s, the immortality of the
universe, are established in thee! Thou art the Supreme lord of all
creatures, celestial or human! Therefore it is, O slayer of Madhu, that
impelled by the affection thou bearest me that I will relate to thee my
griefs! O Krishna, how could one like me, the wife of Pritha's sons, the
sister of Dhrishtadyumna, and the friend of thee, be dragged to the
assembly! Alas, during my season, stained with blood, with but a single
cloth on, trembling all over, and weeping, I was dragged to the court of
the Kurus! Beholding me, stained with blood in the presence of those
kings in the assembly, the wicked sons of Dhritarashtra laughed at me! O
slayer of Madhu, while the sons of Pandu and the Panchalas and the
Vrishnis lived, they dared express the desire of using me as their
slave! O Krishna, I am according to the ordinance, the daughter in-law
of both Dhritarashtra and Bhishma! Yet, O slayer of Madhu, they wished
to make of me a slave by force! I blame the Pandavas who are mighty and
foremost in battle, for they saw (without stirring) their own wedded
wife known over all the world, treated with such cruelty! Oh, fie on the
might of Bhimasena, fie on the _Gandiva_ of Arjuna, for they, O
Janardana, both suffered me to be thus disgraced by little men! This
eternal course of morality is ever followed by the virtuous--_viz_, that
the husband, however weak, protecteth his wedded wife! By protecting the
wife one protecteth his offspring and by protecting the offspring one
protecteth his own self! One's own self is begotten on one's wife, and
therefore it is that the wife is called _Jaya_. A wife also should
protect her lord, remembering that he is to take his birth in her womb!
The Pandavas never forsake the person that soliciteth their protection,
and yet they abandoned me who solicited it! By my five husbands five
sons of exceeding energy have been born of me: Prativindhya by
Yudhishthira, Sutasoma by Vrikodara, Srutakirti by Arjuna, Satanika by
Nakula and Srutakarman by the youngest, all of them of energy that
cannot be baffled. For their sake, O Janardana, it was necessary to
protect me! Even as (thy son) Pradyumna, they are, O Krishna, mighty
warriors all! They are foremost of bowmen, and invincible in battle by
any foe! Why do they bear the wrongs inflicted (on me) by the sons of
Dhritarashtra of such contemptible strength? Deprived of their kingdom
by deception, the Pandavas were made bondsmen and I myself