Laurel · Vyasa · The Mahabharata (condensed)

Journey to Panchala

Vyasa (about 400 BC), translated by Romesh Chunder Dutt · 1899

trochaic octameter · rhyming couplets · 54 lines · from The Mahabharata (condensed)

Now the righteous sons of Pandu, wand'ring far from day to day,Unto South Panchala's country glad and joyful held their way,

For when travelling with their mother, so it chanced by will of fate,They were met by pious Brahmans bound for South Panchala's State,

And the pure and holy Brahmans hailed the youths of noble fame,Asked them whither they would journey, from what distant land they came.

"From the land of Ekachakra," good Yudhishthir answered so,"With our ancient mother travelling unto distant lands we go."

"Heard ye not," the Brahmans questioned, "in Panchala's fair domain,Drupad, good and gracious monarch, doth a mighty feast ordain?

To that festive land we journey, Drupad's bounteous gifts to share,And to see the swayamvara of Panchala's princess fair,--

Human mother never bore her, human bosom never fed,From the Altar sprang the maiden who some noble prince will wed!

Soft her eyes like lotus-petal, sweet her tender jasmine form,And a maiden's stainless honour doth her gentle soul inform!

And her brother, mailed and armed with his bow and arrows dire,Radiant as the blazing altar, sprang from Sacrificial Fire!

Fair the sister slender-waisted, dowered with beauty rich and rare,And like fragrance of blue lotus, perfumes all the sweetened air!

She will choose from noble suitors gathered from the west and east,Bright and fair shall be the wedding, rich and bounteous be the feast!

Kings will come from distant regions sacrificing wealth and gold,Stainless monarchs versed in sastra, pious-hearted, mighty-souled,

Handsome youths and noble princes from each near and distant land,Car-borne chieftains bold and skilful, brave of heart and stout of hand!

And to win the peerless princess they will scatter presents rare,Food and milch-kine, wealth and jewels, gold and gifts and garments fair,

Noble gifts we take as Brahmans, bless the rite with gladsome heart,Share the feast so rich and bounteous, then with joyful minds depart.

Actors, mimes, and tuneful minstrels fair Panchala's court will throng,Famed reciters of puranas, dancers skilled and wrestlers strong,

Come with us, the wedding witness, share the banquet rich and rare,Pleased with gifts and noble presents to your distant home repair.

Dowered ye are with princely beauty, like the radiant gods above,Even on you the partial princess may surrender heart and love!

And this youth so tall and stalwart, mighty-armed, strong and bold,He may win in feats of valour, and acquire much wealth and gold!"

"Be it so," Yudhishthir answered, "to Panchala we repair,View the wedding of the princess and the royal bounty share."

Thus the righteous sons of Pandu with the Brahmans took their way,Where in South Panchala's kingdom mighty Drupad held his sway.

Now the sinless saintly rishi, deathless bard of deathless lay,Herald of the holy Vedas, Vyasa stood before their way!

And the princes bowed unto him and received his blessings kind,By his mandate to Panchala went with pleased and joyful mind!

Jungle woods and silver waters round their sylvan pathway lay,Halting at each wayside station marched the princes day by day,

Stainless and intent on sastra, fair in speech and pure in heart,Travelling slow they reached Panchala, saw its spacious town and mart,

Saw the fort, bazaar and city, saw the spire and shining dome,In a potter's distant cottage made their humble unknown home,

And disguised as pious Brahmans sons of Pandu begged their food,People knew not Kuru's princes in that dwelling poor and rude.

Words in this poem 25

whither adv.: To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
bounteous a.: Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
princess n.: A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
stainless a.: Free from stain; immaculate.
honour n.: Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
mailed a.: Protected by an external coat, or covering, of scales or plates.
dire a.: Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
sacrificial a.: Of or pertaining to sacrifice or sacrifices; consisting in sacrifice; performing sacrifice.
dowered p. a.: Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion.
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,]
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
gladsome a.: Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
depart v. i.: To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
tuneful a.: Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
stalwart a.: Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
bounty n.: Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
sinless a.: Free from sin. Piers Plowman.
saintly a.: Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
deathless a.: Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
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.]
pathway n.: A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
wayside n.: The side of the way; the edge or border of a road or path.
mart v. t.: To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
bazaar n.: In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale. [Per. bazar market.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Journey to Panchala 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, Journey to Panchala, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/journey-to-panchala.html, id L15763.

Form and metre

Journey to Panchala is 54 lines in 27 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.

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 day^A · way^A
2 AA fate^A · state^A
3 AA fame^A · came^A
4 AA so^A · go^A
5 AA domain^A · ordain^A
6 AA share^A · fair^A
7 AA fed^A · wed^A
8 AA form^A · inform^A
9 AA dire^A · fire^A
10 AA rare^A · air^A
11 AA east^A · feast^A
12 AA gold^A · souled^A
13 AA land^A · hand^A
14 AA rare^A · fair^A
15 AA heart^A · depart^A
16 AA throng^A · strong^A
17 AA rare^A · repair^A
18 AA above^A · love^A
19 AA bold^A · gold^A
20 AA repair^A · share^A
21 AA way^A · sway^A
22 AA lay^A · way^A
23 AA kind^A · mind^A
24 AA lay^A · day^A
25 AA heart^A · mart^A
26 AA dome^A · home^A
27 AA food^A · rude^A

