The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 232

Section CCXXXII. *( Khandava-daha Parva continued. )* Vaisampayana said, "When the fire blazed forth in the forest of Khāndava, the infant *Sharngakas* became very much distressed and afflicted. And filled with anxiety, they saw not any means of escape. And their mother, the helpless Jaritā, knowing that they were too young to escape, was filled with sorrow and wept aloud. And she said, 'Oh, the terrible conflagration, illuminating the whole universe and burning the forest down, approacheth towards us, increasing my woe! These infants with immature understandings, without feathers and feet, and the sole refuge of our deceased ancestors, afflict me! Oh, this fire approacheth, spreading fear all around, and licking with its tongue the tallest trees! But my unfledged children are incapable of effecting their escape! I myself am not capable of escaping, taking all of these with me! Nor am I capable of abandoning them, for my heart is distressed on their account. Whom, amongst my sons, shall I leave behind, and whom shall I carry with me? What act should I now do that is consistent with duty? What also do ye, my infant sons, think? I do not, even on reflection, see any way of escape for ye! I shall even cover ye with my wings and die with ye! Your cruel father left me sometime before saying.—Upon this Jaritāri, because he is eldest of my sons, will my race depend. My second Sārisrikka, will beget progeny for the expansion of my ancestor's race. My third, Stamvamitra, will be devoted to asceticism, and my youngest, Drona, will become the foremost of those acquainted with the Vedas.—But now this terrible calamity hath overtaken us. Whom shall I take with me? Deprived of judgment as I am, what should I do that is consistent with duty? I do not see, in the exercise of my own judgment, the escape of my children from fire!'" Vaisampayana said, "Unto their mother indulging in these lamentations, the infant ones said, 'O mother, relinquishing thy affection for us, go thou to a place where there is no fire. If we are killed here, thou mayst have other children born to thee! If thou art, O mother, killed, we can have no more children in our race. Reflecting upon both these calamities, the time hath come for thee, O mother, to do that which is beneficial to our race. Do not be influenced by affection for thy offspring, which promises to destroy both us and thee! If thou savest thyself, our father who is even desirous of winning regions of felicity, may have his wishes gratified!' "Hearing what those infants said, Jaritā replied, 'There is a hole here in the ground near to this tree, belonging to a mouse. Enter ye this hole without loss of time. Ye shall have then no fear of fire. After ye have entered it, I shall, ye children, cover its mouth with dust. This is the only means of escape that I see from the blazing fire. Then when the fire will be quenched, I shall return hither to remove the dust. Follow ye my advice if ye are to escape from the conflagration.' "The infant birds replied, 'Without feathers we are but so many balls of flesh. If we enter the hole, certain it is that the carnivorous mouse will destroy us all. Beholding this danger before us, we cannot enter this hole. Alas, we do not see any means by which we may escape from fire or from the mouse. We do not see how our father's act of procreation may not turn futile, and how also our mother may be saved! If we enter the hole, the mouse will destroy us; if we remain where we are, the sky-ranging fire will destroy us. Reflecting upon both these calamities, a fiery death is preferable to death by being eaten up. If we are devoured by the mouse within the hole, that death is certainly ignoble, whereas the destruction of the body in fire is approved by the wise.'" Thus ends the two hundred and thirty-second Section in the Khāndava-dāha of the Adi Parva.