The House of Lac, Hidimba, and Baka

About 25 minutes

Drona’s fee, and a kingdom divided

Drona had taught the princes to fight. Now he wanted them to bring him a king. Watching the Pandavas and Dhritarashtra’s sons master their weapons, he decided that the time had come to claim his payment as their teacher. He assembled his pupils and named the task. “Capture Drupada, the king of Panchala, in battle and bring him to me. That is the payment I would value most.” “So be it,” the princes answered. They mounted their chariots and set out, Drona riding with them. They struck at the Panchalas along the way and laid siege to the capital of the great Drupada. Duryodhana, Karna, Yuyutsu, Duhshasana, Vikarna, Jalasandha, Sulochana, and many other powerful princes competed to lead the attack. Their fine chariots followed the cavalry into the city and moved through its streets. Drupada, also called Yajnasena, saw the force and heard the clamor, and came out of his palace with his brothers, armed for battle. The Kurus met him with a shower of arrows and their war cries. Yajnasena was not a man easily subdued in battle; he drove at them on his white chariot and began raining his fierce arrows in every direction. Before the fighting began, Arjuna had watched the princes parade their prowess and had spoken to Drona. “Let them show what they can do first. Then we will make our attempt. None of them can capture the king of Panchala on the battlefield.” He and his brothers waited about a mile outside the city. Within it, Drupada moved so rapidly that the frightened Kurus imagined several Drupadas facing them, though he was fighting alone on a single chariot. His arrows kept falling around them. Thousands of conches, trumpets, and drums sounded from the Panchalas’ houses, raising the alarm. A roar went up from the Panchala host like a lion’s, and the twang of their bowstrings seemed to split the sky. Duryodhana, Vikarna, Suvahu, Dirghalochana, and Duhshasana answered with furious volleys. Arrows pierced Drupada, yet the son of Prishata attacked more vigorously, wheeling through the battlefield like a circle of fire. His arrows struck Duryodhana, Vikarna, even the mighty Karna, and many other princes and countless soldiers, and slaked their thirst for battle. The citizens joined in, showering the attackers with missiles of every kind, like clouds pouring rain on the earth. Young people and old rushed into the struggle. As the fighting grew more terrible, the Kuru force broke and fled toward the Pandavas, crying out in defeat.

Those cries brought the brothers into action. They bowed to Drona and mounted their chariots. Arjuna hastily asked Yudhishthira to stay out of the fighting, set Nakula and Sahadeva to guard the wheels of his chariot, and rushed forward, Bhima running ahead of them with his mace. The enemy’s shouts reached Arjuna as he advanced, and the rattle of his wheels filled the whole ground. Like a makara, a great water creature, plunging into the sea, Bhima entered the Panchala ranks, mace in hand, a second Yama, roaring like the ocean in a storm. He headed first for the elephants. His mace broke their heads, and the huge animals, big as hills, came down in streams of blood, like cliffs struck loose by thunder. Arjuna attacked with his bow while his brother drove through the formation. Elephants, horses, and chariots fell by the thousands, along with many infantrymen and warriors fighting from their chariots. Bhima drove the opposing chariots and elephants before him as easily as a herdsman drives cattle with a staff. Arjuna, intent on the fee owed to Bharadwaja’s son, covered Drupada with arrows and brought him down from the elephant on which he sat, then went on laying horses, chariots, and elephants on the ground by the thousand, like the fire that consumes everything at the end of an age. The Panchalas and Srinjayas answered with a dense shower of weapons of every kind and fought him desperately, shouting as they came. The battle grew furious and terrible to watch. Their shouts only angered Arjuna, and he renewed his assault with a thick rain of arrows. The speed of his hands left observers unable to distinguish the instant he fitted an arrow from the instant he released it. Cheers of admiration mingled with the battle cries. Drupada now advanced against him with Satyajit, the commander of his army, in an attack compared to the Asura Shambara’s charge against Indra. Arjuna covered the king with arrows. A great uproar rose from the Panchala force as he closed in to take his prisoner, like the roar of a lion springing at the leader of an elephant herd. Satyajit moved to intercept him.

