Parva 15

15.1.1 Janamejaya said: When my illustrious grandsires the Pāṇḍavas had won the kingdom, how did they conduct themselves toward the great-souled king Dhṛtarāṣṭra?

15.1.2 That king, his counsellors slain, his sons slain, left without support and stripped of sovereignty—how did he fare, and how the renowned Gāndhārī?

15.1.3 And for how long did those great-souled forefathers of mine remain in possession of the kingdom? This you ought to expound to me.

15.1.4 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having won the kingdom, their foes slain, the great-souled Pāṇḍavas governed the earth, keeping Dhṛtarāṣṭra at their head.

15.1.5 Upon Dhṛtarāṣṭra waited Vidura and Saṃjaya, and the wise Yuyutsu too, that Kaurava born of a vaiśya woman.

15.1.6 In all affairs the Pāṇḍavas consulted that king, and with his sanction they carried them out for fifteen years.

15.1.7 Daily those heroes would go and attend upon that king, doing homage at his feet and abiding by the Dharma-king's will; and when he had kissed their heads, they went about all their tasks.

15.1.8 Kuntī, daughter of Kuntibhoja, deferred to Gāndhārī; and Draupadī and Subhadrā and the other wives of the Pāṇḍavas behaved with equal devotion toward both mothers-in-law, as was due.

15.1.9 Costly couches, garments, and ornaments, and all things befitting a king, and foods and dainties in great abundance—all these, O great king, Yudhiṣṭhira presented to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.1.10 Likewise Kuntī behaved toward Gāndhārī as toward an elder; and Vidura, Saṃjaya, and Yuyutsu the Kaurava waited upon that aged lord of men whose sons were slain.

15.1.11 And Droṇa's brother-in-law, that one beloved and mighty brāhmaṇa, the great archer Kṛpa, was likewise at his side then.

15.1.12 And the blessed Vyāsa, that sage of old, ever dwelt with the king, telling tales of gods, divine seers, kings, and rākṣasas.

15.1.13 Matters in accord with dharma and bound up with civil dealings, Vidura, sanctioned by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, caused to be carried out.

15.1.14 Even weighty favors sought of him by the neighboring chiefs were obtained at trifling cost, through the influence of Vidura.

15.1.15 He effected releases of prisoners and the freeing of those condemned to death, and the king, son of Dharma, never said anything against it.

15.1.16 And on outings and excursions the Kuru king Yudhiṣṭhira of great splendor granted every desire to the son of Ambikā.

15.1.17 Cooks, broth-makers, and confectioners of sweets waited upon king Dhṛtarāṣṭra as in former days.

15.1.18 And costly garments and garlands of many kinds the Pāṇḍavas duly brought to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.1.19 Maireya liquor, mead, meats, and light beverages, and varied preparations of dainties, they made for him as before.

15.1.20 And those guardians of the earth who came together from all quarters all waited upon the Kaurava lord as in former days.

15.1.21 And Kuntī and Draupadī, and the lovely Sātvatī woman, and Ulūpī the serpent-maiden, and the lady Citrāṅgadā as well—

15.1.22 and the sister of Dhṛṣṭaketu, and the daughter of Jarāsaṃdha—all of these waited like handmaids upon the daughter of Subala.

15.1.23 "Bereft of his sons though he is, let him suffer no grief whatever"—thus did Yudhiṣṭhira ever instruct his brothers, the king commanding them.

15.1.24 And so, having heard the weighty word of the Dharma-king, they conducted themselves with special care—all save Bhīma alone.

15.1.25 For that which had been wrought through the dicing by evil-minded Dhṛtarāṣṭra never slipped from the heart of that hero.

15.2.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus honored by the Pāṇḍavas, the king, son of Ambikā, disported himself as of old, attended by sages.

15.2.2 And that scion of the Kurus made grants of land in gift to brāhmaṇas, and the king, son of Kuntī, approved of it all.

15.2.3 King Yudhiṣṭhira, devoted to gentleness and full of affection, then spoke thus to his brothers and his counsellors, that lord of the earth:

15.2.4 "By me and by you this lord of men is to be honored. Whoever abides by Dhṛtarāṣṭra's command is my friend; the man who acts contrary is my foe, and shall be cast out."

15.2.5 "And on the appointed days, in the funeral rites for his sons, let the king bestow upon all whatever he is minded to give."

15.2.6 Then that great-minded Kaurava king Dhṛtarāṣṭra gave riches without stint to brāhmaṇas worthy of high honor.

15.2.7 And the Dharma-king, and Bhīma, and Savyasācin, and the twins too, all followed in this out of regard for Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.2.8 "How may the aged king, smitten with grief for his sons, not perish from any sorrow brought upon him by us?"—thus did they take thought.

15.2.9 "Whatever happiness was the chief of the Kurus' when his sons were living, let him attain that and its enjoyments"—thus were they resolved.

15.2.10 Then all the five Pāṇḍava brothers together, of such disposition, stood obedient to the rule of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.2.11 And Dhṛtarāṣṭra looked upon those heroes—well-disciplined, steadfast in good conduct, ever bearing themselves as pupils—as a teacher upon his own.

15.2.12 And Gāndhārī, through manifold funeral rites for her sons, discharged her debt to them, bestowing their desires upon the brāhmaṇas.

15.2.13 Thus the foremost of the upholders of dharma, the wise Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira, together with his brothers, did honor to that king.

15.3.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: That king of mighty splendor, the aged upholder of the Kuru line, saw then nothing displeasing in the son of Pāṇḍu.

15.3.2 While the great-souled Pāṇḍavas held to good conduct, king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, son of Ambikā, grew full of contentment.

15.3.3 And Gāndhārī, daughter of Subala, casting off her grief for her sons, was ever well-pleased with them, as with her own children.

15.3.4 Toward the king, son of Vicitravīrya, the Kaurava ever did only what was pleasing and nothing displeasing, O scion of the Kurus.

15.3.5 Whatever task, weighty or slight, that lord of men Dhṛtarāṣṭra would name, and the renowned Gāndhārī as well—

15.3.6 that, O great king, the king, the foremost burden-bearer of the Pāṇḍavas, the slayer of hostile heroes, honored the word and carried out.

15.3.7 With such conduct that lord of men was pleased with him, yet he grieved, remembering his dull and witless son.

15.3.8 And ever, rising at dawn, the king, having said his prayers and purified himself, would invoke for the sons of Pāṇḍu unconquerableness in battle.

15.3.9 And having had the brāhmaṇas recite their blessings and having made oblation to the fire, that lord of men would invoke long life for the sons of Pāṇḍu.

15.3.10 That lord of the earth had not attained from his own sons such supreme joy as the king then attained from the sons of Pāṇḍu.

15.3.11 And to the brāhmaṇas and the elders and the kṣatriyas, O Bhārata, and to the assembled vaiśyas and śūdras, he then became most dear.

15.3.12 And whatever wrong had formerly been done by Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons, the king, not keeping it in his heart, deferred to that king.

15.3.13 And whatever man did anything displeasing to the son of Ambikā incurred the hatred of the wise son of Kuntī.

15.3.14 For fear of Yudhiṣṭhira no man would speak any ill deed of king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, nor indeed of Duryodhana.

