Here--broad across their path--the heroes see Agni, the G.o.d. As though a mighty hill Took form of front and breast and limb, he spake.

Seven streams of shining splendour rayed his brow, While the dread voice said: 'I am Agni, chiefs!

O sons of Pandu, I am Agni! Hail!

O long-armed Yudhishthira, blameless king,-- O warlike Bhima,--O Arjuna, wise,-- O brothers twin-born from a womb divine,-- Hear! I am Agni, who consumed the wood By will of Narayan for Arjuna's sake.

Let this your brother give Gandiva back-- The matchless bow: the use for it is o'er.

That gem-ringed battle-discus which he whirled Cometh again to Krishna in his hand For avatars to be; and need is none Henceforth of this most excellent bright bow, Gandiva, which I brought for Partha's aid From high Varuna. Let it be returned.

Cast it herein!'

"And all the princes said, 'Cast it, dear brother!' So Arjuna threw Into that sea the quiver ever-filled, And glittering bow. Then led by Agni's light, Unto the south they turned, and so south-west, And afterwards right west, until they saw Dwaraka, washed and bounded by a main Loud-thundering on its sh.o.r.es; and here--O Best!-- Vanished the G.o.d; while yet those heroes walked, Now to the north-west bending, where long coasts Shut in the sea of salt, now to the north, Accomplishing all quarters, journeyed they; The earth their altar of high sacrifice, Which these most patient feet did pace around Till Meru rose.

"At last it rose! These Six, Their senses subjugate, their spirits pure, Wending alone, came into sight--far off In the eastern sky--of awful Himavan; And, midway in the peaks of Himavan, Meru, the Mountain of all mountains, rose, Whose head is Heaven; and under Himavan Glared a wide waste of sand, dreadful as death.

"Then, as they hastened o'er the deadly waste, Aiming for Meru, having thoughts at soul Infinite, eager,--lo! Draupadi reeled, With faltering heart and feet; and Bhima turned Gazing upon her; and that hero spake To Yudhishthira: 'Master, Brother, King Why doth she fail? For never all her life Wrought our sweet lady one thing wrong, I think.

Thou knowest, make us know, why hath she failed?'

"Then Yudhishthira answered: 'Yea, one thing.

She loved our brother better than all else,-- Better than heaven: that was her tender sin, Fault of a faultless soul; she pays for that'

'So spake the monarch, turning not his eyes, Though Draupadi lay dead--striding straight on For Meru, heart-full of the things of heaven, Perfect and firm. But yet a little s.p.a.ce, And Sahadev fell down, which Bhima seeing, Cried once again: 'O King, great Madri's son Stumbles and sinks. Why hath he sunk?--so true, So brave and steadfast, and so free from pride!'

"'He was not free,' with countenance still fixed, Quoth Yudhishthira; 'he was true and fast And wise, yet wisdom made him proud; he hid One little hurt of soul, but now it kills.'

"So saying, he strode on--Kunti's strong son-- And Bhima, and Arjuna followed him, And Nakula, and the hound; leaving behind Sahadev in the sands. But Nakula, Weakened and grieved to see Sahadev fall-- His loved twin-brother--lagged and stayed; and next p.r.o.ne on his face he fell, that n.o.ble face Which had no match for beauty in the land,-- Glorious and G.o.dlike Nakula! Then sighed Bhima anew: 'Brother and Lord! the man Who never erred from virtue, never broke Our fellowship, and never in the world Was matched for goodly perfectness of form Or gracious feature,--Nakula has fallen!'

"But Yudhishthira, holding fixed his eyes,-- That changeless, faithful, all-wise king,--replied: 'Yea, but he erred. The G.o.dlike form he wore Beguiled him to believe none like to him, And he alone desirable, and things Unlovely to be slighted. Self-love slays Our n.o.ble brother. Bhima, follow! Each Pays what his debt was.'

"Which Arjuna heard, Weeping to see them fall; and that stout son Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes, That prince, who drove through crimson waves of war, In old days, with his chariot-steeds of milk, He, the arch-hero, sank! Beholding this,-- The yielding of that soul unconquerable, Fearless, divine, from Sakra's self derived, Arjuna's,--Bhima cried aloud: 'O king!