The two warriors met like Indra and Bali, the son of Virochana, battering one another’s ranks. Arjuna pierced Satyajit with ten sharp arrows, a feat that astonished those watching. Satyajit immediately answered with a hundred. Under that shower, Arjuna rubbed his bowstring to strengthen and accelerate his shots. He cut Satyajit’s bow in two and drove toward Drupada. The commander took up a stronger bow and struck Arjuna, his chariot, his driver, and his horses. Arjuna did not forgive him for it. Eager to kill the man at once, he pierced Satyajit’s horses, flags, bow, clenched left fist, charioteer, and the attendant guarding his back. Each replacement bow was cut apart; his horses were killed. Satyajit withdrew from the fight. Drupada saw his commander beaten and began his own volley against the Pandava. Arjuna, crowned with success, fought on furiously: he cut the king’s bow, brought down his flagstaff, and struck the horses and charioteer with five arrows. Then he put his bow aside. Taking his quiver and drawing a curved sword, he shouted and leaped from his own chariot onto Drupada’s. He stood there without fear and seized the king, as Garuda seizes a great serpent from the disturbed waters of the ocean. The Panchala troops fled in every direction. Having shown both armies the strength of his arm, Arjuna shouted again and brought his captive out through the Panchala ranks. The princes, seeing him return with his prisoner, began laying waste to the capital, and Arjuna stopped them. “This king, Drupada, is a kinsman of the Kuru heroes. Bhima, do not kill his soldiers. Let us only give our teacher his fee.” Bhima still had the appetite for battle, but he obeyed his brother and ended the slaughter.

The princes brought Drupada, together with the friends and counselors captured with him, before Drona. Humiliated and stripped of his wealth, the king was completely in his former friend’s power. Drona remembered their earlier hostility. “I have laid waste to your kingdom and capital,” he said. “Your life now rests in your enemy’s hands, but you need have no fear for it. Do you wish to renew our friendship?” He smiled a little and continued. “Do not be afraid for your life. We Brahmins are always forgiving. My affection for you has grown with me, from the days when we played together as children in the hermitage. That is why I ask for your friendship again. I give you half your kingdom, as a gift you have not had to request. You once told me that a man who was no king could never be a king’s friend. So, Yajnasena, I will keep the other half. You will rule everything south of the Bhagirathi, the Ganga, and I will be king of the land north of that river. If that pleases you, know me from now on as your friend.” Drupada answered him courteously. “You have a noble spirit and great strength. What you have done does not surprise me. I am deeply pleased with you, and I desire your friendship forever.” Drona released the king and, cheerfully performing the customary offices of regard, gave him half the kingdom.

Drupada took up residence in Kampilya, in the province of Makandi on the Ganga. Towns and cities filled the territory, but the king lived there in sorrow. After his defeat, his rule over southern Panchala extended as far as the Charmanwati River. From that day he was convinced that Kshatriya might alone could never defeat Drona, whose Brahma power, the spiritual power of a Brahmin, left him far behind. The king began traveling across the earth, seeking a means of obtaining a son who could subdue that Brahmin adversary. Drona, meanwhile, remained at Ahicchatra. Arjuna had won that prosperous territory, with its towns and cities, and placed it in his teacher’s hands.

The gist: Drona names his fee, Drupada taken alive, and the Kuru princes break against one man on one chariot. Arjuna waits a mile out until they come running, then goes in with Bhima guarding his advance, beats Satyajit, and leaps sword in hand onto the king’s chariot. Drona’s revenge is a smile and a gift: half the kingdom back, the northern half kept, so that a king may at last be a king’s friend. Drupada keeps the peace and starts looking for a son.

The heir, and the brothers’ growing power

A year after Drupada’s defeat, Dhritarashtra appointed Yudhishthira heir to the kingdom. Concern for the people moved him to choose Pandu’s son, whose firmness, courage, patience, kindness, openness, and unshakable honesty qualified him for the responsibility. Within a short time his good conduct, his manners, and his close attention to business overshadowed even his father’s deeds. Bhima took continued lessons from Sankarshana, also called Balarama, in fighting with the sword, with the mace, and from a chariot, and when that training was finished he was strong as Dyumatsena himself; living in harmony with his brothers, he began to use that strength. Arjuna became renowned for his firm grip on a weapon, the speed of his movements, and the accuracy of his aim. Kshura, Naracha, Bhalla, and Vipatha arrows were all familiar to his hand, along with weapons that were straight, curved, or heavy. Drona declared that no one in the world matched him for quickness of hand and overall mastery.