15.3.15 Pleased with the firmness of the king of men, and with his purity, were Gāndhārī and Vidura too—of him whose foe was never born; but not with Bhīma, O slayer of foes.

15.3.16 Bhīma too complied, though grumbling, with the king born of Dharma; yet looking upon Dhṛtarāṣṭra he was ever ill at heart.

15.3.17 That Kaurava complied with the great-minded son of Dharma, the king, who deferred to Dhṛtarāṣṭra—but with his heart turned away.

15.4.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Between king Yudhiṣṭhira and the father of Duryodhana, O king, men saw no difference in regard to affection.

15.4.2 But whenever the Kaurava king remembered his foolish son, then, O king, that lord brooded ill in his heart against Bhīma.

15.4.3 And likewise Bhīmasena could not endure king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, O lord of kings, being ever as it were discontented in his heart.

15.4.4 In secret Vṛkodara did things displeasing to him, and ever, through suborned men, he would countermand his commands.

15.4.5 Then Bhīma, the wrathful one, amid his friends would clap his arms within the hearing of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and of Gāndhārī as well.

15.4.6 Recalling his foe Duryodhana, and Karṇa and Duḥśāsana too, Bhīma, much enraged, then spoke these harsh words:

15.4.7 "The sons of the blind king were all sent by me, of the mace-like arms, to yonder world, their lives taken by sundry weapons."

15.4.8 "These are those two arms of mine, like iron bludgeons, unassailable, coming within whose reach the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra went to their destruction."

15.4.9 "These two arms of mine, anointed with sandal and worthy of worship, by which Duryodhana was brought to ruin with his sons and kinsmen."

15.4.10 These and other manifold words of Vṛkodara, sharp as barbs, the lord of men heard, and was overcome with despair.

15.4.11 And that wise lady, who knew the turning of the times, Gāndhārī, versed in all dharma, heard those bitter taunts.

15.4.12 Then, when the fifteenth year had passed, the lord of men, the king, fell into despair, tormented by the arrows of Bhīma's speech.

15.4.13 Of this the king, Yudhiṣṭhira son of Kuntī, was unaware, nor was Arjuna of the white steeds, nor Kuntī, nor the renowned Draupadī.

15.4.14 But the two sons of Mādrī, who knew Bhīma's mind, gave their assent; yet, guarding the king's feelings, they uttered nothing displeasing.

15.4.15 Then Dhṛtarāṣṭra gathered together his friends, and choked exceedingly with tears, he spoke this word with great force:

15.5.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: It is known to you how the destruction of the Kurus came to pass; and all of it, O Kauravas, must be understood to have sprung from my fault.

15.5.2 For it was I who consecrated to the sovereignty of the Kauravas that evil-minded, deluded Duryodhana, the increaser of his kinsmen's terror.

15.5.3 And in that I, dull of mind, did not heed the weighty word of Vāsudeva—"It is well that this sinner be slain along with his counsellors"—

15.5.4 and that, overcome by love of my son, though counselled for my good by the wise—by Vidura, by Bhīṣma, by Droṇa, and by Kṛpa—

15.5.5 and at every step by the blessed great-souled Vyāsa, by Saṃjaya, and by Gāndhārī—for this it is that I am tormented today.

15.5.6 And in that I did not bestow upon the virtuous, great-souled sons of Pāṇḍu this blazing splendor, the heritage of fathers and forefathers—

15.5.7 for, foreseeing the destruction of all the kings, Janārdana the elder brother of Gada deemed this the supreme good.

15.5.8 And so I bear within my heart, forever, these falsehoods that have rebounded upon myself, lodged there like a thousand barbs.

15.5.9 And especially do I burn now in this fifteenth year; and for the purifying of this sin I, most ill-witted, hold myself under vows of restraint.

15.5.10 At the appointed fourth watch, and sometimes only at the eighth, I take but what quells my thirst; Gāndhārī knows this of me.

15.5.11 All my attendants always suppose that I take food, for they fear Yudhiṣṭhira; yet the son of Pāṇḍu knows it well, and grieves exceedingly.

15.5.12 I lie upon the ground, given over to silent prayer, on a bed of darbha grass and wrapped in deerskin; and the illustrious Gāndhārī too, under the same vow of discipline.

15.5.13 My hundred sons, heroes who never fled from battle, were slain; yet for that I do not mourn, for men know that to be the law of the warrior. Having said this to the King of Righteousness, the Kaurava spoke again.

15.5.14 Blessings upon you, son of the Yādava mother; hear now these words of mine. Happily have I dwelt here, my son, well cared for by you.

15.5.15 Great gifts have been given, and again and again the rites for the dead performed; my years are far advanced, my son, and I have practiced merit as my strength allowed. This Gāndhārī, who has lost her sons, looks upon me with fortitude.

15.5.16 Those who wronged Draupadī and who robbed you of your sovereignty are no more; those cruel men were lawfully slain in battle.

15.5.17 I see nothing further to be requited against them, O joy of the Kurus; all of them, slain while facing the foe, have gone to the worlds won by the sword.

15.5.18 But now the chief thing to be done is what is good for my own self and for Gāndhārī, O lord of kings; this you ought to grant me leave to do.

15.5.19 For you are the best of those who uphold righteousness, ever cherishing the law; you are king and elder to all living beings, and therefore I speak this to you.

15.5.20 With your leave, O hero, I would resort to the forests, clad in rags and bark, O king, together with this Gāndhārī; uttering blessings upon you, I shall become a dweller in the woods.

15.5.21 It is the custom in our line, my son, O bull of the Bhāratas, for all to lay sovereignty upon their sons and at the close of their years to go to the forest, O king.

15.5.22 There, living on air alone or even wholly without food, O hero, I shall practice supreme austerity together with this my wife.

15.5.23 And you too, my son, shall share the fruit of that austerity, for you are the king; for kings partake of the fruit, whether of good or of its opposite.

15.6.1 Yudhiṣṭhira said: This kingdom gives me no joy while you are thus afflicted, O king. Shame upon me, dull of mind, heedless, and clinging to the throne!

15.6.2 I who, with my brothers, never perceived that you were stricken with grief, O king, wasted with fasting, sparing of food, and sleeping on the bare ground!

15.6.3 Alas, fool that I am, I have been deceived by you who concealed your mind; having first won my trust, you all the while endured this suffering.

15.6.4 What is a kingdom to me, what enjoyments, what sacrifices, what pleasure, when you, O ruler of the earth, have endured such sorrows for my sake?

15.6.5 By these words of yours, O lord of men, in your affliction, I know my kingdom to be a torment, and my very self as well.

15.6.6 You are our father, you our mother, you our highest elder; deprived of you, where indeed shall we stand?

15.6.7 Let Yuyutsu, your own begotten son, O best of kings, be king, O great king, or whomever else you may deem fit.

15.6.8 I shall go to the forest, and you shall rule this kingdom; already scorched by infamy, I do not deserve to be scorched by you again.

15.6.9 I am not the king; you are the king. I am subject to you. How then could I presume to grant leave to you, my elder and knower of the law?

15.6.10 No anger is in our hearts for what Duryodhana did, O sinless one; what was destined to be, came to pass, for both we and they were deluded.

