(Sambhava Parva continued)
" said, 'Thus worshipped by , , that first of men, endued with great energy, took up his quarters in the abode of the Kurus and continued to live there, receiving their adorations. After he had rested a while, , taking with him his grandsons, the Kaurava princes, gave them unto to him as pupils, making at the same time many valuable presents. And the mighty one () also joyfully gave unto to the son of a house that was tidy and neat and well-filled with paddy and every kind of wealth. And that first of archers, , thereupon then joyfully, accepted the Kauravas, viz., the sons of and , as his pupils. And having accepted them all as his pupils, one day called them apart and making them touch his feet, said to them with a swelling heart, 'I have in my heart a particular purpose. Promise me truly, ye you sinless ones, that when ye you have become skilled in arms, ye you will accomplish it.'
" continued, 'Hearing these words, the Kuru princes remained silent. But , O king, vowed to accomplish it whatever it was. then cheerfully clasped to his bosom and took the scent of his head repeatedly, shedding tears of joy all the while. Then endued with great prowess taught the sons of (the use of) many weapons both celestial and human. And, O bull of the Bharata race, many other princes also flocked to that best of Brahmanas for instruction in arms. The Vrishnis and the Andhakas, and princes from various lands, and the (adopted) of the Suta caste, (), all became pupils of . But of them all, the Suta child , from jealousy, frequently defied , and supported by , used to disregard the Pandavas. , however, from devotion to the science of arms, always stayed by the side of his preceptor, and in skill, strength of arms, and perseverance, excelled all (his class-fellows). Indeed, although the instruction gave, was the same in the case of all, yet in lightness and skill became the foremost of all his fellow-pupils. And was convinced that none of his pupils would (at any time) be able to be equal to that son of .
"Thus continued giving lessons to the princes in the science of weapons. And while he gave unto to every one of his pupils a narrow-mouthed vessel (for fetching water) in order that much time may be spent in filling them, he gave unto to his own son a broad-mouthed vessel, so that, filling it quickly, he might return soon enough. And in the intervals so gained, used to instruct his own son in several superior methods (of using weapons). () came to know of this, and thereupon then filling his narrow-mouthed vessel with water by means of the weapon he used to come unto to his preceptor at the same time with his preceptor's son. And accordingly the intelligent son of , that foremost of all men possessing a knowledge of weapons, had no inferiority to his preceptor's son in respect of excellence. 's devotion to the service of his preceptor as also to arms was very great and he soon became the favourite of his preceptor. And , beholding his pupil's devotion to arms, summoned the cook, and told him in secret, 'Never give his food in the dark, nor tell him that I have told thee you this.' A few days after, however, when was taking his food, a wind arose, and thereupon then the lamp that had been burning went out. But , endued with energy, continued eating in the dark, his hand, from habit, going to his mouth. His attention being thus called to the force of habit, the strong-armed son of set his heart upon practising with his bow in the night. And, O Bharata, , hearing the twang of his bowstring in the night, came to him, and clasping him, said, 'Truly do I tell thee you that I shall do that unto to thee you by which there shall not be an archer equal to thee you in this world.'
" continued, 'Thereafter began to teach the art of fighting on horse-back, on the back of elephants, on car, and on the ground. And the mighty also instructed in fighting with the mace, the sword, the lance, the spear, and the dart. And he also instructed him in using many weapons and fighting with many men at the same time. And hearing reports of his skill, kings and princes, desirous of learning the science of arms, flocked to by thousands. Amongst those that came there, O monarch, was a prince named , who was the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas (the lowest of the mixed orders). , however, cognisant of all rules of morality, accepted not the prince as his pupil in archery, seeing that he was a Nishada who might (in time) excel all his high-born pupils. But, O oppressor of all enemies, , touching 's feet with bent head, wended his way into the forest, and there he made a clay-image of , and began to worship it respectfully, as if it was his real preceptor, and practised weapons before it with the most rigid regularity. In consequence of his exceptional reverence for his preceptor and his devotion to his purpose, all the three processes of fixing arrows on the bowstring, aiming, and letting off became very easy for him.
"And one day, O grinder of foes, the Kuru and the Pandava princes, with 's leave, set out in their cars on a hunting excursion. A servant, O king, followed the party at leisure, with the usual implements and a dog. Having come to the woods, they wandered about, intent on the purpose they had in view. Meanwhile, the dog also, in wandering alone in the woods, came upon (). And beholding the Nishada of dark hue, of body besmeared with filth, dressed in black and bearing matted locks on head, the dog began to bark aloud.