One day, before the assembled Kuru princes, Drona turned to Arjuna. “Agastya had a pupil in the science of arms named Agnivesha,” he said. “Agnivesha became my teacher, and I his pupil. Through ascetic effort I obtained from him the weapon called Brahmashira. It never fails. Like the thunderbolt, it has the power to consume the whole earth. Through my acquisition of it, it may now pass onward from one disciple to another. When he entrusted it to me, my teacher said, ‘Son of Bharadwaja, never release this weapon against a human being, especially one of little strength.’ You have received that celestial weapon, Arjuna. No one else deserves it. Obey Agnivesha’s command. And now give me my fee as your teacher, here in the presence of your cousins and kinsmen.” Arjuna pledged to give whatever he demanded. Drona said, “When I fight against you, you must fight against me.” Arjuna gave him his word, touched his feet, and went north. A shout went up over the whole earth, bounded by her belt of seas, that there was no bowman in the world like Arjuna; with the mace, the sword, and from a chariot, as with the bow, his skill was now a wonder.

Sahadeva acquired the whole science of conduct and duty from Brihaspati, the spiritual teacher of the gods, and continued to live under his elder brothers’ guidance. Nakula, beloved by his brothers and trained by Drona, won a reputation as a skilled fighter and an atiratha, a warrior of exceptional power in chariot combat. The Pandavas’ combined strength grew formidable. In battle they killed the great king of Sauvira who had carried out a sacrifice lasting three years, undeterred by Gandharva raids. Arjuna subdued the Yavana king whom even Pandu, for all his strength, had failed to bring under control. Vipula, another powerful king of the Sauviras, had always shown the Kurus disregard; Arjuna made him feel the edge of his power. Sumitra of Sauvira, also known as Dattamitra, was determined to confront him. Arjuna’s arrows humbled that king as well. With Bhima’s help, the third Pandava fought from a single chariot and conquered the kings of the east, whose forces included 10,000 chariots. He likewise conquered the whole south from one chariot and sent a great quantity of captured wealth back to the Kuru kingdom. So the Pandavas, conquering other kings’ territories, extended the limits of their own kingdom. Dhritarashtra watched the strength of those great bowmen grow, and his feelings toward them turned suddenly poisoned; from that day the king was so anxious that he could hardly sleep.

The gist: A year on, Yudhishthira is heir and soon outshines his father in the work of rule. Bhima trains under Balarama; Arjuna’s hand is the quickest in the world, by Drona’s own word. Drona passes him the Brahmashira with Agnivesha’s ban on it, and before the cousins asks one more fee: that Arjuna fight him when he fights Arjuna. Then the conquests, Sauvira, the Yavana king, the east and the south, and a blind king who stops sleeping.

Kanika’s counsel

Dhritarashtra could not hear how mighty the sons of Pandu had grown without misery. He summoned Kanika, the foremost of his ministers, a Brahmin versed in the science of politics and expert in counsel, and told him plainly what troubled him. “The sons of Pandu are overshadowing the earth more each day. I am deeply jealous of them. Should I make peace with them, or go to war? Tell me honestly, Kanika. I will do as you advise.” The Brahmin answered him freely, in the pointed words of his science. “Hear me out, and do not be angry with me when you have heard everything I have to say. A king should always be ready to strike, as though his mace were already raised. He must keep increasing his strength, avoid faults in his own conduct, and constantly look for weaknesses in his enemies that he can exploit. Everyone fears a ruler prepared to punish. Let that readiness govern everything you do. Give your enemy no opening against you; use the openings you discover against him to bring about his destruction. A tortoise draws its body out of sight. Conceal your resources, your purposes, and your weaknesses just as carefully. Once you begin an undertaking, finish it thoroughly. Part of a thorn left in the flesh makes a wound fester.”

