The Banishment
Now Yudhishthir 'reft of empire, far from kinsmen, hearth and home,With his wife and faithful brothers must as houseless exiles roam.
Parting blessings spake Yudhishthir, "Elder of the Kuru line,Noble grandsire stainless Bhishma, may thy glories ever shine!
Drona priest and great preceptor, saintly Kripa true and brave,Kuru's monarch Dhrita-rashtra, may the gods thy empire save!
Good Vidura true and faithful, may thy virtue serve thee well!Warlike sons of Dhrita-rashtra, let me bid you all farewell!"
So he spake unto his kinsmen, wishing good for evil done,And in silent shame they listened, parting words they uttered none!
Pained at heart was good Vidura, and he asked in sore distress:"Arya Pritha, will she wander in the pathless wilderness?
Royal-born, unused to hardship, weak and long unused to roam,Aged is thy saintly mother, let fair Pritha stay at home.
And by all beloved, respected, in my house shall Pritha dwell,Till your years of exile over, ye shall greet her safe and well."
Answered him the sons of Pandu: "Be it even as you say,Unto us thou art a father, we thy sacred will obey,
Give us then thy holy blessings, friend and father, ere we part,Blessings from the true and righteous brace the feeble, fainting heart."
Spake Vidura, pious-hearted: "Best of Bharat's ancient race,Let me bless thee and thy brothers, souls of truth and righteous grace!
Fortune brings no weal to mortals who may win by wicked wile,Sorrow brings no shame to mortals who are free from sin and guile!
Thou art trained in laws of duty, Arjun is unmatched in war,And on Bhima in the battle kindly shines his faithful star,
And the Twins excel in wisdom, born to rule a mighty State,Fair Draupadi, ever faithful, wins the smiles of fickle Fate!
Each with varied gifts endowed, each beloved of one and all,Ye shall win a spacious empire, greater, mightier, after fall.
This your exile, good Yudhishthir, is ordained to serve your weal,Is a trial and samadhi, for it chastens but to heal!
Meru taught thee righteous maxims where Himalay soars above,And in Varnavata's forest Vyasa taught thee holy love,
Rama preached the laws of duty far on Bhrigu's lofty hill,Sambhu showed the 'way' where floweth Drisad-vati's limpid rill,
Fell from lips of saint Asita, words of wisdom deep and grave,Bhrigu touched with fire thy bosom by the dark Kalmashi's wave,
Now once more the teaching cometh, purer, brighter, oftener taught,Learn the truth from heavenly Narad, happy is thy mortal lot!
Greater than the son of Ila, than the kings of earth in might,Holier than the holy rishis, be thou in thy virtue bright!
INDRA help thee in thy battles, proud subduer of mankind,YAMA in the mightier duty, in the conquest of thy mind!
Good KUVERA teach thee kindness, hungry and the poor to feed,King VARNUA quell thy passions, free thy heart from sin and greed!
Like the Moon in holy lustre, like the Earth in patience deep,Like the Sun be full of radiance, strong like wind's resistless sweep!
In thy sorrow, in affliction, ever deeper lessons learn,Righteous be your life in exile, happy be your safe return!
May these eyes again behold thee in Hastina's ancient town,Conqueror of earthly trials, crowned with virtue's heavenly crown!"
Spake Vidura to the brothers, and they felt their might increase,Bowed to him in salutation, filled with deeper, holier peace,
Bowed to Bhishma and to Drona, and to chiefs and elders all,Exiles to the pathless jungle left their father's ancient hall!
Words in this poem 16
- houseless a.
- Destitute of the shelter of a house; shelterless; homeless; as, a houseless wanderer.
- grandsire n.
- Specifically, a grandfather; more generally, any ancestor. [OF. grantsire. See Grand, and Sire.]
- stainless a.
- Free from stain; immaculate.
- preceptor n.
- One who gives commands, or makes rules; specifically, the master or principal of a school; a teacher; an instructor. [L. praeceptor, fr. praecipere to teach: cf. F. précepteur. See Precept.]
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
- pathless a.
- Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
- 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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- wile n.
- A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement. [OE. wile, AS. wil; cf. Icel. v, væl. Cf. Guile.]
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- subduer n.
- One who, or that which, subdues; a conqueror.
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Banishment 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, The Banishment, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-banishment.html, id L15782.
