Mb005. Devavrata As Bhisma Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

MAHABHARATA

From the time Ganga left,
A resigned role Santanu kept,
Her separation for years,
Kept his memories in tears.

Like this passed years four,
Once on the Yamuna's shore,
He saw a beautiful maiden,
The daughter of a fisherman.

The king fell for her charm,
In her beautiful divine form,
First, her consent, he asked for,
But she turned him to her father.

Her father agreed on condition,
And left it for the king's decision,
That after him to ascend the throne,
The claim shall be with her son.

The king was mad with passion,
But he had his compassion,
For Devavrata, the eldest son,
Who still deserved the crown.

The height of his madness
Went to the peak of his sickness,
As she was uppermost in his mind,
But no alternative he could find.

"Why you're unhappy always,
When there're means and ways,
To fulfil what your heart desires, "
Devavrata asked in earnestness.

"My son, you're my good son,
But one son, at all, is no son,
As any time anything can happen,
Who'll succeed the throne then? "

In short, the prince understood,
But who in the king's way stood?
Thro' king's charioteer he learnt,
What happened, where he went?

The fisherman when he approached,
Repeated the condition attached,
No wonder, to this, the son agreed,
His father once she married.

He also took a vow not to marry,
A chaste life he wished to carry.
As for his father, he felt sorry.
And he assured them not to worry.

Thus he gave up his claim for the throne,
And did his duty more than a son,
As "Bhishma" the great, he was hailed,
As a man of vow he never failed.

Thus he got his father married,
Who became then less worried.
Bhisma's vow and his sacrifice,
Earned him later all the praise.

After Santanu, Chitrangada son,
Ascended the king's throne,
But in a battle he was killed.
And he died with no child.

Vichitravirya, his second son,
The throne thereafter he won,
Ambika and Ambalika, his two queens
Each bore Dhritarashtra and Pandu as sons.

The Dhritarashtra's hundred sons,
Were known as Kauravas,
And the Pandu's five sons
Were famous as Pandavas.