“Killing an enemy who harms you is always worthy of praise. If he is powerful, watch for a disaster to overtake him, and kill him then without hesitation. If he is a great warrior, use his hour of trouble to make him flee. Never despise an enemy, however insignificant he appears. A spark can consume an immense forest if it keeps finding something nearby to ignite. There are times when a king should pretend to be blind and deaf. If he lacks the power to punish an offense, he should act as though he has never noticed it. At such a moment, he should consider his bow as useless as straw. Even so, he must remain alert, like deer sleeping in the woods. When an enemy comes into your power, destroy him by whatever open or secret means are available. Show him no mercy even if he asks for your protection. Spend money if that is what it takes to kill an enemy, or anyone who has harmed you before. His death will let you rest easily. The dead cannot threaten you. Destroy your enemy’s resources, the three, the five, and the seven. Tear him out by the roots, then destroy his allies and supporters. Those who depend on the principal enemy cannot continue as before once he is gone, just as branches and twigs cannot survive the uprooting of their tree. Keep your own means and intentions hidden while you search for faults in his. Rule with constant vigilance toward your enemies.”

“Tend a perpetual sacred fire and perform sacrifices. Wear the brown robes of an ascetic, let your hair grow in matted locks, and sleep on animal hides. Through these observances, first gain your enemies’ confidence. Once you have it, spring on them like a wolf. Even the appearance of holiness can serve in the acquisition of wealth, as a hooked staff draws down a branch so that its ripe fruit can be plucked. Choose your enemies for destruction with the same care you use to select fruit. Carry an enemy on your shoulders until the moment comes to throw him down. Then break him as completely as an earthen pot smashed against stone. However pitifully he begs, do not release him. Kill him without compassion. Use conciliatory words or gifts of money, create divisions among his allies, or employ force. By every means within your power, destroy him.”

A key to reading this: These are Kanika’s recommendations to Dhritarashtra, including his rejection of mercy toward an enemy seeking protection.

The gist: The king puts his jealousy into words and asks peace or war. Kanika asks only not to be blamed for his answer, then lays down his doctrine in figures: the mace always raised, the tortoise that hides its body, the thorn that must come out whole, the spark in a dry forest, the king who feigns blindness yet sleeps like a deer, and the ascetic’s robe worn to win an enemy’s trust before the wolf springs.

The jackal and his four companions

Dhritarashtra said, “Tell me truly how an enemy can be destroyed through conciliation, gifts of money, division, or force.” Kanika answered with a story. “There was once a jackal who lived in a forest and understood political strategy very well, a wise jackal who always kept his own interests in view. His four companions were a tiger, a mouse, a wolf, and a mongoose. One day they saw a powerful deer leading a herd. Its speed and strength kept it beyond their reach, so the five held a council. The jackal opened the discussion. ‘Tiger, you have tried repeatedly to catch this deer. You keep failing because it is young, swift, and intelligent. Let the mouse gnaw its feet while it sleeps. Then you can approach and seize it, and all of us can enjoy the meat.’ They carried out the plan carefully. The mouse gnawed the sleeping deer’s feet, and the tiger killed it. As the body lay motionless before them, the jackal proposed that the others go and bathe. ‘May you all prosper. I will watch over the deer until you return.’ They went down to a stream, and the jackal waited by the deer, thinking hard about what he should do next.”

“The tiger, strong as he was, came back first,” Kanika continued. “He found the jackal deep in thought and asked why he seemed so unhappy. ‘You are the wisest of us. Let us enjoy ourselves today and feast on this deer.’ The jackal replied, ‘Listen to what the mouse has been saying about you. He mocked the strength of the king of beasts. He claimed that he killed this deer and that you will satisfy your hunger today through his power. After hearing that boast, I have no wish to touch this food.’ The tiger answered, ‘If the mouse has said that, he has brought me to my senses. From today onward, I will kill the animals of the forest with my own strength and eat their flesh.’ He left. The mouse arrived after the tiger had gone. The jackal greeted him. ‘A blessing on you, mouse. But hear what the mongoose has said. He declared that this deer’s carcass is poisoned because the tiger touched it with his claws, and that he will eat none of it. Then he said that, with my permission, he would kill you and eat you.’ The mouse took fright and hurried into his hole.”