15.6.11 For we are your sons, even as Duryodhana and the others were; and Gāndhārī and Kuntī are, in my regard, without distinction.

15.6.12 If you, O lord of kings, forsaking me, shall depart, I will follow at your back; by truth I swear it upon myself.

15.6.13 This earth, full of riches and girded by the sea, would bring me no delight were I bereft of you.

15.6.14 All this is yours; with bowed head I entreat you. We are subject to you, O lord of kings; let the fever of your mind depart.

15.6.15 I deem that what was destined has overtaken you, O lord of men; by good fortune, in serving you, I shall be freed of the fever of my mind.

15.6.16 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: My mind, my son, is set upon the ascetic life, O joy of the Kurus; for going to the forest is the custom of our house, O lord.

15.6.17 Long have I dwelt here, my son, and long have you served me; you ought now to grant me, an old man, your leave, O lord of men.

15.6.18 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having spoken thus to the King of Righteousness, who stood trembling with palms joined, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Ambikā, said these words.

15.6.19 I wish that Saṃjaya the high counselor, and Kṛpa the great chariot-warrior, together with you, should prevail upon the lord of the earth.

15.6.20 For my mind grows faint and my mouth is parched, both from my advanced age and from the exertion of speaking.

15.6.21 Having spoken thus, the righteous old king, the upholder of the Kurus, wise as he was, leaned all at once upon Gāndhārī like one whose life had fled.

15.6.22 Seeing the Kuru king sitting thus motionless, the king, the son of Kuntī, slayer of hostile heroes, was swiftly seized with anguish.

15.6.23 Yudhiṣṭhira said: He whose strength equaled ten thousand elephants—this king now lies, leaning upon a woman, as though his life had fled!

15.6.24 He who of old, in his might, ground to powder the iron statue of Bhīmasena—he, seeking support in his weakness, leans upon a woman.

15.6.25 Shame upon me who know not the law, shame upon my understanding, and shame upon my learning, for whose sake this guardian of the earth lies in a state so unbefitting him!

15.6.26 I too shall fast, even as this my elder does, if this king will not eat, nor the illustrious Gāndhārī.

15.6.27 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then the king, the son of Pāṇḍu, knower of the law, gently stroked his chest and face with a hand cooled by water.

15.6.28 By that touch of the hand, holy and fragrant, graced with gems and healing herbs, the king regained his senses.

15.7.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Touch me again with your hand and embrace me, son of Pāṇḍu, for from your touch I seem to live again, O lotus-eyed one.

15.7.2 I wish to smell your head, O lord of men, and to touch you all over with my hands; for my life-breaths have not yet forsaken me.

15.7.3 This is now the eighth period since I took food, O tiger of the Kurus, by reason of which I am unable to stir.

15.7.4 And this excessive exertion I made in entreating you; thereby, my son, faint of mind, I became as one bereft of sense.

15.7.5 Having received this touch of your hand, O mighty one, a touch like nectar itself, I feel myself revived, O upholder of the Kuru line.

15.7.6 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by his eldest father, O Bhārata, the son of Kuntī, out of affection, gently touched him then upon all his limbs.

15.7.7 Then King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, having regained his breath, clasped the son of Pāṇḍu in both arms and smelled his head.

15.7.8 And Vidura and all the others wept, grievously stricken; and out of their excess of sorrow the sons of Pāṇḍu said nothing at all to the king.

15.7.9 But Gāndhārī, knower of the law, bearing her grief intensely within her mind, held back her sorrows, O king, and said only, "Not so."

15.7.10 The other women, all of them, together with Kuntī, in deep sorrow, with eyes brimming over with tears, stood gathered around him.

15.7.11 Then Dhṛtarāṣṭra spoke again to Yudhiṣṭhira: Grant me leave, O king, for the ascetic life, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.7.12 My mind grows faint, my son, as I keep on speaking again and again; you ought not, my son, to distress me further than this.

15.7.13 As that lord of the Kauravas spoke thus to the son of Pāṇḍu, a great cry of grief arose from all the women of the inner apartments.

15.7.14 Seeing the king, wasted and pale, in a state so unbefitting him, worn out with fasting, reduced to skin and bone—

15.7.15 the mighty-armed son of Dharma, embracing his father and shedding tears born of grief, spoke these words again.

15.7.16 I do not desire life, O best of men, nor the earth, so much as I wish to do what is pleasing to you, O king, scorcher of foes.

15.7.17 But if I am worthy of your favor, or am dear to you, then let food be taken; thereafter we shall know our course.

15.7.18 Then that king of great splendor said to the son of Dharma: With your leave, my son, I would eat; that is my wish.

15.7.19 As the lord of kings, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, was speaking thus to Yudhiṣṭhira, the sage Vyāsa, son of Satyavatī, drew near and spoke these words.

15.8.1 Vyāsa said: O mighty-armed Yudhiṣṭhira, what the great-souled Dhṛtarāṣṭra, joy of the Kurus, has said to you—do that without hesitation.

15.8.2 For this king is old, and has moreover lost his sons; that he should endure this hardship much longer is, in my judgment, beyond him.

15.8.3 And the greatly blessed Gāndhārī, wise and full of compassion, bears her grief for her sons, O great king, with steadfast fortitude.

15.8.4 I too say to you this very thing: do as I bid. Let the king obtain his leave, lest he die here in vain.

15.8.5 Let the king follow the path of the royal sages of old; for the final refuge of all royal sages is the forest.

15.8.6 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by Vyāsa of wondrous deeds, the king, the King of Righteousness Yudhiṣṭhira of great splendor, replied.

15.8.7 Your reverence is the one we honor, your reverence is our elder; your reverence is the support of this kingdom and of our line.

15.8.8 I am but a son; your reverence is a father; the king too is my elder; and a son who carries out his father's command is, by the law, truly a son.

15.8.9 Thus addressed, Vyāsa, the best of the upholders of righteousness, of great splendor, spoke again to Yudhiṣṭhira, O lord of peoples.

15.8.10 It is even so, O mighty-armed Bhārata, as you say; but this king has reached old age and stands at the utmost limit of his span.

15.8.11 He, granted leave by me and by you, O lord of the earth, let him fulfill his own intent; do not become an obstacle to him.

15.8.12 This is the highest law of the royal sages, Yudhiṣṭhira: that death should come either in battle or in the forest by the prescribed observances.

15.8.13 By your father Pāṇḍu, O lord of kings, who ruled the earth, this king was attended like a teacher, as though he were a disciple.

15.8.14 He has worshiped with great sacrifices, rich in priestly gifts and graced with mountains of food; he has tasted enjoyments, and reared his sons.

15.8.15 For thirteen years, while you were in exile, he enjoyed the vast kingdom held in trust for his sons, and gave away wealth of many kinds.

15.8.16 And by you, O tiger among men, with your attendants and through service to your elders, this king has been gratified, and the illustrious Gāndhārī as well.

15.8.17 Grant your father leave; the time has come for him to take up the observances of austerity; and there dwells in him not the least anger, Yudhiṣṭhira, however slight.

15.8.18 Having spoken these words and obtained leave from the king, and being answered by the son of Kuntī, "So be it," he departed for the forest.

