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(The Tournament)
THE scene of the Epic is the ancient kingdom of the Kurus which flourished
along the upper course of the Ganges; and the historical fact on which the Epic
is based is a great war which took place between the Kurus and a neighbouring
tribe, the Panchalas, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century before Christ.
According to the Epic, Pandu and Dhrita-rashtra, who was born blind, were
brothers. Pandu died early, and Dhrita-rashtra became king of the Kurus, and
brought up the five sons of Pandu along with his hundred sons.
Yudhishthir, the eldest son of Pandu, was a man of truth and piety; Bhima,
the second, was a stalwart fighter; and Arjun, the third son, distinguished
himself above all the other princes in arms. The two youngest brothers, Nakula
and Sahadeva, were twins. Duryodhan was the eldest son of Dhrita-rashtra and
was jealous of his cousins, the sons of Pandu. A tournament was held, and in
the course of the day a warrior named Karna., of unknown origin, appeared on
the scene and proved himself a worthy rival of Arjun. The rivalry between Arjun
and Karna is the leading thought of the Epic, as the rivalry between Achilles
and Hector is the leading thought of the Iliad.
It is only necessary to add that the sons of Pandu. as well as Karna, were,
like the heroes of Homer, god-born chiefs. Some god inspired the birth of each.
Yudhishthir was the son of Dharma or Virtue, Bhima of Vayu or Wind, Arjun of
Indra or Rain-god, the twin youngest were the sons of the Aswin twins, and
Karna was the son of Surya the Sun, but was believed by himself and by all
others to be the son of a simple chariot-driver.
The portion translated in this Book forms Sections cxxxiv. to cxxxvii. of
Book i. of the original Epic in Sanscrit (Calcutta edition of 1834).
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