“The wolf was next to return from bathing. The jackal told him, ‘The king of beasts is angry with you. You are certain to come to harm. He is expected here with his wife. Do as you think best.’ The wolf, eager as he was for the meat, contracted his body in fear and fled. Last came the mongoose. This time the jackal claimed a victory won by strength. ‘I have defeated all the others with my own power,’ he said. ‘They have already run away. Fight me first; afterward you may eat as much of this meat as you please.’ The mongoose answered, ‘If you have defeated the tiger, the wolf, and that intelligent mouse, all such formidable companions, you must be an even greater fighter. I have no desire to fight you.’ He too went away. Once all four had left, the jackal ate the entire deer himself, delighted with the success of his policy.” Kanika drew his lesson. “Kings who act this way can secure their happiness. Bring timid people under your control by frightening them, courageous people through conciliation, greedy people with gifts of wealth, and your equals or inferiors by displaying your strength. There is more I want you to hear.”

The gist: Asked how the four means work, Kanika tells of a jackal who shares a kill with a tiger, a mouse, a wolf, and a mongoose and sends each one away with a lie fitted to him: a boast reported to the proud tiger, a threat to the mouse, the tiger’s anger for the wolf, a challenge for the mongoose. Fear for the timid, soft words for the brave, wealth for the greedy, a show of strength for equals: that is the rule he hands the king.

The counsel turns toward the Pandavas

“If your son, friend, brother, father, or even your spiritual teacher becomes your enemy,” Kanika went on, “kill him without hesitation if you seek prosperity. Use curses and incantations, gifts of wealth, poison, or deception. Never neglect an enemy because you despise him. When the two sides are equal and success is uncertain, the side that works diligently will prosper. Even a teacher should be punished if he is arrogant, unable to distinguish what ought to be done from what ought to be avoided, and corrupt in his conduct. When you are angry, hide it. Speak with a smile. Never let anger show in your voice when you rebuke someone. Speak gently before you strike and while you strike. Afterward, show pity for the victim, grieve over him, and even shed tears. Reassure an enemy with conciliatory words, wealth, and pleasant conduct, then attack him when he takes a wrong step. A serious offender who appears to practice virtue should receive the same punishment. His show of goodness covers his offenses as dark clouds cover mountains. Burn the house of anyone you condemn to death. Allow no beggars, atheists, or thieves to live in your kingdom. Destroy your enemy through a sudden raid or a pitched battle, through poison, by corrupting his allies, by gifts, or by any other means you possess. You may need to act with extreme cruelty. Sharpen your teeth for a fatal bite. Strike so effectively that your enemy can never raise his head again.”

“Stay alert even toward someone who seems to pose no danger, as well as toward someone who clearly does. If the harmless person becomes powerful, your lack of preparation may allow him to uproot you. Never trust the faithless, and never place excessive trust even in the faithful. Should a trusted person become your enemy, you face annihilation. Test the loyalty of your spies before employing them in your own kingdom and in other kingdoms. Those sent abroad should be accomplished deceivers dressed as ascetics. Place spies in gardens, places of entertainment, temples and other holy places, drinking halls, and streets. They should watch the officers called the eighteen tirthas: the minister, chief priest, heir presumptive, commander in chief, court gatekeepers, officers of the inner apartments, jailer, chief surveyor, treasury chief, chief executor of orders, head of the city police, chief architect, chief justice, president of the council, head of the punishment department, commander of the fort, keeper of the arsenal, chief of the frontier guards, and keeper of the forests. Place spies at sacrifices, near wells, on mountains, in rivers and forests, and wherever people gather. Remain humble in speech while keeping your heart as sharp as a razor. Even while performing a terrible, cruel act, speak with a smile. To obtain prosperity, use humility, oaths, conciliation, bowed reverence at another person’s feet, promises of hope, and every similar method. A man skilled in policy should resemble a tree covered in blossoms that yields no fruit. If it does bear fruit, the fruit should hang too high to reach. If some appears ripe, make it seem unripe. Conducted this way, his position will endure.”

