MAHABHARATA CONDENSED INTO ENGLISH ... - Mandhata Global

Karna, though he loved not Bhishma whilst the chieftain lived in fame,
Gently to the dying Bhishma in the midnight darkness came!
Bhishma heard the tread of Karna and he oped his glazing eye,
Spake in love and spake in sadness and his bosom heaved a sigh:
"Pride and envy, noble Karna, filled our warlike hearts with strife,
Discord ends with breath departing, envy sinks with fleeting life!
More I have to tell thee, Karna, but my parting breath may fail,
Feeble are my dying accents and my parchéd lips are pale,
Arjun beats not noble Karna in the deeds of valour done,
Nor excels in birth and lineage, Karna, thou art Pritha's son!
Pritha bore thee, still unwedded, and the Sun inspired thy birth,
God-born man! No mightier archer treads this broad and spacious earth,
Pritha cast thee in her sorrow, hid thee with a maiden's sham
And a driver, not thy father, nursed thee, chief of warlike fame,
Arjun is thy brother, Karna, end this sad fraternal war,
Seek not lifeblood of thy brother nor against him drive thy car!"
Vain, alas, the voice of Udshma like the voice of angel spoke,
Hatred dearer than his life blood in the vengeful Karna woke!
MAHABHARATA BOOK IX
DRONA-BADHA
(Fall of Drona)
ON the fall of Bhishma the Brahman chief Drona, preceptor of the Kuru and Pandav
princes, was appointed the leader of the Kuru forces. For five days Drona held his own
against the Pandavs, and some of the incidents of these days, like the fall of Abhimanyu
and the vengeance of Arjun, are among the most stirring passages in the Epic. The
description of the different standards of the Pandav and the Kuru warriors is also
interesting. At last Drona slew his ancient foe the king of the Panchalas, and was then
slain by his son the prince of the Panchalas.
The Book is an abridgment of Book vii. of the original text.
I