English
The arms of tlie family were kept in the house of Yudhi-sh^hira, and an alarm of robbery being raised, Arjuna rushed there to procure his weapons while Draupadi was present. He thus incurred the pain of exile, and departed, though Yudhi-sh/hira endeavoured to dissuade him by arguing that the elder brother of a fatherless family stood towards his juniors in the position of a father. After the return of the Pam/avas from exile and their establish- ment at Tndra-prastha, the rule of Yudlii-sh/liira is described as YUDHI-SHTHIRA. 379 having been most excellent and prosperous. The Raja "ruled his country with great justice, protecting his subjects as his own sons, and subduing all his enemies round about, so that every man was without fear of war or disturbance, and gave his whole mind to the performance of every religious duty. And the Raja had plenty of rain at the proper season, and all his subjects became rich ; and the virtues of the Raja were to be seen in the great increase of trade and merchandise, in the abundant harvests and the prolitic cattle. Every subject of the Raja was pious ; there were no liars, no thieves, and no swindlers ; and there were no droughts, no floods, no locusts, no conflagrations, no foreign invasions, and no parrots to eat the grain. The neighbouring Rajas, despairing of conquering Raja Yudhi-sh/hira, were very desirous of securing his friendshij). Meanwhile Yudhi-sh/liira, though he would never acquire wealth by unfair means, yet prospered so exceedingly that had he lavished his riches for a thousand years no diminution would ever have been perceived." After the return of his brother Arjuna from exile, Yudlii-sh/hira determined to assert his supremacy by performing the Raja-silya sacrifice, and this led to a war with Jarasandha, Raja of ]Maga- dha, who declined to take part in it, and was in consequence defeated and killed. The dignity which Yudhi-sh/hira had gained by the performance of the sacrifice rekindled the jealousy of Dur-yodhana and the other Kauravas. They resolved to invite their cousins to a gambling match, and to cheat Yudhi- shfliira of his kingdom. Yudhi-sh/hira was very unwilling to go, but could not refuse his uncle's invitation. /S'akuni, maternal uncle of Dur-yodhana, was not only a skilful player but also a dexterous cheat. He challenged Yudhi-sli!!hira to throw dice w^ith him, and Yudhi-sh/hira, after stipulating for fair- play, began the game. He lost his all, his kingdom, his brothers, himself, and his wife, all of whom became slaves. When Draupadi was sent for as a slave and refused to come, Duh- 5asana dragged her into the hall by the hair, and both he and Dur-yodhana grossly insulted her. Bhima was half mad with rage, but Yudhi-sh/hira' s sense of right acknowledged that Draupadi was a slave, and he forbade Bhima and his brothers to interfere, AYhen the old Maha-raja Dhrita-rashfra was informed of what had passed, he came into the assembly, and declaring that his sons had acted wrongfully, he sent Draupadi and her hus- 38o YUDHI-SHTHIRA. bands away, imploring tliem to forget what had passed. Dur- yodhana was very wroth, and induced the Maha-raja to allow another game to avoid war, the condition being that the losers should go into exile for thirteen years, and should remain con- cealed and undiscovered during the whole of the thirteenth year. The game was played, and loaded dice gave 5'akuni the victory, so the Pa?it/avas went again into exile. During that time they rendered a service to Dur-yodhana by rescuing him and his com- panions from a band of marauders who had made them prisoners. When Jayad-ratha, king of Sindhu, was foiled in his attempt to carry off Draupadi, the clemency of Yudhi-sh/hira led him to implore his brothers to spare their captive's life. As the thirteenth year of exile approached, in order to keep themselves concealed, the five brothers and Draupadi went to the country of Yira/a and entered into the service of the Raja. Yudhi- sh^hira's office was that of private companion and teacher of dice-playing to the king. Here Yudhi-sh/hira suffered his wife Draupadi to be insulted, and dissuaded his brothers from inter- fering, lest by so doing they should discover themselves. When the term of