SECTION –CLXXVI
(Tirtha-yatra Parva Continued)
Vaisampayana said, "When they had left their
happy home in the beautiful mountain abounding in cascades, and having birds,
and the elephants of the eight quarters, and the supernatural attendants of
Kuvera (as dwellers thereof), all happiness forsook those foremost of men of
Bharata's race. But afterwards on beholding Kuvera's favourite mountain,
Kailasa, appearing like clouds, the delight of those pre-eminent heroes of the
race of Bharata, became very great. And those foremost of heroic men, equipped
with scimitars and bows, proceeded contentedly, beholding elevations and
defiles, and dens of lions and craggy causeways and innumerable water-falls and
lowlands, in different places, as also other great forests inhabited by
countless deer and birds and elephants. And they came upon beautiful woodlands
and rivers and lakes and caves and mountain caverns; and these frequently by
day and night became the dwelling place of those great men. And having dwelt in
all sorts of inaccessible places and crossing Kailasa of inconceivable
grandeur, they reached the excellent and surpassingly beautiful hermitage of
Vrishaparba. And meeting king Vrishaparba and received by him being they became
free from depression and then they accurately narrated in detail to Vrishaparba
the story of their sojourn in the mountains. And having pleasantly passed one
night in his sacred abode frequented by gods and Maharshis, those great
warriors proceeded smoothly towards the jujube tree called Visala and took up
their quarters there. Then all those magnanimous men having reached the place
of Narayana, continued to live there, bereft of all sorrow, at beholding
Kuvera's favourite lake, frequented by gods and Siddhas. And viewing that lake,
those foremost of men, the sons of Pandu traversed that place, renouncing all
grief even as immaculate Brahmana rishis (do) on attaining a habitation in the
Nandana gardens. Then all those warriors having in due course happily lived at
Badari for one month, proceeded towards the realm of Suvahu, king of the
Kiratas, by following the same track by which they had come. And crossing the
difficult Himalayan regions, and the countries of China, Tukhara, Darada and
all the climes of Kulinda, rich in heaps of jewels, those warlike men reached
the capital of Suvahu. And hearing that those sons and grandsons of kings had
all reached his kingdom, Suvahu, elated with joy, advanced (to meet them). Then
the best of the Kurus welcomed him also. And meeting king Suvahu, and being
joined by all their charioteers with Visoka at their head and by their
attendants, Indrasena and others, and also by the superintendents and servants
of the kitchen, they stayed there comfortably for one night. Then taking all
the chariots and chariot-men and dismissing Ghatotkacha together with his
followers, they next repaired to the monarch of mountains in the vicinity of
the Yamuna. In the midst of the mountain abounding in waterfalls and having
grey and orange-coloured slopes and summits covered with a sheet of snow, those
warlike men having then found the great forest of Visakhayupa like unto the
forest of Chitraratha and inhabited by wild boars and various kinds of deer and
birds, made it their home. Addicted to hunting as their chief occupation, the
sons of Pritha peacefully dwelt in that forest for one year. There in a cavern
of the mountain, Vrikodara, with a heart afflicted with distraction and grief,
came across a snake of huge strength distressed with hunger and looking fierce
like death itself. At this crisis Yudhishthira, the best of pious men, became
the protector of Vrikodara and he, of infinite puissance, extricated Bhima
whose whole body had been fast gripped by the snake with its folds. And the
twelfth year of their sojourn in forests having arrived, those scions of the
race of Kuru, blazing in effulgence, and engaged in asceticism, always devoted
principally to the practice of archery, repaired cheerfully from that
Chitraratha-like forest to the borders of the desert, and desirous of dwelling
by the Saraswati they went there, and from the banks of that river they reached
the lake of Dwaitabana. Then seeing them enter Dwaitabana, the dwellers of that
place engaged in asceticism, religious ordinances, and self-restraining
exercises and in deep and devout meditation and subsisting on things ground
with stone (for want of teeth) having procured grass-mats and water-vessels,
advanced to meet them. The holy fig, the rudaraksha, the rohitaka, the cane and
the jujube, the catechu, the sirisha, the bel and the inguda and the karira and
pilu and sami trees grew on the banks of the Saraswati. Wandering about with
contentment in (the vicinity of) the Saraswati which was, as it were, the home
of the celestials, and the favourite (resort) of Yakshas and Gandharvas and
Maharshis, those sons of kings lived there in happiness."
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