[Dark Saint Alaick]

Book - 1

ASTRA DARSANA

(The Tournament)


The scene of the Epic is the ancient kingdom of the Kurus which
flourished along the upper course of the Ganges; and the historical
fact on which the Epic is based is a great war which took place
between the Kurus and a neighbouring tribe, the Panchalas, in the
thirteenth or fourteenth century before Christ.

According to the Epic, Pandu and Dhrita-rashtra, who was born blind,
were brothers. Pandu died early, and Dhrita-rashtra became king of
the Kurus, and brought up the five sons of Pandu along with his
hundred sons.

Yudhishthir, the eldest son of Pandu, was a man of truth and piety;
Bhima, the second, was a stalwart fighter; and Arjun, the third son,
distinguished himself above all the other princes in arms. The two
youngest brothers, Nakula and Sahadeva, were twins. Duryodhan was
the eldest son of Dhrita-rashtra and was jealous of his cousins, the
sons of Pandu. A tournament was held, and in the course of the day
a warrior named Karna, of unknown origin, appeared on the scene and
proved himself a worthy rival of Arjun. The rivalry between Arjun
and Karna is the leading thought of the Epic, as the rivalry between
Achilles and Hector is the leading thought of the Iliad.

It is only necessary to add that the sons of Pandu as well as Karna,
were, like the heroes of Homer, god-born chiefs. Some god inspired
the birth of each. Yudhishthir was the son of Dharma or Virtue, Bhima
of Vayu or Wind, Arjun of Indra or Rain-god, the twin youngest were
the sons of the Aswin twins, and Karna was the son of Surya the Sun,
but was believed by himself and by all others to be the son of a
simple chariot-driver.

The portion translated in this Book forms Sections cxxxiv. to
cxxxvii. of Book i. of the original Epic in Sanscrit (Calcutta
edition of 1834).