15.8.19 When the reverend Vyāsa had gone, the king, the son of Pāṇḍu, then spoke to his aged father, bowing very low, very slowly.

15.8.20 What the reverend Vyāsa has said, and what is your own resolve, and what the great archer Kṛpa has said, and Vidura too—

15.8.21 Yuyutsu and Saṃjaya too — what they advise I shall do at once; for all of these are worthy of my regard, well-wishers of this our line.

15.8.22 But this one thing I beg of you, O king, my head bowed low: first let a meal be taken, and then set out for the hermitage.

15.9.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then, with the king's leave, the majestic Dhṛtarāṣṭra went to his own dwelling, followed by Gāndhārī.

15.9.2 Slow of breath and step, the wise lord of the earth went on foot, hauling himself along as if with effort, like an aged lordly elephant.

15.9.3 Behind him walked the learned Vidura and the bard Saṃjaya, and likewise that great archer Kṛpa, son of Śaradvat.

15.9.4 Having entered his house and performed the morning rites, the king satisfied the foremost of the twice-born and then took his meal.

15.9.5 And Gāndhārī, knower of dharma and high of mind, together with Kuntī, honored with attentive service by the daughters-in-law, also ate, O Bhārata.

15.9.6 When the meal was done, all of them — Vidura and the rest, and the Pāṇḍavas as well — having eaten, attended upon that king, the best of the Kurus.

15.9.7 Then, O great king, the son of Ambikā spoke to Kuntī's son seated near at hand, touching his back with his hand.

15.9.8 "You must be ever vigilant, O joy of the Kurus, in every way, O tiger among kings, over the kingdom of eight limbs, with dharma set foremost."

15.9.9 "How the kingdom and dharma may be guarded, dear son of Pāṇḍu, O son of Kuntī — learned though you are, hear this from me."

15.9.10 "Wait ever upon those ripe in learning, Yudhiṣṭhira; listen to what they say, and act on it without hesitation."

15.9.11 "Rising at dawn, O king, and honoring them in due form, when the time for action comes you should ask them about your own affairs."

15.9.12 "Honored by you who seek the kingdom's good, O king, they will tell you all that is beneficial, dear joy of the Kurus."

15.9.13 "And guard all your senses as one guards horses; rightly kept, they will turn to your good, even as wealth that is well guarded."

15.9.14 "Ministers proven beyond temptation, serving since your fathers' and grandfathers' days, pure and self-controlled — appoint the chief of them to the chief of all your tasks."

15.9.15 "And keep your foes ever under watch through spies unknown to them and well tested, in manifold fashion, both in your own realm and in others'."

15.9.16 "Let your city be well defended, with stout ramparts and gateways, thick-set with watchtowers, opening on six roads to every quarter."

15.9.17 "Its gates should be made ample and broad, well disposed on every side and guarded by engines of war."

15.9.18 "By men who understand their charge, known for their family and character; and your own person too must ever be guarded, in eating and the rest, O Bhārata."

15.9.19 "At times of pastime and of food, in garlands, bed, and seats; and let your women be well protected, set under elders trustworthy, virtuous, well-born, and wise, O Yudhiṣṭhira."

15.9.20 "For counselors take twice-born men skilled in learning, well-disciplined and well-born, adept in dharma and artha, and upright."

15.9.21 "With them you should take counsel — but not with too many together, sometimes with all, sometimes with each apart, under some pretext or other."

15.9.22 "Take counsel in a well-enclosed council chamber, or having climbed to high ground, or in a forest free of reeds — but never by night, in any wise."

15.9.23 "Monkeys and birds that mimic men, and all who are dull-witted or crippled, are to be barred from the council chamber."

15.9.24 "For the ills that befall lords of the earth when counsel is betrayed can in no way be set right again — such is my conviction."

15.9.25 "And in the circle of counselors you should declare the harms of betraying counsel, and the merits of keeping it, again and again, O king, subduer of foes."

15.9.26 "And the honesty and dishonesty of townsmen and countryfolk, Yudhiṣṭhira — see that it becomes known to you, O king, and act accordingly, subduer of foes."

15.10.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: "And your legal affairs, dear son, should ever be set under trustworthy men — men contented and devoted, O king — and constantly watched over by spies."

15.10.2 "Knowing the due measure, O Bhārata, your men should impose punishment upon the punishable according to law, Yudhiṣṭhira."

15.10.3 "Those given to plunder, violators of others' wives, those foremost in cruel oppression, and speakers of falsehood;"

15.10.4 "revilers and the greedy, murderers fond of reckless deeds, breakers of assembly and pastime, and corrupters of the social orders — these are to be fined in gold or put to death, according to place and time."

15.10.5 "At dawn you should review those who manage expenditure; thereafter attend to your adornment and your food."

15.10.6 "Then you should review your warriors, ever cheering them on; and for envoys and spies let the early evening always be your time."

15.10.7 "Let the last watch of the night always be yours for settling the business of state; at midnight your repose, and at midday too your rest."

15.10.8 "Yet all hours are urgent when affairs press, O bull of the Bhāratas; so, adorned and lavish in gifts, hold yourself ready at the proper time — for the round of duties, dear son, turns ceaselessly like a wheel."

15.10.9 "Make effort always, by lawful means, to gather your treasury of both kinds, O great king, and shun whatever is contrary to law."

15.10.10 "Learning through spies of those enemies who would obstruct your rule, you should have them slain from afar by trusty men, one against another."

15.10.11 "Then, judging by their work, choose your servants, O scion of the Kurus, and have tasks carried out under men suited and unsuited each to their place."

15.10.12 "And let the leader of your army, dear son, be a man firm in his vows, brave, enduring of hardship, and dear to you."

15.10.13 "And let all your country-officers, O Pāṇḍava, your stewards and assessors, attend to your affairs — they who conduct the dealings of state."

15.10.14 "Your own weak points and the enemy's, among your own people and among others' — these you must mark always, Yudhiṣṭhira."

15.10.15 "And men dwelling in other lands, valiant in every kind of work, should be won over by you with fitting favors, to your benefit."

15.10.16 "Esteem must be shown to those learned men who prize merit, O lord of men; and let each of them stand unshakable as the great mountain Meru."

15.11.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: "And you should understand the circles of states — those of your foes, and of yourself, and likewise of the neutrals and of the middle powers."

15.11.2 "Of the four kinds of enemies, all of them aggressors, you must discern friend and the friend of an enemy, O harrier of foes."

15.11.3 "And ministers, territories, fortresses, difficult terrain, and armies, O best of the Kurus, belong to these powers at their pleasure."

15.11.4 "These powers of kings, O son of Kuntī, are twelve, of varied nature; and the constituents headed by the ministers are sixty and twelve, O lord."

15.11.5 "This the masters skilled in statecraft call the circle of states; upon it rest the six measures of policy, Yudhiṣṭhira — learn that."

15.11.6 "Increase and decline, and stability too, must be discerned, O joy of the Kurus; by these seventy-two, mighty-armed one, follow then the six measures of policy."

15.11.7 "When one's own side is strong and the enemy's side weak, then, having made open war upon his foes, the lord of earth should march, O son of Kuntī; but when one's own side is weak, then he should resort to peace."

