(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Upon the birth of those three children, Kurujangala,
Kurukshetra, and the Kurus grew in prosperity. The earth began to yield
abundant harvest, and the crops also were of good flavour. And the clouds
began to pour rain in season and trees became full of fruits and flowers.
And the draught cattle were all happy and the birds and other animals
rejoiced exceedingly. And the flowers became fragrant and the fruits
became sweet; the cities and towns became filled with merchants, artisans,
traders and artists of every description. And the people became brave,
learned, honest and happy. And there were no robbers then, nor anybody who
was sinful. And it seemed that the golden age had come upon every part of
the kingdom. And the people devoted to virtuous acts, sacrifices and truth,
and regarding one another with love and affection grew in prosperity. And
free from pride, wrath and covetousness, they rejoiced in perfectly
innocent sports. And the capital of the Kurus, full as the ocean, was a
second Amaravati, teeming with hundreds of palaces and mansions, and
possessing gates and arches dark as the clouds. And men in great
cheerfulness sported constantly on rivers, lakes and tanks, and in fine
groves and charming woods. And the southern Kurus, in their virtuous
rivalry with their northern kinsmen, walked about in the company of
Siddhas and Charanas and Rishis. And all over that delightful country
whose prosperity was thus increased by the Kurus, there were no misers and
no widowed women. And the wells and lakes were ever full; the groves
abounded with trees, and the houses and abodes of Brahmanas were full of
wealth and the whole kingdom was full of festivities. And, O king,
virtuously ruled by Bhishma, the kingdom was adorned with hundreds of
sacrificial stakes. And the wheel of virtue having been set in motion by
Bhishma, and the country became so contented that the subjects of other
kingdoms, quitting their homes, came to dwell there and increase its
population. And the citizens and the people were filled with hope, upon
seeing the youthful acts of their illustrious princes. And, O king, in the
house of the Kuru chiefs as also of the principal citizens, "give", "eat"
were the only words constantly heard. And Dhritarashtra and Pandu and
Vidura of great intelligence were from their birth brought up by Bhishma,
as if they were his own sons. And the children, having passed through the
usual rites of their order, devoted themselves to vows and study. And they
grew up into fine young men skilled in the Vedas and all athletic sports.
And they became well-skilled in the practice of bow, in horsemanship, in
encounters with mace, sword and shield, in the management of elephants in
battle, and in the science of morality. Well-read in history and the
Puranas and various branches of learning, and acquainted with the truths
of the Vedas and their branches they acquired knowledge, which was
versatile and deep. And Pandu, possessed of great prowess, excelled all
men in archery while Dhritarashtra excelled all in personal strength,
while in the three worlds there was no one equal to Vidura in devotion to
virtue and in the knowledge of the dictates of morality. And beholding the
restoration of the extinct line of Santanu, the saying became current in
all countries that among mothers of heroes, the daughters of the king of
Kasi were the first; that among countries Kurujangala was the first; that
among virtuous men, Vidura was the first; that among cities Hastinapura
was the first. Pandu became king, for Dhritarashtra, owing to the
blindness, and Vidura, for his birth by a Sudra woman, did not obtain the
kingdom. One day Bhishma, the foremost of those acquainted with the duties
of a statesman and dictates of morality, properly addressing Vidura
conversant with the truth of religion and virtue, said as follows.'"