Laurel · Vyasa · The Mahabharata (condensed)

The Wedding

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

trochaic octameter · rhyming couplets · 48 lines · from The Mahabharata (condensed)

Good Yudhishthir heard the tidings, and he gave his free assent,Unto distant chiefs and monarchs kindly invitations sent,

In the town of Upa-plavya, of fair Matsya's towns the best,Made their home the pious brothers to receive each royal guest.

Came unto them Kasi's monarch and his armed troopers came,And the king of fair Panchala with his sons of warlike fame,

Came the sons of fair Draupadi early trained in art of war,Other chiefs and sacrifices came from regions near and far.

Krishna decked in floral garlands with his elder brother came,And his sister fair Subhadra, Arjun's loved and longing dame,

Arjun's son brave Abhimanyu came upon his flowery car,And with elephants and chargers, troopers trained in art of war.

Vrishnis from the sea-girt Dwarka, bravo Andhakas known to fame,Bhojas from the mighty Chumbal with the righteous Krishna came,

He to gallant sons of Pandu made his presents rich and rare,Gems and gold and costly garments, slaves and damsels passing fair.

With its quaint and festive greetings came at last the bridal day,Matsya maids were merry-hearted and the Pandav brothers gay!

Conch and cymbal, horn and trumpet spake forth music soft and sweet,In Virata's royal palace, in the peopled mart and street!

And they slay the jungle red-deer, and they spread the ample board,And prepare the cooling palm-drink, with the richest viands stored!

Mimes and actors please the people, bards recite the ancient song,Glories of heroic houses minstrels by their lays prolong!

And deep-bosomed dames of Matsya, jasmine-form and lotus-face,With their pearls and golden garlands joyously the bridal grace!

Circled by those royal ladies, though they all are bright and fair,Brightest shines the fair Draupadi with a beauty rich and rare!

Stately dames and merry maidens lead the young and soft-eyed bride,As the queens of gods encircle INDRA'S daughter in her pride!

Arjun from the Matsya monarch takes the princess passing fair,For his son by fair Subhadra, nursed by Krishna's loving care,

With a godlike grace Yudhishthir stands by faithful Arjun's side,As a father takes a daughter, takes the young and beauteous bride,

Joins her hands to Abhimanyu's, and with cake and parched rice,On the altar brightly blazing doth the holy sacrifice.

Matsya's monarch on the bridegroom rich and costly presents pressed,Elephants he gave two hundred, steeds seven thousand of the best,

Poured libations on the altar, on the priests bestowed his gold,Offered to the sons of Pandu rich domain and wealth untold!

With a pious hand Yudhishthir, true in heart and pure in mind,Made his gifts, in gold and garments, kine and wealth of every kind,

Costly chariots, beds of splendour, robes with thread of gold belaced,Viands rich and sweet confection, drinks the richest and the best,

Lands he gave unto the Brahman, bullocks to the labouring swain,Steeds he gave unto the warrior, to the people gifts and grain,

And the city of the Matsyas, teeming with a wealth untold,Shone with festive joy and gladness and with flags and cloth of gold!

Words in this poem 18

dame n.: A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
bravo n.: A daring villain; a bandit; one who sets law at defiance; a professional assassin or murderer. [I. See Brave, a.]
quaint a.: Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
cymbal n.: A musical instrument used by the ancients. It is supposed to have been similar to the modern kettle drum, though perhaps smaller. [OE. cimbale, simbale, OF. cimbale, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. kubha pot. Cf. Chime.]
peopled a.: Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
mart v. t.: To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
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.]
cooling a.: Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
circled a.: Having the form of a circle; round.
princess n.: A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
beauteous a.: Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
bridegroom n.: A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
untold a.: Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
splendour n.: Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
confection n.: A composition of different materials. [F., fr. L. confectio.]
labouring a.: That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
teeming a.: Prolific; productive.

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

About this text

The Wedding 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 Wedding, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-wedding.html, id L15795.