This man was surely perfect. Never once, Not even in slumber when the lips are loosed, Spake he one word that was not true as truth.

Ah, heart of gold, why art thou broke? O King!

Whence falleth he?'

"And Yudhishthira said, Not pausing: 'Once he lied, a lordly lie!

He bragged--our brother--that a single day Should see him utterly consume, alone, All those his enemies,--which could not be.

Yet from a great heart sprang the unmeasured speech.

Howbeit, a finished hero should not shame Himself in such wise, nor his enemy, If he will faultless fight and blameless die: This was Arjuna's sin. Follow thou me!'

"So the king still went on. But Bhima next Fainted, and stayed upon the way, and sank; Yet, sinking cried, behind the steadfast prince: 'Ah, brother, see! I die! Look upon me, Thy well-beloved! Wherefore falter I, Who strove to stand?'

"And Yudhishthira said: 'More than was well the goodly things of earth Pleased thee, my pleasant brother! Light the offence, And large thy virtue; but the o'er-fed flesh Plumed itself over spirit. Pritha's son, For this thou failest, who so near didst gain.'

"Thenceforth alone the long-armed monarch strode, Not looking back,--nay! not for Bhima's sake,-- But walking with his face set for the Mount: And the hound followed him,--only the hound.

"After the deathly sands, the Mount! and lo!

Sakra shone forth,--the G.o.d, filling the earth And heavens with thunder of his chariot-wheels.

'Ascend,' he said, 'with me, Pritha's great son!'

But Yudhishthira answered, sore at heart For those his kinsfolk, fallen on the way: 'O Thousand-eyed, O Lord of all the G.o.ds, Give that my brothers come with me, who fell!

Not without them is Swarga sweet to me.

She too, the dear and kind and queenly,--she Whose perfect virtue Paradise must crown,-- Grant her to come with us! Dost thou grant this?'

"The G.o.d replied: 'In heaven thou shalt see Thy kinsmen and the queen--these will attain-- With Krishna. Grieve no longer for thy dead, Thou chief of men! their mortal covering stripped, They have their places; but to thee the G.o.ds Allot an unknown grace: thou shalt go up Living and in thy form to the immortal homes.'

"But the king answered: 'O thou Wisest One, Who know'st what was, and is, and is to be, Still one more grace! This hound hath ate with me, Followed me, loved me: must I leave him now?'

"'Monarch,' spake Indra, 'thou art now as We,-- Deathless, divine; thou art become a G.o.d; Glory and power and gifts celestial, And all the joys of heaven are thine for aye: What hath a beast with these? Leave here thy hound.'

"Yet Yudhishthira answered: 'O Most High, O Thousand-eyed and Wisest! can it be That one exalted should seem pitiless?

Nay, let me lose such glory: for its sake I would not leave one living thing I loved.'

"Then sternly Indra spake: 'He is unclean, And into Swarga such shall enter not.

The Krodhavasha's hand destroys the fruits Of sacrifice, if dogs defile the fire.

Bethink thee, Dharmaraj, quit now this beast!

That which is seemly is not hard of heart.'

"Still he replied: ''Tis written that to spurn A suppliant equals in offence to slay A twice-born; wherefore, not for Swarga's bliss Quit I, Mahendra, this poor clinging dog,-- So without any hope or friend save me, So wistful, fawning for my faithfulness, So agonized to die, unless I help Who among men was called steadfast and just.'

"Quoth Indra: 'Nay! the altar-flame is foul Where a dog pa.s.seth; angry angels sweep The ascending smoke aside, and all the fruits Of offering, and the merit of the prayer Of him whom a hound toucheth. Leave it here!

He that will enter heaven must enter pure.

Why didst thou quit thy brethren on the way, Quit Krishna, quit the dear-loved Draupadi, Attaining, firm and glorious, to this Mount Through perfect deeds, to linger for a brute?