Form and metre
The Banishment is 56 lines in 28 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 96% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.0 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 homeA · roamA
- 2 AA lineA · shineA
- 3 AA braveA · saveA
- 4 AA wellA · farewellA
- 5 AA doneA · noneA
- 6 AA distressA · wildernessA
- 7 AA roamA · homeA
- 8 AA dwellA · wellA
- 9 AA sayA · obeyA
- 10 AA partA · heartA
- 11 AA raceA · graceA
- 12 AA wileA · guileA
- 14 AA stateA · fateA
- 15 AA allA · fallA
- 16 AA wealA · healA
- 17 AA aboveA · loveA
- 18 AA hillA · rillA
- 19 AA graveA · waveA
- 20 AA taughtA · lotA
- 21 AA mightA · brightA
- 22 AA mankindA · mindA
- 23 AA feedA · greedA
- 24 AA deepA · sweepA
- 25 AA learnA · returnA
- 26 AA townA · crownA
- 27 AA increaseA · peaceA
- 28 AA allA · hallA
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 Yudhishthir 'reft of empire, far from kinsmen, hearth and home, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| With his wife and faithful brothers must as houseless exiles roam. | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘/·· |
| Parting blessings spake Yudhishthir, "Elder of the Kuru line, | 15 | /˘/˘····/˘····· |
| Noble grandsire stainless Bhishma, may thy glories ever shine! | 15 | /˘/˘/˘····/˘/˘· |
| Drona priest and great preceptor, saintly Kripa true and brave, | 15 | ·····˘/˘/˘····· |
| Kuru's monarch Dhrita-rashtra, may the gods thy empire save! | 15 | ··/·········/˘· |
| Good Vidura true and faithful, may thy virtue serve thee well! | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Warlike sons of Dhrita-rashtra, let me bid you all farewell!" | 15 | /·············/ |
| So he spake unto his kinsmen, wishing good for evil done, | 15 | ········/˘··/˘· |
| And in silent shame they listened, parting words they uttered none! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Pained at heart was good Vidura, and he asked in sore distress: | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| "Arya Pritha, will she wander in the pathless wilderness? | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Royal-born, unused to hardship, weak and long unused to roam, | 15 | /˘·˘/·/˘···˘/·· |
| Aged is thy saintly mother, let fair Pritha stay at home. | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
| And by all beloved, respected, in my house shall Pritha dwell, | 15 | ···˘/˘/˘······· |
| Till your years of exile over, ye shall greet her safe and well." | 15 | ····/·········· |
| Answered him the sons of Pandu: "Be it even as you say, | 15 | /˘········/˘··· |
| Unto us thou art a father, we thy sacred will obey, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Give us then thy holy blessings, friend and father, ere we part, | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Blessings from the true and righteous brace the feeble, fainting heart." | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Spake Vidura, pious-hearted: "Best of Bharat's ancient race, | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Let me bless thee and thy brothers, souls of truth and righteous grace! | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Fortune brings no weal to mortals who may win by wicked wile, | 15 | /˘····/˘····/˘· |
| Sorrow brings no shame to mortals who are free from sin and guile! | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| Thou art trained in laws of duty, Arjun is unmatched in war, | 15 | ······/˘···˘/·· |
| And on Bhima in the battle kindly shines his faithful star, | 15 | ······/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And the Twins excel in wisdom, born to rule a mighty State, | 15 | ···˘/·/˘····/˘· |
| Fair Draupadi, ever faithful, wins the smiles of fickle Fate! | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Each with varied gifts endowed, each beloved of one and all, | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘·˘/···· |
| Ye shall win a spacious empire, greater, mightier, after fall. | 15 | ····/˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| This your exile, good Yudhishthir, is ordained to serve your weal, | 15 | ··/······˘/···· |
| Is a trial and samadhi, for it chastens but to heal! | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Meru taught thee righteous maxims where Himalay soars above, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| And in Varnavata's forest Vyasa taught thee holy love, | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Rama preached the laws of duty far on Bhrigu's lofty hill, | 15 | /˘····/˘····/˘· |
| Sambhu showed the 'way' where floweth Drisad-vati's limpid rill, | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Fell from lips of saint Asita, words of wisdom deep and grave, | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| Bhrigu touched with fire thy bosom by the dark Kalmashi's wave, | 15 | ····/·/˘······· |
| Now once more the teaching cometh, purer, brighter, oftener taught, | 15 | ····/˘/˘/˘//˘˘· |
| Learn the truth from heavenly Narad, happy is thy mortal lot! | 15 | ····/˘··/˘··/˘· |
| Greater than the son of Ila, than the kings of earth in might, | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| Holier than the holy rishis, be thou in thy virtue bright! | 15 | /˘··/˘······/˘· |
| INDRA help thee in thy battles, proud subduer of mankind, | 15 | ······/˘·˘/˘·// |
| YAMA in the mightier duty, in the conquest of thy mind! | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Good KUVERA teach thee kindness, hungry and the poor to feed, | 15 | ······/˘/˘····· |
| King VARNUA quell thy passions, free thy heart from sin and greed! | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| Like the Moon in holy lustre, like the Earth in patience deep, | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Like the Sun be full of radiance, strong like wind's resistless sweep! | 15 | ······/˘···˘/˘· |
| In thy sorrow, in affliction, ever deeper lessons learn, | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Righteous be your life in exile, happy be your safe return! | 15 | /˘····/·/˘···˘/ |
| May these eyes again behold thee in Hastina's ancient town, | 15 | ···˘/˘/·····/˘· |
| Conqueror of earthly trials, crowned with virtue's heavenly crown!" | 15 | /˘·/˘/˘··/˘/˘˘· |
| Spake Vidura to the brothers, and they felt their might increase, | 15 | ······/˘·····˘/ |
| Bowed to him in salutation, filled with deeper, holier peace, | 15 | ··········/˘/˘· |
| Bowed to Bhishma and to Drona, and to chiefs and elders all, | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Exiles to the pathless jungle left their father's ancient hall! | 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.