Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/198

164 O monarch, thou also art a fit person to hear the composition called Bharata. And encouraged by the command of my preceptor, my heart feeleth no fear.

"Hear, O monarch, why that disunion occurred between the Kurus and the Pandavas, and why also that exile into the woods immediately proceeding from the game at dice prompted by the desire (of the Kurus) for rule. I shall relate all to thee who askest it, thou best of the Bharata race.

"On the death of their father, those heroes (the Pandavas) came to their own home. And within a short time became well-versed in the science of the bow. And the Kurus beholding the Pandavas gifted with physical strength, energy and power of mind, popular also with the citizens and blessed with good fortune, became very much jealous. And then the crooked-minded Duryodhana, and Karna, with (the former's maternal uncle) the son of Suvala, began to persecute them and devise means of their exile. Then the wicked Duryodhana, guided by the counsels of that bird of ill omen, Sakuni (his maternal uncle), persecuted the Pandavas in various ways for the acquirement of undisputed sovereignty. The wicked son of Dhritarashtra gave poison to Bhima, but Bhima of the stomach of the wolfe digested the poison with his food. And then the wretch again tied the sleeping Bhima of the wolfe's stomach on the margin of the Ganges and casting him into the water went away. But when Bhima-sena of strong arms, the son of Kunti, awoke, he tore the strings with which he had been tied and came up, his pains all gone. And while asleep and in the water, black snakes of virulent poison bit him in every part of his body but the slayer of foes did not perish still. And in all those persecutions of the Pandavas by their cousins the Kurus, the high-minded Vidura became attentively engaged in neutralising the evil designs and rescuing the persecuted ones. And as Sakra from the heavens keeps in happiness the world of men, so did Vidura ever keep the Pandavas from all evils.

"And when Duryodhana, by various means, both secret and open, found himself incapable of destroying the Pandavas protected by the fates and kept alive for grave future purposes