Page:The Mahabharata (Kishori Mohan Gangopadhyay, First Edition) Volume 18.djvu/22

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8
MAHABHARATA.

mighty arms, come, come, O chief of men! These illusions have ended, O puissant one!10 Success has been attained by thee, O mighty-armed one, and eternal regions (of felicity) have become thine! Thou shouldst not yield to wrath. Listen to these words of mine!11 Hell, O son, should, without doubt, be beheld by every king. Of both good and bad there is abundance, O chief of men!12 He who enjoys first the fruits of his good acts must afterwards endure Hell. He, on the other hand, who first endures Hell, must afterwards enjoy Heaven.13 He whose sinful acts are many, enjoys Heaven first. It is for this, O king, that desirous of doing thee good, I caused thee to be sent for having a view of Hell.[1]14 Thou hadst, by a pretence, deceived Drona in the matter of his son. Thou hast, in consequence thereof, been shown Hell by an act of deception.15 After the manner of thyself, Bhima and Arjuna, and Draupadi, have all been shown the place of sinners by an act of deception.16 Come, O chief of men, all of them have been cleansed of their sins!17 All those kings who had sided thee and who have been slain in battle, have all attained to Heaven. Come and behold them, O foremost one of Bharata's race!18 Karna, the mighty bowman, that foremost of all wielders of weapons, for whom thou art grieving, has also attained to high success.19 Behold, O puissant one, that foremost of men, viz., the son of Surya! He is in that place which is his own, O mighty-armed one! Kill this grief of thine, O chief of men!20 Behold thy brothers and others, those kings, that is, who had espoused thy side. They have all attained to their respective places (of felicity). Let the fever of thy heart be dispelled!21 Having endured a little misery first, from this time, O son of Kuru's race, do thou sport with me in happiness, divested of grief and all thy ailments dispelled!22 O mighty-armed one, do thou now enjoy, O king, the rewards of all thy deeds of righteousness, of those regions which thou hast acquired thyself by thy penances,


  1. Those whose evil acts outnumber the good, first enjoy Heaven. The reverse is the case with those whose good acts outnumber the evil. The latter endure Hell first.—T.