“Virtue, wealth, and pleasure each bring harmful and beneficial consequences closely joined together. Take the benefits and avoid the harm. Those who pursue virtue without interruption suffer from the absence of wealth and the neglect of pleasure. Those intent on wealth suffer through neglect of the other two. Those devoted to pleasure suffer from their disregard for virtue and wealth. Pursue all three in a manner that spares you these injuries. Consult Brahmins sincerely, with humility, attention, and freedom from jealousy, keeping the success of your purpose in view. If you fall, raise yourself by whatever gentle or violent means you can. Once you have recovered, practice virtue. A person who has never suffered calamity can never obtain prosperity; the lives of those who survive their troubles show this. Console a person in sorrow with accounts of people from earlier times, such as Nala and Rama. Offer someone whose heart has been broken by grief the hope of future happiness. A learned and wise person should be comforted through welcome services rendered in the present. A ruler who makes a treaty with an enemy and then rests, imagining that his work is finished, resembles a man who falls from the tree in which he was sleeping and wakes as he hits the ground. Keep your counsels secret, without fear of what people may say about you. See everything through your spies, and conceal your own feelings from the spies your enemies employ.”

“A fisherman grows prosperous by catching and killing fish. A king likewise cannot prosper without attacking an enemy’s vital interests and committing some violent acts. Destroy the military force on which your enemy’s power depends. Uproot it and cut it down as weeds are cleared from a field. Afflict it with disease, hunger, and lack of water. Someone in need approaches a wealthy person with a purpose beyond affection; once that purpose has been fulfilled, he has no further need to keep returning to the person whose help he sought. So leave some part of what you do for others unfinished. Leave them something still to desire, so that you can call on their services again. Seek allies and resources diligently, and conduct your wars with care. Let prudence guide all these efforts. A wise king acts so that friends and enemies cannot discover his intention before the action begins. Let them learn of it once it has begun, or after it is complete. While danger remains in the future, behave with the caution fear teaches. Once it arrives, confront it courageously. Whoever trusts an enemy subdued by force invites his own death, as a female crab does by conceiving. Treat a future task as though it were already before you, and prepare for it now. Otherwise, when it arrives, the loss of composure caused by haste may make you overlook something essential.”

“Anyone seeking prosperity should work carefully, adapting his methods to the time and place. He should also consider destiny, which mantras and sacrificial rites can influence, and keep virtue, wealth, and pleasure in view. Attention to time and place produces the greatest benefit. Never dismiss a small enemy. He may grow like a palmyra tree spreading its roots, or like a spark that becomes a vast forest fire. A small fire, fed steadily with wood, gains the power to consume even the largest logs. In the same way, someone who keeps increasing his strength through alliances and friendships can eventually subdue a formidable enemy. Delay the fulfillment of any hope you offer an enemy. When the promised time arrives, invent a pretext for delaying it further. Give the pretext a supporting reason, and give that reason another reason beneath it. In destroying enemies, kings should resemble razors in every respect: as pitiless as the blade is sharp, as hidden in their intentions as the blade is hidden in its leather case, and as ready to strike at the right moment as the blade is to be used when needed. Clear away enemies with all their allies and dependents, just as the razor removes every hair from a head or chin. Deal with the Pandavas and with others as policy dictates, so that you have no cause for sorrow later. I know well that you possess every blessing and every mark of good fortune. Protect yourself from Pandu’s sons, for they are stronger than their cousins, your sons. I am telling you plainly what you should do: hear it with your children, and having heard it, act. Take such measures as leave you nothing to fear from the Pandavas and nothing to grieve over in the days to come.” With that Kanika went home, and the Kuru king sat on, pensive and low in spirits.

A key to reading this: The source calls its list of officers the “eighteen tirthas,” although it names nineteen roles.

The gist: The counsel comes to its point. Kill even a father or a teacher who turns enemy; smile while you strike and weep afterward; burn the condemned man’s house; set spies on the eighteen tirthas and wherever people gather; leave every favor a little unfinished so that others still need you; be a razor, sharp, sheathed, and ready for its hour. Then the name is spoken at last: the sons of Pandu are stronger than your sons, so protect yourself from them.

Source: the Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Adi Parva. This chapter follows K. M. Ganguli, sections CXL to CLXXXIV; the Gita Press Hindi edition numbers these chapters differently. Names, order, and events were checked against Ganguli’s complete translation. Where the recensions differ, this English retelling follows Ganguli, and the Hindi edition follows Gita Press. Dialogue and commentary are adapted, not a verbatim translation. About the sources.