Complaint of the Cowherd
Monarch of the mighty Matsyas, brave Virata known to fame,Marched against Trigarta chieftains who from southward regions came,
From the north the proud Duryodhan, stealing onwards day by day,Swooped on Matsya's fattened cattle like the hawk upon its prey!
Bhishma, Drona, peerless Karna, led the Kuru warriors brave,Swept the kingdom of Virata like the ocean's surging wave,
Fell upon the trembling cowherds, chased them from the pasture-field,Sixty thousand head of cattle was the Matsya country's yield!
And the wailing chief of cowherds fled forlorn, fatigued and spent,Speeding on his rapid chariot to the royal city went,
Came inside the city portals, came within the palace gate,Struck his forehead in his anguish and bewailed his luckless fate.
Meeting there the prince Uttara, youth of beauty and of fame,Told him of the Kurus' outrage and lamented Matsya's shame:
"Sixty thousand head of cattle, bred of Matsya's finest breed,To Hastina's distant empire do the Kuru chieftains lead!
Glory of the Matsya nation! save thy father's valued kine,Quick thy footsteps, strong thy valour, vengeance deep and dire be thine!
'Gainst the fierce Trigarta chieftains Matsya's warlike king is gone,Thee we count our lord and saviour as our monarch's gallant son!
Rise, Uttara! beat the Kurus, homeward lead the stolen kine,Like an elephant of jungle, pierce the Kurus' shattered line!
As the Vina speaketh music, by musicians tuned aright,Let thy sounding bow and arrows speak thy deeds of matchless might!
Harness quick thy milk-white coursers to thy sounding battle-car,Hoist thy golden lion-banner, speed thee, prince, unto the war!
And as thunder-wielding INDRA smote asuras fierce and bold,Smite the Kurus with thy arrows winged with plumes of yellow gold!
As the famed and warlike Arjun is the stay of Kuru's race,Thou art refuge of the Matsyas and thy kingdom's pride and grace!"
But the prince went not to battle from the foe to guard the State,To the cowherd answered gaily, sheltered by the palace gate:
"Not unknown to me the usage of the bow and winged dart,Not unknown the warrior's duty or the warrior's noble art,
I would win my father's cattle from the wily foeman's greed,If a skilful chariot-driver could my fiery coursers lead,
For my ancient chariot-driver died on battle's gory plain,Eight and twenty days we wrestled, many warlike chiefs were slain!
Bring me forth a skilful driver who can urge the battle-steed,I will hoist my lion-banner, to the dubious battle speed!
Dashing through the foeman's horses, ranks of elephant and car,I will win the stolen cattle rescued in the field of war!
And like thunder-wielding INDRA, smiting Danu's sons of old,I will smite the Kuru chieftains, drive them to their distant hold!
Bhishma and the proud Duryodhan, archer Karna known to fame,Drona too shall quail before me and retreat in bitter shame!
Do those warriors in my absence Matsya's far-famed cattle steal?But beneath my countless arrows Matsya's vengeance they shall feel!
Bring me forth a chariot-driver, let me speed my battle-car,And in wonder they will question--Is this Arjun famed in war?"
Words in this poem 18
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- luckless a.
- Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
- lamented a.
- Mourned for; bewailed.
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- jungle n.
- A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil. [Hind. jangal desert, forest, jungle; Skr. ja desert.]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- wielding n.
- Power; authority; rule.
- cowherd n.
- One whose occupation is to tend cows. [AS. c; c cow + hyrde a herder.]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- dubious a.
- Doubtful or not settled in opinion; being in doubt; wavering or fluctuating; undetermined. [L. dubius, dubiosus, fr. duo two. See Two, and cf. Doubt.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Complaint of the Cowherd is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vyasa, Complaint of the Cowherd, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/complaint-of-the-cowherd.html, id L15790.
