History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c23.12

v2.c23.12

But Dara was broken down in body and in spirit. The exertions of the last forty hours, his two days' marching in the sun, the long and desperate struggle of today, and the hurried ride from the fatal field, had left him prostrate. Moreover, the iron had entered his soul: he had lost all, not excepting honour. He remembered that he had risked a battle with Aurangzib against Shah Jahan's wishes; he had prevented his father from going out to meet the princes and ending the quarrel by his personal influence; and now the worst foreboded by his father had come to pass. He had been lavishly furnished with men, money and arms by a bountiful father, and he had thrown everything away in the gamble for the throne. He had left Agra shouting 'Victory or a grave,'[*] and now he had returned without victory. A bankrupt in fame and fortune, he hid himself in shame from friend and stranger alike, and sent this touching reply to his father, "I have not the face to appear before your