SECTION CLII
(Jatugriha Parva Continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then, when the night
had passed away, a large concourse of the townspeople came there in haste to
see the sons of Pandu. After extinguishing the fire, they saw that the house
just burnt down had been built of lac in materials and that (Duryodhana's)
counsellor Purochana had been burnt to death. And the people began to bewail
aloud saying, 'Indeed, this had been contrived by the sinful Duryodhana for the
destruction of the Pandavas. There is little doubt that Duryodhana hath, with
Dhritarashtra's knowledge, burnt to death the heirs of Pandu, else the prince
would have been prevented by his father. There is little doubt that even
Bhishma, the son of Santanu, and Drona and Vidura and Kripa and other Kauravas
have not, any of them, followed the dictates of duty. Let us now send to
Dhritarashtra to say, 'Thy great desire hath been achieved! Thou hast burnt to
death the Pandavas!'
"They then began to extinguish the members
to obtain some trace of the Pandavas, and they saw the innocent Nishada woman
with her five sons burnt to death. Then the miner sent by Vidura, while
removing the ashes, covered the hole he had dug with those ashes in such a way
that it remained unnoticed by all who had gone there.
"The citizens then sent to Dhritarashtra to
inform him that the Pandavas along with (Duryodhana's) counsellor Purochana had
been burnt to death. King Dhritarashtra, on hearing the evil news of the death
of the Pandavas, wept in great sorrow. And he said, 'King Pandu, my brother of
great fame, hath, indeed, died today when those heroic sons of his together
with their mother have been burnt to death. Ye men, repair quickly to
Varanavata and cause the funeral rites to be performed of those heroes and of
the daughter of Kuntiraj! Let also the bones of the deceased be sanctified with
the usual rites, and let all the beneficial and great acts (usual on such
occasions) be performed. Let the friends and relatives of those that have been
burnt to death repair thither. Let also all other beneficial acts that ought,
under the circumstances, to be performed by us for the Pandavas and Kunti be
accomplished by wealth.'
"Having said this, Dhritarashtra, the son of
Ambika, surrounded by his relatives, offered oblations of water to the sons of
Pandu. And all of them, afflicted with excessive sorrow, bewailed aloud,
exclaiming, 'O Yudhishthira! Oh prince of the Kuru race!'--While others cried
aloud, 'Oh, Bhima!--O Phalguna!'--while some again,--'Oh, the twins!--Oh,
Kunti!'--Thus did they sorrow for the Pandavas and offer oblations of water
unto them. The citizens also wept for the Pandavas but Vidura did not weep much,
because he knew the truth.
"Meanwhile the Pandavas endued with great
strength with their mother forming a company of six going out of the town of
Varanavata arrived at the banks of the Ganga. They then speedily reached the
opposite bank aided by the strength of the boatmen's arms, the rapidity of the
river's current, and a favourable wind. Leaving the boat, they proceeded in the
southern direction finding their way in the dark by the light of the stars.
After much suffering they at last reached, O king, a dense forest. They were
then tired and thirsty; sleep was closing their eyes every moment. Then
Yudhishthira, addressing Bhima endued with great energy, said, 'What can be
more painful than this? We are now in the deep woods. We know not which side is
which, nor can we proceed much further. We do not know whether that wretch
Purochana hath or hath not been burnt to death. How shall we escape from these
dangers unseen by others? O Bharata, taking us on thyself, proceed thou as
before. Thou alone amongst us art strong and swift as the wind.'
"Thus addressed by Yudhishthira the just,
the mighty Bhimasena, taking up on his body Kunti and his brothers, began to
proceed with great celerity.'"
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