"Thereupon then , desirous of exhibiting his lightness of hand, sent seven arrows into its mouth (before it could shut it). The dog, thus pierced with seven arrows, came back to the Pandavas. Those heroes, who beheld that sight, were filled with wonder, and, ashamed of their own skill, began to praise the lightness of hand and precision of aim by auricular precision (exhibited by the unknown archer). And they thereupon then began to seek in those woods for the unknown dweller therein that had shown such skill. And, O king, the Pandavas soon found out the object of their search ceaselessly discharging arrows from the bow. And beholding that man of grim visage, who was totally a stranger to them, they asked, 'Who art thou you and whose son?' Thus questioned, the man replied, 'Ye you heroes, I am the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas. Know me also for a pupil of , labouring for the mastery of the art of arms.'
" continued, 'The Pandavas then, having made themselves acquainted with everything connected with him, returned (to the city), and going unto to , told him of that wonderful feat of archery which they had witnessed in the woods. , in particular, thinking all the while, O king, , saw in private and relying upon his preceptor's affection for him, said, 'Thou you hadst had lovingly told me, clasping me, to thy your bosom, that no pupil of thine yours should be equal to me. Why then is there a pupil of thine yours, the mighty son of the Nishada king, superior to me?"
' continued, 'On hearing these words, reflected for a moment, and resolving upon the course of action he should follow, took with him and went unto to . And he beheld with body besmeared with filth, matted locks (on head), clad in rags, bearing a bow in hand and ceaselessly shooting arrows therefrom. And when saw approaching towards him, he went a few steps forward, and touched his feet and prostrated himself on the ground. And the son of the Nishada king worshipping , duly represented himself as his pupil, and clasping his hands in reverence stood before him (awaiting his commands). Then , O king, addressed , saying, 'If, O hero, thou you art really my pupil, give me then my fees.' On hearing these words, was very much gratified, and said in reply, 'O illustrious preceptor, what shall I give? Command me; for there is nothing, O foremost of all persons conversant with the Vedas, that I may not give unto to my preceptor.' answered, 'O , if thou you art really intent on making me a gift, I should like then to have the thumb of thy your right hand.'
" continued, 'Hearing these cruel words of , who had asked of him his thumb as tuition-fee, , ever devoted to truth and desirous also of keeping his promise, with a cheerful face and an unafflicted heart cut off without ado his thumb, and gave it unto to . After this, when began once more to shoot with the help of his remaining fingers, he found, O king, that he had lost his former lightness of hand. And at this became happy, the fever (of jealousy) having left him.
"Two of 's pupils became very much accomplished in the use of mace. These were Druvodhana and , who were, however, always jealous of each other. excelled everyone (in the mysteries of the science of arms). The twins ( and ) excelled everybody in handling the sword. surpassed everybody as a car-warrior; but , however, outdistanced everyone in every respect--in intelligence, resourcefulness, strength and perseverance. Accomplished in all weapons, became the foremost of even the foremost of car-warriors; and his fame spread all over the earth to the verge of the sea. And although the instruction was the same, the mighty excelled all (the princes in lightness of hand). Indeed, in weapons as in devotion to his preceptor, he became the foremost of them all. And amongst all the princes, alone became an Atiratha (a car-warrior capable of fighting at one time with sixty thousand foes). And the wicked sons of , beholding endued with great strength and accomplished in all arms, became very jealous of them.
"O bull among men, one day desirous of testing the comparative excellence of all his pupils in the use of arms, collected them all together after their education had been completed. And before assembling them together, he had caused an artificial bird, as the would be aim, to be placed on the top of a neighbouring tree. And when they were all together, said unto to them, 'Take up your bows quickly and stand here aiming at that bird on the tree, with arrows fixed on your bowstrings; shoot and cut off the bird's head, as soon as I give the order. I shall give each of you a turn, one by one, my children.'
" continued, 'Then , that foremost of all Angira's sons first addressed saying, 'O irrepressible one, aim with thy your arrow and shoot as soon as I give the order. took up the bow first, as desired, O king, by his preceptor, and stood aiming at the bird. But, O bull of Bharata's race, in an instant, addressing the Kuru prince standing with bow in hand, said, 'Behold, O prince, that bird on top of the tree.' replied unto to his preceptor, saying, 'I do.' But the next instant again asked him, 'What dost do thou you see now, O prince? Seest see thou you the tree, myself or thy your brothers?' answered, 'I see the tree, myself, my brothers, and the bird.' repeated his question, but was answered as often in the same words. then, vexed with , reproachingly said, 'Stand thou you apart. It is not for thee you to strike the aim.' Then repeated the experiment with and the other sons of , one after another, as also with his other pupils, and the rest, including the princes that had come unto to him from other lands. But the answer in every case was the same as 's viz., 'We behold the tree, thyself, our fellow-pupils, and the bird.' And reproached by their preceptor, they were all ordered, one after another, to stand apart.'"