a and his son. All that Sanjaya, O Krishna, said unto me hath
certainly the assent of Dhritarashtra. Sanjaya is Dhritarashtra's soul,
and spoke out his mind. An envoy speaketh according to his instructions,
for if he speaketh otherwise he deserveth to be slain. Without looking
equally on all that are his, moved by avarice and a sinful heart,
Dhritarashtra seeketh to make peace with us without giving us back our
kingdom. Indeed, at Dhritarashtra's command we spent twelve years in the
woods and one additional year in concealment, well-believing, O lord,
that Dhritarashtra would abide firmly by that pledge of ours. That we did
not deviate from our promise is well-known to the Brahmanas who were with
us. The covetous king Dhritarashtra, is now unwilling to observe
Kshatriya virtues. Owing to affection for his son, he is listening to the
counsels of wicked men. Abiding by counsels of Suyodhana, the king, O
Janardana, actuated by avarice and seeking his own good, behaveth
untruthfully towards us. What can be more sorrowful, O Janardana, than
this, that I am unable to maintain my mother and my friends? Having the
Kasis, the Panchalas, the Chedis, and the Matsyas, for my allies and with
thee, O slayer of Madhu, for my protector, I prayed for only five
villages, etc., Avishthala, Vrikasthala, Makandi, Varanavata, with any
other, O Govinda, as the fifth;--"Grant us," we said, "five villages or
towns, O sire, where we five may dwell in union, for we do not desire the
destruction of the Bharatas."--The wicked-minded son of Dhritarashtra,
however, regarding the lordship of the world to be in him, doth not
agree to even that. What can be more sorrowful than this? When a man born
and brought up in a respectable family, coveteth the possessions of
others, that avarice of his destroyeth his intelligence; and intelligence
being destroyed, shame is lost; and loss of shame leadeth to diminution
of virtue; and loss of virtue bringeth on loss of prosperity. Destruction
of prosperity, in its turn, ruineth a person, for poverty is a person's
death. Kinsmen and friends and Brahmanas shun a poor man as birds avoid,
O Krishna, a tree that beareth neither flower nor fruits. Even this, O
sire, is death to me that kinsmen shun me, as if I were a fallen one like
the breath of life quitting a dead body. Samvara said that no condition
of life could be more distressful than that in which one is always racked
by the anxiety caused by the thought--"I have no