15.11.8 "And a great store of goods should likewise be amassed, so that one becomes fit to march out before long, O Bhārata."

15.11.9 "Then let all be made ready, and let him not partition his ground; land of little yield may be ceded to one in the opposite case, O Bhārata."

15.11.10 "Gold abounding in base metal, an ally enfeebled and without a treasury — such inferior things one skilled in treaties should not himself accept."

15.11.11 "For the sake of a treaty you may seek to obtain a prince, O bull of the Bhāratas; but in any emergency you should not surrender your own son in turn — rather, knowing the means and counsels, strive for his release."

15.11.12 "And a king should weigh the strength and weakness of his afflicted subjects' calamities, O son of Kuntī — in turn, all at once, or two by two."

15.11.13 "The harassing, the crippling, and the breaking of the treasury of his foes should be wrought with effort by one who himself guards his own realm."

15.11.14 "A neighboring lord who has submitted should not be harmed by one who desires increase, O son of Kuntī; he who seeks to conquer the earth should do him no injury."

15.11.15 "You should, with your counselors, contrive the dividing of confederacies — likewise by gathering the good to you and by restraining the wicked."

15.11.16 "And the weak should never be oppressed unceasingly by the stronger; stand firm, O tiger among kings, adopting the way of the reed."

15.11.17 "And if a mighty king should thus march against the weak, the latter should turn him back step by step by the expedients beginning with conciliation."

15.11.18 "But if unable to give battle, let him sally forth together with his counselors, his treasury, his townsfolk, his army, and whatever others wish him well."

15.11.19 "And if all this be impossible, let him escape with what is most precious; by this gradual course deliverance may be had — even of the bare body alone."

15.12.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: "Herein too you should regard peace and war, O best of kings — twofold in origin, threefold in means, and of many forms, Yudhiṣṭhira."

15.12.2 "O lord of kings, having resolved your own duality, you should bide your time; and remember that the enemy too is self-possessed, with contented and well-nourished forces."

15.12.3 "At a time for biding, the opposite is enjoined; at a time of crushing assault, O lord of kings, withdrawal is then the better course."

15.12.4 "He should then bring upon his foes calamity and division, wasting and terror, and in battle too great destruction."

15.12.5 "A king about to march, well versed in the treatises, should ponder threefold the power both of himself and of his foe."

15.12.6 "Furnished with the power of energy, the power of sovereignty, and the power of counsel, O Bhārata, a man may march; otherwise, the opposite."

15.12.7 "A king should muster his hereditary force, the force of allies, the force of forest tribes, the hired force, and whatever force of the guilds there is."

15.12.8 "Of these, O king, the force of allies is not superior to the hereditary force; and the force of guilds and the hired force are equal — such is my view."

15.12.9 "Likewise the force of forest tribes is to be reckoned equal to these, O king, by a ruler in times of mustering, when the hour is at hand."

15.12.10 "And the calamities of many forms that befall kings must also be understood, O lord of men, O Kaurava — hear of them now severally."

15.12.11 "Many are the varieties of calamities, O king, joy of the Pāṇḍus; by employing conciliation and the rest, a king should ever quell them."

15.12.12 "A king should set out on his march furnished with the six forces, O scorcher of foes, joined with the right place and time, with his troops and his own virtues."

15.12.13 "With contented and well-nourished forces a king bent on rising prosperity should march; and when summoned, a ruler should march even out of season."

15.12.14 "For the ruin of his rivals a king should march forth like one crossing a river whose stones are the pillars, whose chief current is horses and chariots, whose banks and bluffs are screened by tree-like banners, made miry by foot-soldiers and elephants."

15.12.15 "Then, as occasion fits, the cart array, the lotus, and the thunderbolt array, O Bhārata — the science that Uśanas knows, therein all this is ordained, O lord."

15.12.16 "Having crushed the enemy's force and roused the ardor of his own, he should join battle on his own ground and likewise on the enemy's."

15.12.17 "What he has won the king should pacify, and settle wealthy men there; and recognizing that land as his own domain, he should approach it with conciliation and the rest."

15.12.18 In every way, great king, one should sustain the body here below; for both this world and the next, the highest good of the self is to be pursued.

15.12.19 Acting thus, the king hears words of praise in this world, and in the next attains heaven by guarding his subjects with righteousness.

15.12.20 Thus, O best of the Kurus, you must ever conduct yourself for the welfare of your subjects, my son, so as to win both worlds.

15.12.21 You were instructed before by Bhīṣma, by Kṛṣṇa, and by Vidura; and I too must needs speak, out of love for you, O best of kings.

15.12.22 Do all this according to right, O giver of abundant gifts; thus, dear to your subjects, you shall win happiness in heaven.

15.12.23 Whether a lord of the earth offers a thousand horse-sacrifices or guards his subjects with righteousness, he reaps an equal fruit.

15.13.1 Yudhiṣṭhira said: I shall do all this just as you have spoken, O lord of the earth; and I am ever to be further instructed by you, O bull among kings.

15.13.2 Now that Bhīṣma has gone to heaven, that the Slayer of Madhu has departed, and Vidura and Saṃjaya as well, who else is fit to counsel me?

15.13.3 Whatever you, set upon my good, instruct me here this day, that I shall do, O guardian of the earth; be at ease, O Bhārata.

15.13.4 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by the wise King of Righteousness, that royal sage wished to take his leave of the son of Kuntī, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.13.5 "My son, let there be rest awhile; my weariness too is great" — so saying, the king then entered the chamber of Gāndhārī.

15.13.6 When he had taken his seat, the queen Gāndhārī, faithful to her duty and knowing the fitting moment, addressed her husband, who was the equal of Prajāpati.

15.13.7 "Granted leave by the great sage Vyāsa himself, and with Yudhiṣṭhira's consent, when will you depart to the forest?"

15.13.8 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Gāndhārī, granted leave by my great-souled father himself, and with Yudhiṣṭhira's consent, I shall go to the forest before long.

15.13.9 For I wish, in the presence of all my subjects gathered in my house, to bestow upon all those sons of mine who gamed at the wicked dice the wealth that follows them into the life beyond.

15.13.10 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having spoken thus, the king sent word to the King of Righteousness; and at his word the lord of the earth had everything brought together.

15.13.11 Then the king came forth from that inner apartment, and gathered all his kinsfolk and friends, all his subjects, and all the assembled people of the city and the countryside.

15.13.12 And to the brāhmaṇas and to the rulers gathered from many lands, the mighty-splendored Dhṛtarāṣṭra, lord of the earth, then spoke.

15.13.13 "Listen with single-minded attention, you brāhmaṇas of Kurujāṅgala, and you kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras here assembled."

15.13.14 "You and the Kurus have dwelt together for a long time, friends to one another and devoted to one another's good."

15.13.15 "Whatever I now say, this hour being come, that you must do without questioning my word."

15.13.16 "My mind, together with Gāndhārī's, is set upon going to the forest, with the consent of Vyāsa, of the king, and of the son of Kuntī. Do you too grant me leave; let no other doubt arise in you."

15.13.17 "The love that is between us and you is everlasting; nowhere else among the kingdoms, I think, does such a bond between kings exist."