Hath Yudhishthira vanquished self, to melt With one poor pa.s.sion at the door of bliss?

Stay'st thou for this, who didst not stay for them,-- Draupadi, Bhima?'

"But the king yet spake: ''Tis known that none can hurt or help the dead.

They, the delightful ones, who sank and died, Following my footsteps, could not live again Though I had turned,--therefore I did not turn; But could help profit, I had turned to help.

There be four sins, O Sakra, grievous sins: The first is making suppliants despair, The second is to slay a nursing wife, The third is spoiling Brahmans' goods by force, The fourth is injuring an ancient friend.

These four I deem not direr than the sin, If one, in coming forth from woe to weal, Abandon any meanest comrade then.'

"Straight as he spake, brightly great Indra smiled; Vanished the hound;--and in its stead stood there The Lord of Death and Justice, Dharma's self!

Sweet were the words which fell from those dread lips, Precious the lovely praise: 'O thou true king, Thou that dost bring to harvest the good seed Of Pandu's righteousness; thou that hast ruth As he before, on all which lives!--O Son, I tried thee in the Dwaita wood, what time The Yaksha smote them, bringing water; then Thou prayedst for Nakula's life--tender and just-- Not Bhima's nor Arjuna's, true to both, To Madri as to Kunti, to both queens.

Hear thou my word! Because thou didst not mount This car divine, lest the poor hound be shent Who looked to thee, lo! there is none in heaven Shall sit above thee, King!--Bharata's son, Enter thou now to the eternal joys, Living and in thy form. Justice and Love Welcome thee, Monarch! thou shalt throne with us!'

"Thereat those mightiest G.o.ds, in glorious train, Mahendra, Dharma,--with bright retinue Of Maruts, Saints, Aswin-k.u.mras, Nats, Spirits and Angels,--bore the king aloft, The thundering chariot first, and after it Those airy-moving Presences. Serene, Clad in great glory, potent, wonderful, They glide at will,--at will they know and see, At wish their wills are wrought; for these are pure, Pa.s.sionless, hallowed, perfect, free of earth, In such celestial midst the Pandu king Soared upward; and a sweet light filled the sky And fell on earth, cast by his face and form, Transfigured as he rose; and there was heard The voice of Narad,--it is he who sings, Sitting in heaven, the deeds that good men do In all the quarters,--Narad, chief of bards, Narad the wise, who laudeth purity,-- So cried he: 'Thou art risen, unmatched king, Whose greatness is above all royal saints.

Hail, son of Pandu! like to thee is none Now or before among the sons of men, Whose fame hath filled the three wide worlds, who com'st Bearing thy mortal body, which doth shine With radiance as a G.o.d's.'

"The glad king heard Narad's loud praise; he saw the immortal G.o.ds,-- Dharma, Mahendra; and dead chiefs and saints, Known upon earth, in blessed heaven he saw; But only those. 'I do desire,' he said, 'That region, be it of the Blest as this, Or of the Sorrowful some otherwhere, Where my dear brothers are, and Draupadi.

I cannot stay elsewhere! I see them not!'

"Then answer made Purandara, the G.o.d: 'O thou compa.s.sionate and n.o.blest One, Rest in the pleasures which thy deeds have gained.

How, being as are the G.o.ds, canst thou live bound By mortal chains? Thou art become of Us, Who live above hatred and love, in bliss Pinnacled, safe, supreme. Sun of thy race.

Thy brothers cannot reach where thou hast climbed: Most glorious lord of men, let not thy peace Be touched by stir of earth! Look! this is Heaven.

See where the saints sit, and the happy souls, Siddhas and angels, and the G.o.ds who live For ever and for ever.'

"'King of G.o.ds,'

Spake Yudhishthira, 'but I will not live A little s.p.a.ce without those souls I loved.

O Slayer of the demons! let me go Where Bhima and my brothers are, and she, My Draupadi, the princess with the face Softer and darker than the Vrihat-leaf, And soul as sweet as are its odours. Lo!

Where they have gone, there will I surely go,'"

_THE ILIAD OF INDIA._