exile was concluded, Yudlii-sh/hira sent an envov to Hastina-pura asking for a peaceful restoration to the Paw<iavas of their former position. The negotiations failed, and Yudhi- sh/hira invited K77'sh?ia to go as his representative to Hastina- pura. jSTotwithstanding Yudhi-sh/hira's longing for peace the war began, but even then Yudhi-shi!hira desired to withdraw, but was overruled by K7'zsh?2a. Yudhi-sh/hira fought in the great battle, but did not distin- guish himself as a soldier. The version of the JMaha-bharata given in Mr. AYlieeler's work makes him guilty of downright cowardice. At the instigation of Knsh?ia he compassed the death of Dro?ia by conveying to that warrior false intelligence of the death of his son Aswatthaman, and his character for veracity was used to warrant the truth of the representation. His con- science would not allow him to tell a downright lie, but it was reconciled to telling a lying truth in killing an elephant named A.swatthaman, and informing the fond father that Aswatthaman was dead. He retreated from a fight with Karwa, and after- wards reproached Arjuna for not having supjDorted him and Dhlma. This so irritated Arjuna that he would have killed him on the spot had not K?'zsli?2a interposed. After the great battle VC/GA. 381 was over K7'isli?ia sainted him king, but lie showed gi^eat disin- clination to accej^t the dignity. His sorrow for those who had fallen was deep, especially for Karyza, and he did what he could to console the bereaved Dhnta-rash/ra and Gandhari, as well as the many other sufferers. He was made king, and was raised to the throne with great pomp, he acting as ruler under the nominal supremacy of the old King Dli?'ita-rash/ra. There, after an inter- val, he asserted his universal supremacy by performing the great Aswa-medha sacrifice. The death of Krishna at Dwaraka and regrets for the past embittered the lives of the Pa7i(;/avas, and they resolved to withdraw from the world. Yudhi-sh^hira appointed Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna, to be his successor, and the five brothers departed with Draupadi to the Himalayas on their way to Swarga. The story of this journey is told with great feeling in the closing verses of the Maha-bharata. See Maha-bharata. Yudhi-sh^hira had a son named Yaudheya by his wife Devika; but the VisliTiu Pura?ia makes the son's name Devaka and the mother's YaudheyL YUGA. An age of the world. Each of these ages is preceded by a period called its Sandhya or tAvilight, and is followed by another period of equal length called Sandhyansa, ' portion of twilight,' each being equal to one-tenth of the Yuga. The Yugas are four in number, and their duration is first computed by years of the gods : — 1. KWta Yuga, . Sandhya, Sandhyansa, . 2. Treta Yuga, , Sandhya, Sandhyansa, . 3. Dwapara Yuga, Sandhya, Sandhyansa, . 4. Kali Yuga, Sandhya, Sandhyan^a, . 4000 400 400 3000 300 300 2000 200 200 1000 100 100 4,800 ;,6oo 2,400 1,200 12,000 382 YC'CA. But a year of the gods is equal to 360 years of men, so 4800 X 360 = 1,728,000 3600 X 360 ^ 1,296,000 2400 X 360 = 864,000 1200 X 360 = 432,000 Total, . 4,320,000 years, forming the period called a Maha-yuga or Manwantara. Two thousand Maha-yugas or 8,640,000,000 years make a Kalpa or night and a day of Brahma. This elaborate and practically boundless system of chronology was invented between the age of the J?/g-veda and that of the ]\Iaha-bharata. JSTo traces of it are to be found in the hymns of the Big, but it was fully established in the days of the great epic. In this work the four ages are described at length by Haniimat, the learned monkey chief, and from that description the following account has been abridged : — The K7*ita is the age in which righteousness is eternal, when duties did not languish nor people decline. JSTo efforts were made by men, the fruit of the earth was obtained by their mere wish. There was no malice, weeping, pride, or deceit ; no con- tention, no hatred, cruelty, fear, affliction, jealousy, or envy. The castes alike in their functions fulfilled their duties, were unceasingly devoted to one deity, and used one formula, one rule, and one rite. Though they had separate duties, they had but one Veda and practised one duty.