Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/379

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ADI PARVA.
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thou art, it behoved thee not to do such an act as leadeth to hell! O thou best of kings, thy duty is to chastise all who act cruelly, who are engaged in sinful practices, and all who have taken leave of religion, profit, and pleasure, as explained in the Shastras. What hast thou done, O best of men, in killing me who have done thee no offence! I am, O king, a Muni that liveth on fruits and roots, though disguised as a deer! I was living in the woods in peace with all. Thou hast killed me yet, O king, for which I will curse thee certainly. Cruel as thou hast been unto a couple of opposite sexes, death shall certainly overtake thee as soon as thou feelest the influence of desire. I am a Muni of name Kimindama, possessed of ascetic merit. I was engaged in sexual intercourse with this deer because my feelings of modesty do not permit me to indulge in such an actin human society. In the form of a deer I rove in the deep woods in the company of other deer. Thou hast slain me without knowing that I am a Brahmana. The sin of having slain a Brahmana shall not, therefore, be thine. But, senseless man, having killed me, disguised as a deer, at such a time, thy fate shall certainly be even like mine! When, having approached thy wife lustfully, thou art united with her even as I had been with mine, in that very state thou shalt have to go to the world of spirits. And that wife of thine with whom thou mayst be united in intercourse at the time of thy death shall also follow thee with affection and reverence to the domains of the king of the dead which no one can avoid. Thou hast brought me grief while I was happy. So shall grief come to thee while thou art in happiness.'"

Vaisampayana continued, "Saying this, that deer, afflicted with grief, gave up life; and Pandu also was plunged in woe at the sight."

Thus ends the hundred and eighteenth Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.


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