Mb032. The Anxiety Of Dhritarashtrra Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

MAHABHARATA

The people on the street cried out.
When to the forest the Pandavas set out.
How they went asked Dhritarashtra,
In reply a brief account gave Vidura.

"Your sons receive everywhere curse,
And now they're very much averse
Against king and Duryodhana, the heartless,
For forcing Pandavas to the forests."

"Bhisma, Drona, Kripa are spared not,
Also with other courtiers they're hot.
Yudhishthira's goes hiding his face,
Peace in the city there's no trace."

"While the people indulge in violence,
His brothers walk behind in silence.
Draupadi with her disheveled hair,
And her eyes full of tears goes there."

Like this Vidura narrated in brief,
The king showed no sign of grief,
But fear and anxiety ruled his face,
Though he was grim on the surface.

Sage Narada came in between,
The Kauravas after years fourteen,
They would become extinct,
Thus predicting away he went.

Duryodhana filled with fear,
Went to Drona with his prayer,
Not to leave or abandon them
In the midst of a distress time.

Drona assured him but said,
"Dharma is on Pandavas side,
Peace with them better you make,
Any more risk you don't take."

Duryodhana ignored his advice,
As he wished not for any peace,
But wished to maintain a rapport,
With him for his promised support.

Vidura quite often advised,
But the king was displeased.
To go out, one day, he said,
To take the Pandava's side.

True to the king's words,
Vidura went to the woods,
Where the Pandavas lived,
There he happily stayed.

Thereafter the king sent,
And a regret message went,
That his heart would break,
If Vidura failed to return back.

The softhearted Vidura,
Returned to Hastinapura.
They embraced each other.
Once again joined together.

One day Sage Maitreya
Came to the King Dhritarashtra.
Whose action he condemned,
To such events it had led.

His thighs Duryodhana slapped,
With his legs the floor he tapped.
The sage got annoyed over this,
And gave him a terrible curse.

"For your arrogance you will die,
Bhima will break your thigh
With his mace on the battlefield,
For your misdeeds this'll be you end."

For his mercy the king prayed.
The Sage gave no word but said,
"If peace when he makes
The curse will then reverse."