyāṇamuttamam || 10 ||

1.115.11

yaśaso'rthāya caiva tvaṃ kuru karma suduṣkaram |
prāpyādhipatyamindreṇa yajñairiṣṭaṃ yaśorthinā || 11 ||

1.115.12

tathā mantravido viprāstapastaptvā suduṣkaram |
gurūnabhyupagacchanti yaśaso'rthāya bhāmini || 12 ||

1.115.13

tathā rājarṣayaḥ sarve brāhmaṇāśca tapodhanāḥ |
cakruruccāvacaṃ karma yaśaso'rthāya duṣkaram || 13 ||

1.115.14

sā tvaṃ mādrīṃ plaveneva tārayemāmanindite |
apatyasaṃvibhāgena parāṃ kīrtimavāpnuhi || 14 ||

1.115.15

evamuktābravīnmādrīṃ sakṛccintaya daivatam |
tasmātte bhavitāpatyamanurūpamasaṃśayam || 15 ||

"Thus addressed by her lord, Kunti readily yielded, and said unto Madri, 'Think thou, without loss of time, of some celestial, and thou shall certainly obtain from him a child like unto him.' Reflecting for a few moments. Madri thought of the twin Aswins, who coming unto her with speed begat upon her two sons that were twins named Nakula and Sahadeva, unrivalled on earth for personal beauty. And as soon as they were born, an incorporeal voice said, 'In energy and beauty these twins shall transcend even the twin Aswins themselves.' Indeed possessed of great energy and beauty, they illumined the whole region.

1.115.16

tato mādrī vicāryaiva jagāma manasāśvinau |
tāvāgamya sutau tasyāṃ janayāmāsaturyamau || 16 ||

1.115.17

nakulaṃ sahadevaṃ ca rūpeṇāpratimau bhuvi |
tathaiva tāvapi yamau vāguvācāśarīriṇī || 17 ||

1.115.18

rūpasattvaguṇopetāvetāvanyāñjanānati |
bhāsatastejasātyarthaṃ rūpadraviṇasaṃpadā || 18 ||

1.115.19

nāmāni cakrire teṣāṃ śataśṛṅganivāsinaḥ |
bhaktyā ca karmaṇā caiva tathāśīrbhirviśāṃ pate || 19 ||

"O king, after all the children were born the Rishis dwelling on the mountain of a hundred peaks uttering blessings on them and affectionately performing the first rites of birth, bestowed appellations on them. The eldest of Kunti's children was called Yudhishthira, the second Bhimasena, and the third Arjuna, and of Madri's sons, the first-born of the twins was called Nakula and the next Sahadeva. And those foremost sons born at an interval of one year after one another, looked like an embodied period of five years. And king Pandu, beholding his children of celestial beauty and of super-abundant energy, great strength and prowess, and of largeness of soul, rejoiced exceedingly. And the children became great favourites of the Rishis, as also of their wives, dwelling on the mountain of a hundred peaks.

1.115.20

jyeṣṭhaṃ yudhiṣṭhiretyāhurbhīmaseneti madhyamam |
arjuneti tṛtīyaṃ ca kuntīputrānakalpayan || 20 ||

1.115.21

pūrvajaṃ nakuletyevaṃ sahadeveti cāparam |
mādrīputrāvakathayaṃste viprāḥ prītamānasāḥ |
anusaṃvatsaraṃ jātā api te kurusattamāḥ || 21 ||

1.115.22

kuntīmatha punaḥ pāṇḍurmādryarthe samacodayat |
tamuvāca pṛthā rājanrahasyuktā satī sadā || 22 ||

"Some time after, Pandu again requested Kunti on behalf of Madri. Addressed, O king, by her lord in private, Kunti replied, 'Having given her the formula of invocation only once, she hath, O king, managed to obtain two sons. Have I not been thus deceived by her, I fear, O king, that she will soon surpass me in the number of her children. This, indeed, is the way of all wicked women. Fool that I was, I did not know that by invoking the twin gods I could obtain at one birth twin children. I beseech thee, O king, do not command me any further. Let this be the boon granted (by thee) to me.'

1.115.23

uktā sakṛddvandvameṣā lebhe tenāsmi vañcitā |
bibhemyasyāḥ paribhavānnārīṇāṃ gatirīdṛśī || 23 ||

1.115.24

nājñāsiṣamahaṃ mūḍhā dvandvāhvāne phaladvayam |
tasmānnāhaṃ niyoktavyā tvayaiṣo'stu varo mama || 24 ||

1.115.25

evaṃ pāṇḍoḥ sutāḥ pañca devadattā mahābalāḥ |
saṃbhūtāḥ kīrtimantaste kuruvaṃśavivardhanāḥ || 25 ||

"Thus, O king, were born unto Pandu five sons who were begotten by celestials and were endued with great strength, and who all lived to achieve great fame and expand the Kuru race. Each bearing every auspicious mark on his person, handsome like Soma, proud as the lion, well-skilled in the use of the bow, and of leonine tread, breast, heart, eyes, neck and prowess, those foremost of men, resembling the celestials themselves in might, began to grow up. And beholding them and their virtues growing with years, the great Rishis dwelling on that snowcapped sacred mountain were filled with wonder. And the five Pandavas and the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra--that propagator of the Kuru race--grew up rapidly like a cluster of lotuses in a lake.'"

1.115.26

śubhalakṣaṇasaṃpannāḥ somavatpriyadarśanāḥ |
siṃhadarpā maheṣvāsāḥ siṃhavikrāntagāminaḥ |
siṃhagrīvā manuṣyendrā vavṛdhurdevavikramāḥ || 26 ||

1.115.27

vivardhamānāste tatra puṇye haimavate girau |
vismayaṃ janayāmāsurmaharṣīṇāṃ sameyuṣām || 27 ||

1.115.28

te ca pañca śataṃ caiva kuruvaṃśavivardhanāḥ |
sarve vavṛdhuralpena kālenāpsviva nīrajāḥ || 28 ||