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
Now the righteous sons of Pandu, wand'ring far from day to day,	15	··/˘···········
Unto South Panchala's country glad and joyful held their way,	15	······/˘··/˘···
For when travelling with their mother, so it chanced by will of fate,	15	··/˘··/˘·······
They were met by pious Brahmans bound for South Panchala's State,	15	····/˘·········
And the pure and holy Brahmans hailed the youths of noble fame,	15	····/˘······/˘·
Asked them whither they would journey, from what distant land they came.	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
"From the land of Ekachakra," good Yudhishthir answered so,	15	············/˘·
"With our ancient mother travelling unto distant lands we go."	15	·//˘/˘/˘··/˘···
"Heard ye not," the Brahmans questioned, "in Panchala's fair domain,	15	······/˘·····˘/
Drupad, good and gracious monarch, doth a mighty feast ordain?	15	····/˘/···/˘·˘/
To that festive land we journey, Drupad's bounteous gifts to share,	16	··/˘··/˘··/˘˘···
And to see the swayamvara of Panchala's princess fair,--	14	···········/˘·
Human mother never bore her, human bosom never fed,	15	/˘/˘/˘··/˘/˘/˘·
From the Altar sprang the maiden who some noble prince will wed!	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
Soft her eyes like lotus-petal, sweet her tender jasmine form,	15	····/˘/˘··/˘/˘·
And a maiden's stainless honour doth her gentle soul inform!	15	··/˘/˘/˘··/˘·˘/
And her brother, mailed and armed with his bow and arrows dire,	15	··/˘·˘······/˘·
Radiant as the blazing altar, sprang from Sacrificial Fire!	16	/˘··/˘/˘···˘/˘/˘
Fair the sister slender-waisted, dowered with beauty rich and rare,	15	··/˘/˘/˘··/˘···
And like fragrance of blue lotus, perfumes all the sweetened air!	15	··/˘··/˘˘/··/˘·
She will choose from noble suitors gathered from the west and east,	15	····/˘/˘/˘·····
Bright and fair shall be the wedding, rich and bounteous be the feast!	16	······/˘··/˘˘···
Kings will come from distant regions sacrificing wealth and gold,	15	····/˘/˘/˘·˘···
Stainless monarchs versed in sastra, pious-hearted, mighty-souled,	15	/˘/···/˘/˘/˘/˘·
Handsome youths and noble princes from each near and distant land,	15	/˘··/˘/˘····/˘·
Car-borne chieftains bold and skilful, brave of heart and stout of hand!	15	··/˘··/˘·······
And to win the peerless princess they will scatter presents rare,	15	····/˘/˘··/˘/˘·
Food and milch-kine, wealth and jewels, gold and gifts and garments fair,	15	······/˘····/˘·
Noble gifts we take as Brahmans, bless the rite with gladsome heart,	15	/˘··········/˘·
Share the feast so rich and bounteous, then with joyful minds depart.	16	······/˘˘··/˘·˘/
Actors, mimes, and tuneful minstrels fair Panchala's court will throng,	15	/˘··/˘/˘·······
Famed reciters of puranas, dancers skilled and wrestlers strong,	15	········/˘··/˘·
Come with us, the wedding witness, share the banquet rich and rare,	15	····/˘/˘··/˘···
Pleased with gifts and noble presents to your distant home repair.	15	····/˘/˘··/˘·˘/
Dowered ye are with princely beauty, like the radiant gods above,	15	····/˘/˘··/˘···
Even on you the partial princess may surrender heart and love!	15	/···/˘/˘·˘/˘···
And this youth so tall and stalwart, mighty-armed, strong and bold,	15	······/˘/˘·˘···
He may win in feats of valour, and acquire much wealth and gold!"	15	······/˘·˘/····
"Be it so," Yudhishthir answered, "to Panchala we repair,	15	······/˘·····˘/
View the wedding of the princess and the royal bounty share."	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘/˘·
Thus the righteous sons of Pandu with the Brahmans took their way,	15	··/˘···········
Where in South Panchala's kingdom mighty Drupad held his sway.	15	······/˘/˘·····
Now the sinless saintly rishi, deathless bard of deathless lay,	15	··/˘/˘··/˘··/˘·
Herald of the holy Vedas, Vyasa stood before their way!	15	/˘··/˘/˘·······
And the princes bowed unto him and received his blessings kind,	15	··/˘·····˘/·/˘·
By his mandate to Panchala went with pleased and joyful mind!	15	··/·········/˘·
Jungle woods and silver waters round their sylvan pathway lay,	15	/˘··/˘/˘··/˘/··
Halting at each wayside station marched the princes day by day,	15	/˘··/·/˘··/˘···
Stainless and intent on sastra, fair in speech and pure in heart,	15	/˘·˘/·/˘·······
Travelling slow they reached Panchala, saw its spacious town and mart,	15	/˘········/˘···
Saw the fort, bazaar and city, saw the spire and shining dome,	15	···˘/·/˘····/˘·
In a potter's distant cottage made their humble unknown home,	15	··/˘/˘/˘··/˘˘/·
And disguised as pious Brahmans sons of Pandu begged their food,	15	·˘/·/˘·········
People knew not Kuru's princes in that dwelling poor and rude.	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.

More by Vyasa

The Mahabharata (condensed)