Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Volume 1).pdf/263

Rh of heaven, or anything that may be greater than that, but truth I would never renounce i Earth may renounce its scent, water may renounce its moisture, light may renounce its attribute of exhibiting forms, air may renounce its attribute of touch, the sun may renounce his glory, fire, its heat, the moon, his cooling rays, space, its capacity of generating sound, the slayer of vitra, his prowess, the god of justice, bis impartiality ; but I cannot renounce truth !' Thus addressed by her son endued with wealth of energy. Satyavati said unto Bhishma, "O thou whose prowess is truth, I know thy firmness in truth! Thou canst, if so minded, create, by the help of thy energy, three worlds other than those that exist! I know what thy vow was on my account. But considering this emergency. bear thou the burden of the duty that one oweth to his ancestors! O punisher of foes, act in such a way that the lineal link may not be broken and our friends and relatives may not grieve! Thus urged by the miserable and weeping Satyavati speaking such words inconsistent with virtue from grief at the loss of her son, Bhishma addressed her again and said.- O Queen, turn not thy eyes away from virtue! O, destroy us not ! Breach of truth by a Kshatriya is never applauded in our treatises on religion. I shall soon tell thee, O Queen, what the established Kshatriya usage is to which recourse inay be had to prevent Santanu's line becoming extinct on Earth. Hearing me, reflect on what should be done in consultation with learned priests and those that are a quainted with practices allow able in times of emergency and distress, forgetting not at the same time what the ordinary course of social conduct is."

Thus ends the hundred and third section in the Sambhava Parva of the Adi Parva.

"Bhishma continued, - 'In olden days, Rama, the son of Jamadagni, in anger at the death of his father, slew with his battle-axe the king of the Haihayas. And Rama, by cutting off the thousand arms of Arjuna (the Haihaya king), achieved a most difficult feat in the world. Not content with this, he set out on his chariot for the conquest of the world, and taking up his bow he cast around his mighty weapons to exterminate the Kshatriyas. And the illustrious scion of Bhrigu's race, by means of his swift arrows, anihilated the Kshatriya tribe one and twenty times.

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