Form and metre
Complaint of the Cowherd is 50 lines in 25 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 84% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.0 syllables.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA fameA · cameA
- 2 AA dayA · preyA
- 3 AA braveA · waveA
- 4 AA fieldA · yieldA
- 5 AA spentA · wentA
- 6 AA gateA · fateA
- 7 AA fameA · shameA
- 8 AA breedA · leadA
- 9 AA kineA · thineA
- 11 AA kineA · lineA
- 12 AA arightA · mightA
- 14 AA boldA · goldA
- 15 AA raceA · graceA
- 16 AA stateA · gateA
- 17 AA dartA · artA
- 18 AA greedA · leadA
- 19 AA plainA · slainA
- 20 AA steedA · speedA
- 22 AA oldA · holdA
- 23 AA fameA · shameA
- 24 AA stealA · feelA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Monarch of the mighty Matsyas, brave Virata known to fame, | 15 | /···/˘········· |
| Marched against Trigarta chieftains who from southward regions came, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| From the north the proud Duryodhan, stealing onwards day by day, | 15 | ········/˘/˘··· |
| Swooped on Matsya's fattened cattle like the hawk upon its prey! | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Bhishma, Drona, peerless Karna, led the Kuru warriors brave, | 15 | ····/˘······/˘· |
| Swept the kingdom of Virata like the ocean's surging wave, | 15 | ··/˘······/˘/˘· |
| Fell upon the trembling cowherds, chased them from the pasture-field, | 15 | ····/˘˘/····/˘· |
| Sixty thousand head of cattle was the Matsya country's yield! | 15 | /˘/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| And the wailing chief of cowherds fled forlorn, fatigued and spent, | 15 | ··/˘··/··˘/˘/·· |
| Speeding on his rapid chariot to the royal city went, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Came inside the city portals, came within the palace gate, | 15 | ·˘/·/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Struck his forehead in his anguish and bewailed his luckless fate. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Meeting there the prince Uttara, youth of beauty and of fame, | 15 | /˘········/˘··· |
| Told him of the Kurus' outrage and lamented Matsya's shame: | 15 | ······/··˘/˘··· |
| "Sixty thousand head of cattle, bred of Matsya's finest breed, | 15 | /˘/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| To Hastina's distant empire do the Kuru chieftains lead! | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Glory of the Matsya nation! save thy father's valued kine, | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Quick thy footsteps, strong thy valour, vengeance deep and dire be thine! | 15 | ··/···/˘/˘····· |
| 'Gainst the fierce Trigarta chieftains Matsya's warlike king is gone, | 15 | ······/˘··/···· |
| Thee we count our lord and saviour as our monarch's gallant son! | 15 | ···/··/˘·//·/˘· |
| Rise, Uttara! beat the Kurus, homeward lead the stolen kine, | 15 | ········/˘··/˘· |
| Like an elephant of jungle, pierce the Kurus' shattered line! | 15 | ··/˘˘·/˘····/˘· |
| As the Vina speaketh music, by musicians tuned aright, | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Let thy sounding bow and arrows speak thy deeds of matchless might! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Harness quick thy milk-white coursers to thy sounding battle-car, | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Hoist thy golden lion-banner, speed thee, prince, unto the war! | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘······· |
| And as thunder-wielding INDRA smote asuras fierce and bold, | 15 | ··/˘/˘········· |
| Smite the Kurus with thy arrows winged with plumes of yellow gold! | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| As the famed and warlike Arjun is the stay of Kuru's race, | 15 | ····/·········· |
| Thou art refuge of the Matsyas and thy kingdom's pride and grace!" | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| But the prince went not to battle from the foe to guard the State, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| To the cowherd answered gaily, sheltered by the palace gate: | 15 | ··/·/˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| "Not unknown to me the usage of the bow and winged dart, | 15 | ·˘/···/˘·····˘· |
| Not unknown the warrior's duty or the warrior's noble art, | 15 | ·˘/·/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| I would win my father's cattle from the wily foeman's greed, | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| If a skilful chariot-driver could my fiery coursers lead, | 15 | ··/˘/˘/··/˘˘/˘· |
| For my ancient chariot-driver died on battle's gory plain, | 15 | ··/˘/˘˘/··/˘/˘· |
| Eight and twenty days we wrestled, many warlike chiefs were slain! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/···· |
| Bring me forth a skilful driver who can urge the battle-steed, | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| I will hoist my lion-banner, to the dubious battle speed! | 15 | ····//˘··/˘˘/˘· |
| Dashing through the foeman's horses, ranks of elephant and car, | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘˘·· |
| I will win the stolen cattle rescued in the field of war! | 15 | ····/˘/˘/˘····· |
| And like thunder-wielding INDRA, smiting Danu's sons of old, | 15 | ··/˘/˘··/˘····· |
| I will smite the Kuru chieftains, drive them to their distant hold! | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Bhishma and the proud Duryodhan, archer Karna known to fame, | 15 | ········/˘····· |
| Drona too shall quail before me and retreat in bitter shame! | 15 | ·········˘/·/˘· |
| Do those warriors in my absence Matsya's far-famed cattle steal? | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| But beneath my countless arrows Matsya's vengeance they shall feel! | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Bring me forth a chariot-driver, let me speed my battle-car, | 15 | ····/˘˘/····/˘· |
| And in wonder they will question--Is this Arjun famed in war?" | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.