15.13.18 "I am wearied by old age and bereft of my sons; I am wasted by fasting, together with Gāndhārī, O sinless ones."

15.13.19 "With the kingdom passed to Yudhiṣṭhira, I have attained great happiness — greater, I deem, than under Duryodhana's sovereignty, O most excellent men."

15.13.20 "But for me, blind and aged and bereft of my sons, what refuge is there save the forest, O blessed ones? Therefore grant me leave."

15.13.21 Hearing those words of his, all the people of Kurujāṅgala wept, their voices choked with tears, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.13.22 To them, who could utter nothing, sunk in grief and sorrow, the mighty-splendored Dhṛtarāṣṭra spoke once again these words.

15.14.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Śaṃtanu duly guarded this earth, and Vicitravīrya too, sheltered by Bhīṣma, ruled over you as a father — this you know beyond all doubt.

15.14.2 And how my brother Pāṇḍu was beloved of you, and how he too ruled rightly — that too you well know.

15.14.3 And whatever service I rendered you, well done or ill done, O sinless and blessed ones, that you must forgive, being free of resentment.

15.14.4 And in the kingdom that Duryodhana enjoyed unopposed, even there that dull-witted, evil-minded one did you no wrong.

15.14.5 Through the offense of that evil-minded one, through the arrogance of the rulers of the earth, and through the misdeeds wrought by me, there arose a most terrible carnage.

15.14.6 Whether what was done by me was well or ill, you must not hold it in your hearts; grant me your leave.

15.14.7 "This man is old, bereft of his sons, this lord of men is stricken with grief, and he is the son of the kings of old" — bearing this in mind, grant me leave.

15.14.8 And this poor aged Gāndhārī, bereft of her sons, ascetic and wretched, tormented by grief for her children, entreats you together with me.

15.14.9 Knowing us two to be old and bereft of our sons and afflicted, grant us leave — blessings upon you — that we may depart; and you are our refuge.

15.14.10 And this Kaurava king, Yudhiṣṭhira son of Kuntī, is to be regarded by you all in fair fortune and in foul; nor will he ever at any time turn to wrong.

15.14.11 His four brothers, of vast might, are his counselors; like the guardians of the world are they all, beholders of righteousness and gain.

15.14.12 Like the lord Brahmā, master of all beings and of the world, the mighty-splendored Yudhiṣṭhira will protect you.

15.14.13 Because it must needs be said, I say it to you: as a trust I give Yudhiṣṭhira to you all, and you I make a trust given over to that hero.

15.14.14 If any wrong was done by them, my sons, or by any other of mine, that too you must forgive.

15.14.15 For you have never in any way before stirred my wrath; to you, ever most devoted to your elders, are these folded hands, this salutation.

15.14.16 For the sake of those fickle-minded, greedy ones who followed their own desires, I beseech you all, together with Gāndhārī, O sinless ones.

15.14.17 Thus addressed by that king, the people of the city and countryside, faltering with tears, said nothing, but looked upon one another.

15.15.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by the aged king, the people of the city and countryside became, O Kaurava, as though robbed of their senses.

15.15.2 Then to them, fallen silent with throats choked by tears, the lord of the earth, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, spoke yet again.

15.15.3 "Old am I, and bereft of my sons, lamenting in many ways and pitiably, together with this my lawful wife, O most excellent men."

15.15.4 "Granted leave for life in the forest by my father Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana himself, and by the righteous king who knows the law, O knowers of righteousness —"

15.15.5 "— I, bowing my head, beseech you again and again, O sinless ones: grant leave to me, together with Gāndhārī."

15.15.6 Hearing these piteous words of the Kuru king, the gathered people of Kurujāṅgala wept on every side, O king.

15.15.7 Covering their faces with their upper garments and with their hands, they wept awhile, scorched with sorrow, as for a father and a mother.

15.15.8 With hearts grown empty, bearing the grief born of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's departure, they became as though bereft of their senses.

15.15.9 Having mastered that anguish born of parting from the Kuru king, little by little they then spoke their minds to one another.

15.15.10 Then, having all composed their words together in brief and entrusted them to a single brāhmaṇa, O king, they addressed the lord of men.

15.15.11 Then an aged man, honored in his own conduct, skilled in matters of policy, learned in the Ṛgveda and named Sāmba, O king, began to speak.

15.15.12 Having paid honor to the great king and addressed that assembly, the bold and wise brāhmaṇa spoke thus to the king.

15.15.13 "O king, the word of all this people has been wholly entrusted to me; that I shall speak, O hero — receive it kindly, O lord of men."

15.15.14 "As you say, O king of kings, so is all this, O mighty one; there is in it no false word at all. You are our friend, and we yours, each to each."

15.15.15 "Never at any time has there been among the kings of this line one who, as a guardian of his people, became hateful to his subjects."

15.15.16 "As a father and as a brother you have guarded us; nor did Duryodhana do anything unbefitting, O king."

15.15.17 "As the righteous sage, son of Satyavatī, directs, so do, O great king; for he is our supreme preceptor."

15.15.18 "But forsaken by you, we shall long be given over to grief and sorrow, O king, captivated by your hundred virtues."

15.15.19 "As we were sheltered by King Śaṃtanu and by Citrāṅgada, and by your father, screened by the valor of Bhīṣma, O lord of the earth —"

15.15.20 "— and by Pāṇḍu, ruler of the earth, who shared your wisdom, and by King Duryodhana too, we were well protected."

15.15.21 "Not even a little wrong did your son do us, O king; in that lord of men too we trusted utterly as in a father — even as you well know."

15.15.22 "And now, guarded for a thousand years by the wise and steadfast son of Kuntī, we shall find happiness, O king."

15.15.23 "Of the royal sages of old, the upholders of your line — Kuru, Saṃvaraṇa and the rest, and the wise Bharata —"

15.15.24 "— their conduct does this righteous-souled one, giver of abundant gifts, follow faithfully; herein, O great king, there is not even the subtlest fault to be found."

15.15.25 "Guarded by you, we have ever dwelt in happiness; not the subtlest wrong is to be found in you or in your son."

15.15.26 "But concerning what you have said of Duryodhana in this destruction of kinsmen, in that matter too I shall console you, O delight of the Kurus."

15.16.1 The brāhmaṇa said: That the Kurus went to ruin was not Duryodhana's doing, nor yours, nor that of Karṇa and the son of Subala.

15.16.2 That, we know, was fate, which cannot be turned aside; fate cannot be overcome by human effort.

15.16.3 Eighteen akṣauhiṇīs, great king, came together, and in eighteen days were slain by ten foremost warriors.

15.16.4 By Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa and the rest, by the great-souled Karṇa, by the hero Yuyudhāna, and by Dhṛṣṭadyumna —

15.16.5 — and by the four sons of Pāṇḍu, by Bhīma, Arjuna and the twins, O king — this slaughter of people was wrought by men compelled by the power of fate.

15.16.6 In the world, a kṣatriya — and above all a man of the warrior breed — must of necessity meet his death in battle, by the weapon.

15.16.7 By those tigers among men, endowed with knowledge and strength of arm, this whole earth was struck down, together with its horses, chariots, and elephants.