Form and metre

The Wedding is 48 lines in 24 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% 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 assent^A · sent^A
2 AA best^A · guest^A
3 AA came^A · fame^A
5 AA came^A · dame^A
7 AA fame^A · came^A
8 AA rare^A · fair^A
9 AA day^A · gay^A
10 AA sweet^A · street^A
11 AA board^A · stored^A
12 AA song^A · prolong^A
13 AA face^A · grace^A
14 AA fair^A · rare^A
15 AA bride^A · pride^A
16 AA fair^A · care^A
17 AA side^A · bride^A
18 AA rice^A · sacrifice^A
19 AA pressed^A · best^A
20 AA gold^A · untold^A
21 AA mind^A · kind^A
23 AA swain^A · grain^A
24 AA untold^A · gold^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
Good Yudhishthir heard the tidings, and he gave his free assent,	15	······/˘·····˘/
Unto distant chiefs and monarchs kindly invitations sent,	15	··/˘··/·/˘·˘/˘·
In the town of Upa-plavya, of fair Matsya's towns the best,	15	···············
Made their home the pious brothers to receive each royal guest.	15	····/˘/˘·˘/·/˘·
Came unto them Kasi's monarch and his armed troopers came,	15	····/˘/····˘/˘·
And the king of fair Panchala with his sons of warlike fame,	15	············/··
Came the sons of fair Draupadi early trained in art of war,	15	········/˘·····
Other chiefs and sacrifices came from regions near and far.	15	/˘··/˘·˘··/˘···
Krishna decked in floral garlands with his elder brother came,	15	/˘··/˘/˘··/˘/˘·
And his sister fair Subhadra, Arjun's loved and longing dame,	15	··/˘········/˘·
Arjun's son brave Abhimanyu came upon his flowery car,	15	············/˘·
And with elephants and chargers, troopers trained in art of war.	15	··/˘˘·/˘/˘·····
Vrishnis from the sea-girt Dwarka, bravo Andhakas known to fame,	16	········/˘······
Bhojas from the mighty Chumbal with the righteous Krishna came,	15	····/˘····/˘/˘·
He to gallant sons of Pandu made his presents rich and rare,	15	··/˘······/˘···
Gems and gold and costly garments, slaves and damsels passing fair.	15	····/˘/˘··/˘/˘·
With its quaint and festive greetings came at last the bridal day,	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
Matsya maids were merry-hearted and the Pandav brothers gay!	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
Conch and cymbal, horn and trumpet spake forth music soft and sweet,	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
In Virata's royal palace, in the peopled mart and street!	15	····/˘/˘··/˘···
And they slay the jungle red-deer, and they spread the ample board,	15	····/˘······/˘·
And prepare the cooling palm-drink, with the richest viands stored!	15	·˘/·/˘····/˘···
Mimes and actors please the people, bards recite the ancient song,	15	··/˘··/˘·˘/·/˘·
Glories of heroic houses minstrels by their lays prolong!	15	/˘·˘/˘/˘/˘···˘/
And deep-bosomed dames of Matsya, jasmine-form and lotus-face,	15	··/˘····/˘··/˘·
With their pearls and golden garlands joyously the bridal grace!	14	····/˘/˘···/˘·
Circled by those royal ladies, though they all are bright and fair,	15	/˘··/˘/˘·······
Brightest shines the fair Draupadi with a beauty rich and rare!	15	/˘········/˘···
Stately dames and merry maidens lead the young and soft-eyed bride,	15	/˘··/˘/˘·······
As the queens of gods encircle INDRA'S daughter in her pride!	15	·····˘/˘··/˘···
Arjun from the Matsya monarch takes the princess passing fair,	15	······/···/˘/˘·
For his son by fair Subhadra, nursed by Krishna's loving care,	15	··········/˘/˘·
With a godlike grace Yudhishthir stands by faithful Arjun's side,	15	··/˘······/˘···
As a father takes a daughter, takes the young and beauteous bride,	16	··/˘··/˘····/˘˘·
Joins her hands to Abhimanyu's, and with cake and parched rice,	15	·············˘·
On the altar brightly blazing doth the holy sacrifice.	15	··/˘/˘/˘··/˘/˘·
Matsya's monarch on the bridegroom rich and costly presents pressed,	15	··/···/···/˘/˘·
Elephants he gave two hundred, steeds seven thousand of the best,	15	/˘˘···/˘·//˘···
Poured libations on the altar, on the priests bestowed his gold,	15	······/˘···˘/··
Offered to the sons of Pandu rich domain and wealth untold!	15	/˘·······˘/··˘/
With a pious hand Yudhishthir, true in heart and pure in mind,	15	··/˘···········
Made his gifts, in gold and garments, kine and wealth of every kind,	15	······/˘····/˘·
Costly chariots, beds of splendour, robes with thread of gold belaced,	15	/˘/˘··/˘·······
Viands rich and sweet confection, drinks the richest and the best,	15	·····˘/˘··/˘···
Lands he gave unto the Brahman, bullocks to the labouring swain,	15	········/˘··/˘·
Steeds he gave unto the warrior, to the people gifts and grain,	15	······/˘··/˘···
And the city of the Matsyas, teeming with a wealth untold,	15	··/˘····/˘···˘/
Shone with festive joy and gladness and with flags and cloth of gold!	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.

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The Mahabharata (condensed)