A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda
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A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

vivekananda.net
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10.07.2015 Views

508 THE MAHABHARATA.Now, there came kings and princes from different partsof India, and one after the other they tried, and every onefailed. You know, there are four castes in India : thehighest caste is the hereditary priest, the Brahman ;nextto him, the caste of Kshatriya, the kings and the fighters ;next to them are trat&rs or businessmen, and then, theservants. Now, this princess was, of course, one el th^second caste, Kshatriya. But these kings and princes havingfailed, her brother stood up and said : "Anyothe/ caste,any man, who can hit the mark, him will Draupadi makeher husband."And there the five brothers were, of the Brahmancaste apparently. The third brother was celebrated inarchery, the hero of the whole army. Mind you, hrthoseit was not mere bows and arrowsdays,*$he poem says,only ;it was magic archery: one man could fightmillions of men and burn them at will ;and ifyou sendone arrow it will rain and thunder you can make everything burn, and so on. It was all divine magic.But one fact is most curious in both of these poems ;in both of these poems, along with these magic arrows andother things, you see the c?nnon already in use ;this thatyou call "cannon" it is an old, old thing used by theChinese and the Hindus. On the walls of the cities werehundreds of curious weapons, made of hollow iron tubes,which, with powder and ball, would send a ball that couldkill hundreds of men.It used to be said that theChinese by magic put thedevil inside of an iron hollow tube and when they applieda little fire to a hole, the devil came out with terrific noiseand killed many people.But they were fighting with magic arrows ;they hadgot arrangements tactics, even in these old days : there

THE MAHABHARA1A. 509were the foot soldiers, termed the pada, then there wasthe cavalry, Turaga they were called ;and there were twoother divisions, which moderns have lost and given up.There were thfc elephant corps : hundreds and hundredsof elephants, made into regiments, with men on their backsclad irfhuge sheets of iron mail, ancixftiese elephants wouldbear^iown mpon a mass of the enemy. Then, there werechariots. Of course you have all seen pictures of chariotsin because olcUftefintings they are used in every country.These were the four divisions of the army in those oldflays.But all these princes failed in hitting the mark. Thenthe son of the king Drupada rose up in the midst of thecommand said that Kshatriyas, the king caste had failed ;now it was open to the other castes. Be it a Brahman^evena chandcda, whosoever hits the mark, he marries Draupadi.And among the Brahmans was seated Arjuna, thethird brother, the hero of the bow. He arose. Now Brahmans as a caste are very quiet and rather timid people.According to the law, they must not touch an instrument,they must not touch a sword, they must not go up a tree,must avoid dangerous situation^. See, what quiet, peaceable people they are.So, when the other Brahmans saw this man come up,they thought that that man was going to bring the wrathof the Kshatriyas upon them and that they would be allkilled. They tried to dissuade him but he would not listen,because he was a soldier, all the same ;and he took thebow and arrow in his hand, sent the arrow looking at thetub of water, right through the wheel and hit the fish-eye.There was great jubilation ;and Draupadi, the princessthe princess must be there with the garland in her handand she throws the garland on the head of the man who is

THE MAHABHARA1A. 509were the foot soldiers, termed the pada, then there wasthe cavalry, Turaga they were called ;and there were twoother divisions, which moderns have lost and given up.There were thfc elephant corps : hundreds and hundredsof elephants, made into regiments, with men on their backsclad irfhuge sheets of iron mail, ancixftiese elephants wouldbear^iown mpon a mass of the enemy. Then, there werechariots. Of course you have all seen pictures of chariotsin because olcUftefintings they are used in every country.These were the four divisions of the army in those oldflays.But all these princes failed in hitting the mark. Thenthe son of the king Drupada rose up in the midst of thecommand said that Kshatriyas, the king caste had failed ;now it was open to the other castes. Be it a Brahman^evena chandcda, whosoever hits the mark, he marries Draupadi.And among the Brahmans was seated Arjuna, thethird brother, the hero of the bow. He arose. Now Brahmans as a caste are very quiet and rather timid people.According to the law, they must not touch an instrument,they must not touch a sword, they must not go up a tree,must avoid dangerous situation^. See, what quiet, peaceable people they are.So, when the other Brahmans saw this man come up,they thought that that man was going to bring the wrathof the Kshatriyas upon them and that they would be allkilled. They tried to dissuade him but he would not listen,because he was a soldier, all the same ;and he took thebow and arrow in his hand, sent the arrow looking at thetub of water, right through the wheel and hit the fish-eye.There was great jubilation ;and Draupadi, the princessthe princess must be there with the garland in her handand she throws the garland on the head of the man who is

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