15.16.8 That king, your high-minded son, does no wrong; nor do you, nor your servants, nor Karṇa, nor the son of Subala.

15.16.9 That the foremost of the Kurus and kings by the thousand perished — all that, in truth, was wrought by fate; who here is fit to say anything of it?

15.16.10 You are accounted the elder of this whole world, its lord. Therefore to you we give our assent concerning your righteous-souled son.

15.16.11 Let that ruler of men, together with his companions, attain the worlds of heroes; sanctioned by the foremost of the twice-born, let him rejoice in happiness in the third heaven.

15.16.12 And you, O best of the Bhāratas, will obtain merit and a supreme standing in righteousness; you know fully and rightly what is meritorious.

15.16.13 We have seen the exploits of the Pāṇḍavas, those bulls among men; they are capable of governing even heaven, how much more the earth.

15.16.14 And these subjects will follow the Pāṇḍavas, adorned with good character, O best of the Kuru line, in fair times and foul alike.

15.16.15 The grants of land bestowed upon brahmins, the exemptions, O king, and the endowments made by former kings—the Pāṇḍava upholds them all.

15.16.16 Far-seeing and accomplished in wisdom, ever like Vaiśravaṇa, this high-minded son of Kuntī has no petty counsellors.

15.16.17 Compassionate even toward a foe, and pure, O bull of the Bhāratas, the wise one looks upon things with uprightness and ever protects us as if we were his children.

15.16.18 And through their fellowship with the son of Dharma, O royal sage, neither Bhīma nor Arjuna nor the rest will do anything displeasing to these people.

15.16.19 Gentle toward the gentle are these Kauravyas, but like venomous serpents toward the harsh; valiant, great-souled, and devoted to the welfare of the citizens.

15.16.20 Neither Kuntī, nor the Pāñcāla princess, nor Ulūpī, nor the Sātvatī woman will ever do anything contrary to the good of these people.

15.16.21 The affection you have shown, which Yudhiṣṭhira has nurtured, the people of city and countryside will not cast behind their backs.

15.16.22 Even men given to unrighteousness the sons of Kuntī, those mighty charioteers, will protect, themselves remaining wholly devoted to righteousness.

15.16.23 Therefore, O king, putting away from yourself any grief of mind concerning Yudhiṣṭhira, perform your righteous duties; homage to you, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.16.24 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: That righteous speech of his, excellent in its bearing upon the matter at hand, all that assembly received with cries of "Well said, well said!"

15.16.25 And Dhṛtarāṣṭra, honoring that speech again and again, then gently dismissed all his subjects.

15.16.26 That king, honored by them and regarded with kindly eyes, then with joined palms honored that people in turn, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.16.27 Then the king entered his dwelling together with Gāndhārī; and learn now what he did when the night had passed.

15.17.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When the night had passed, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Ambikā, sent Vidura to the dwelling of Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.17.2 He, the greatly lustrous one, foremost of all the wise, having gone at the king's bidding, addressed the unfailing sovereign Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.17.3 Dhṛtarāṣṭra, O great king, has resolved upon dwelling in the forest; he will go to the forest, O king, now that this full-moon of Kārttika has come.

15.17.4 He desires of you a certain thing, O best of the Kuru line; he wishes to offer a śrāddha for the great-souled son of Gaṅgā,

15.17.5 and for Droṇa, for Somadatta, and for the wise Bāhlika, and for all his sons and for those friends of his who were slain—and, if you grant leave, for that vile Saindhava as well.

15.17.6 Hearing this speech of Vidura, Yudhiṣṭhira was gladdened and paid him honor, as did the Pāṇḍava Guḍākeśa.

15.17.7 But Bhīma of firm wrath and great lustre did not then accept that speech of Vidura, remembering what Duryodhana had done.

15.17.8 But Phalguna, the diademed one, knowing Bhīmasena's intent, bowing a little, spoke these words to Bhīma:

15.17.9 "Bhīma, the aged king our father, resolved upon dwelling in the forest, wishes to make the funeral offerings for all his friends.

15.17.10 With the wealth won by you, O mighty-armed one, the Kaurava wishes to make gifts on behalf of Bhīṣma and the rest; it is fitting that you grant leave for this."

15.17.11 "By good fortune, O mighty-armed one, Dhṛtarāṣṭra now entreats us—he whom we once entreated. Behold the turning of time!

15.17.12 He who was lord of the whole earth, a ruler of men, his offspring slain by his foes, now longs to go to the forest.

15.17.13 Let your view, O tiger among men, be of nothing but giving; anything other than this would be inglorious and unrighteous, O mighty-armed one.

15.17.14 Attend upon the king, your eldest brother and lord; it is for you to give, not to withhold, O bull of the Bhāratas." As the son of Kuntī spoke thus, the King of Righteousness honored him.

15.17.15 But Bhīmasena, full of wrath, then spoke these words: "It is we who should perform the funeral rites for Bhīṣma here, O Phalguna,

15.17.16 for King Somadatta, and for Bhūriśravas, and for the royal sage Bāhlika, and for the great-souled Droṇa,

15.17.17 and for the other kinsmen; and Kuntī shall make the śrāddha offerings for Karṇa, O tiger among men—let not the Kaurava king bestow them.

15.17.18 Such is my mind. Let not our enemies rejoice; let Duryodhana and all the rest go from misery to misery still greater—those defilers of their line by whom this whole earth was brought to slaughter.

15.17.19 How can you today forget the enmity of those twelve years, the going into hidden exile that swelled Draupadī's grief? Where then was Dhṛtarāṣṭra's affection for us in that hour?

15.17.20 Clad in a black antelope's hide, stripped of your ornaments and finery, you went before the king together with the daughter of Pāñcāla. Where then were those two, Droṇa and Bhīṣma, or Somadatta?

15.17.21 During the thirteen years in which you lived in the forest on its wild produce, the elder who is our father did not then regard you with a father's eyes.

15.17.22 Have you forgotten, O Pārtha, how this defiler of the line, that wicked one, said to Vidura at the dicing, 'What has been won?'

15.17.23 To his brother speaking thus, King Yudhiṣṭhira, the wise son of Kuntī, said in rebuke, "Hold your peace and be still."

15.18.1 Arjuna said: Bhīma, you are my elder and my teacher; beyond this I dare not speak. But Dhṛtarāṣṭra, that royal sage, deserves honor in every way.

15.18.2 The good, those best of men who never breach the bounds of duty, do not remember wrongs done to them, but remember the kindnesses.

15.18.3 Say this from me, O Kṣattṛ, to the Kaurava king: 'However much you wish to give on behalf of your sons, so much do I give.'

15.18.4 'For Bhīṣma and all the rest, those friends who did us good service, let it be from my treasury,' O lord—and let Bhīma not be sore at heart.

15.18.5 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When this had been spoken, the King of Righteousness honored Arjuna in return, while Bhīmasena cast a sidelong glance at Dhanaṃjaya.

15.18.6 Then the wise Yudhiṣṭhira spoke these words to Vidura: "That king ought not to feel anger toward Bhīmasena.

15.18.7 For this Bhīma was sorely afflicted by snow, rain, sun, and the like—by manifold sufferings in the forest, as you well know.

