A History of Indian Literature v1.c9.s4.46

v1.c9.s4.46

A much more valuable remnant of ancient Indian bard-poetry, unfortunately preserved only as a fragment, is found in the fifth book of the Mahābhārata. It is the episode of the *hero-mother Vidulā*.² Kuntī sends a message by Kṛṣṇa to her sons, the Pāṇḍavas, telling them not to forget their duty as warriors,³ and on this occasion relates how the warrior's wife Vidulā once urged her son Sañjaya on to fight. The latter was quite discouraged after a shameful defeat which he had suffered at the hands of the king of the Sindhus, and lived with his wife and his mother Vidulā in misery. Then, in extremely forceful language Vidulā reproaches him with his cowardice and inactivity, and with fiery words spurs him on to new deeds of heroism. In order to give an idea of the racy vigour of the language of this fragment of ancient heroic poetry, I give a few verses from this speech in literal prose translation:⁴