15.18.8 But say this from me to the king, that bull of the Bhāratas: 'Whatever you wish, and however much, let it be taken from my house.'

15.18.9 'The grudge that this Bhīma harbors, being grievously pained, ought not to be taken to heart'—so the king is to be told.

15.18.10 'Whatever wealth there is of mine and in Arjuna's house, of that the great king is the master'—so the king is to be told.

15.18.11 Let the king give to the brahmins as he pleases; let the expenditure be made for his sons and his friends; let him this day pass free of his debt to them.

15.18.12 'This body of mine too is at your disposal, O ruler of men, and so is my wealth'—know this, O Kṣattṛ; herein is no doubt.

15.19.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by the king, Vidura, best of the wise, approached Dhṛtarāṣṭra and spoke these words full of weighty meaning:

15.19.2 "King Yudhiṣṭhira was told your message from the first, and that one of great lustre, having heard your words, praised them.

15.19.3 And Bībhatsu of great lustre offers you his houses, the wealth that is in his house, and even his very life.

15.19.4 And the King of Righteousness, your son, grants you the kingdom, his life, his wealth, O royal sage, and whatever else there may be.

15.19.5 But Bhīma, the mighty-armed, recalling his many and manifold sorrows, gave his assent as if with difficulty, sighing deeply.

15.19.6 He, the mighty-armed, was won over by his righteous brother the king and by Bībhatsu, and was set firm in friendship.

15.19.7 And the King of Righteousness says to you: 'You ought to feel no anger if Bhīma, remembering that enmity, should act unjustly.'

15.19.8 For such is by and large the duty of the kṣatriyas, O ruler of men; and this Vṛkodara is devoted to war and to the kṣatriya's code.

15.19.9 For Vṛkodara's sake, both I and Arjuna again and again entreat you, O king; in this matter you are the lord.

15.19.10 Let your honor bestow as much wealth as you wish, O king; you are the master of our kingdom and of our lives, O Bhārata.

15.19.11 Grants of land to brahmins, and the funeral offerings for your sons, and from here jewels and cattle, maidservants and menservants, goats and sheep—

15.19.12 let the best of the Kurus have these brought and bestow them upon the brahmins, and upon the wretched, the blind, and the destitute, here and there at the king's command.

15.19.13 'Cause halls richly furnished with abundant food, savory dishes, and drink to be built, Vidura, and watering-troughs for cattle, and whatever other various works of merit there are.'

15.19.14 Thus the king spoke to me, and Pārtha Dhanaṃjaya likewise. Whatever next is to be done in this, it is for you to declare."

15.19.15 Thus addressed by Vidura, Dhṛtarāṣṭra rejoiced at it and set his mind upon a great gift-giving on the full-moon of Kārttika, O Janamejaya.

15.20.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by Vidura, the king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, that ruler of men, was made glad by the conduct of the king Yudhiṣṭhira and of Jiṣṇu.

15.20.2 Then, on behalf of Bhīṣma, for his sons, and for his friends, he selected by the thousand suitable brahmins, those best of sages.

15.20.3 Having had prepared food and drink, conveyances and garments, gold, gems, and jewels, maidservants, menservants, and furnishings,

15.20.4 woolen blankets, hides and jewels, villages and fields, goats and sheep, ornaments, elephants and horses, and maidens, the choicest of women—pointing out each in turn, that best of kings gave them to the brahmins.

15.20.5 Naming Droṇa and Bhīṣma, Somadatta and Bāhlika, and King Duryodhana, and his sons each one by one, and those headed by Jayadratha, and all his friends without exception,

15.20.6 that śrāddha-sacrifice grew great, rich in fees of cattle and wealth, a flood of manifold riches and jewels, then carried out at Yudhiṣṭhira's pleasure.

15.20.7 There, ceaselessly, the men, the accountants, and the scribes, at the word of Yudhiṣṭhira, kept asking that king,

15.20.8 "Command us: what is to be given to these? Let it be given"—and the very thing was shown ready to hand at the end of the speech.

15.20.9 Where a hundred was to be given, a thousand was given, and where a thousand, then ten thousand, at the word of the wise king, the son of Kuntī.

15.20.10 Thus that king, a rain-cloud raining showers of wealth, satisfied those brahmins, even as a cloud pouring rain upon the earth.

15.20.11 Then immediately thereafter the lord of the earth, that king, flooded men of all the castes with a deluge of food, drink, and savory dishes.

15.20.12 With its foam of garments and its flood of jewels, its roar the sound of drums, its whirlpools the cattle and horses for sea-monsters, and women, those jewels, for its great mass of waters—

15.20.13 That ocean of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's compassion, rich with streams of villages and rent-free estates, its waters jewels and gold, flooded the whole world.

15.20.14 Thus, O great king, on behalf of his sons and grandsons, of his ancestors, of himself, and of Gāndhārī, he gave the funerary offerings for the departed.

15.20.15 When he had grown weary from bestowing gifts of every kind, the upholder of the Kurus brought his sacrifice of giving to its close.

15.20.16 In this way the Kaurava king held a great festival of giving, abounding in actors, dancers and mimes, lavish with food, drink and priestly fees.

15.20.17 Having thus bestowed gifts for ten days, the king, the son of Ambikā, became free of debt to his sons and grandsons, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.21.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then at daybreak King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Ambikā, having fixed his hour for departing to the forest, summoned the heroic Pāṇḍavas.

15.21.2 Wise, with Gāndhārī beside him, after greeting them in due form, on the full-moon day of Kārttika he had the sacrifice performed by Brāhmaṇas versed in the Vedas.

15.21.3 Setting the sacred fire before him, clad in bark and deerskin, surrounded by the women of his household, the king then went forth from the palace.

15.21.4 Then, as the king, the son of Vicitravīrya, set forth, a great wail arose from the women of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas, and from the other ladies of the royal house of the Kurus.

15.21.5 Then the king, having honored that house with parched grain and many-hued flowers, and having provided for all his servants with wealth, dismissed them and departed.

15.21.6 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, his palms joined and trembling, his throat choked with tears, cried aloud, 'Alas, great king, virtuous one, whither do you go, father!' and fell to the earth.

15.21.7 And Arjuna too, foremost of the Bhāratas, scorched by keen grief, sighing again and again, said to Yudhiṣṭhira, 'Not so,' and grasping him as he sank, lifted him up.

15.21.8 The heroes Vṛkodara and Phalguna, the two sons of Mādrī, Vidura and Saṃjaya, the son of the Vaiśya woman together with Gautama, Dhaumya and the Brāhmaṇas followed after, their throats choked with tears.

15.21.9 Kuntī supported the hand of Gāndhārī, her eyes bound, as she walked, holding it laid upon her shoulder; and King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, resting his hand upon Gāndhārī's shoulder, went on serenely.

15.21.10 So too Kṛṣṇā Draupadī and the Yādava lady, Uttarā of the Kurus with her infant child, Citrāṅgadā, and whatever other women there were—all set forth together with the king and his daughters-in-law.

15.21.11 The wail of those weeping women rose up loud then, O king, like the cry of ospreys in their grief; and from every side poured forth the women of the Brāhmaṇas and Kṣatriyas, of the Vaiśyas and Śūdras as well.

15.21.12 At his going forth the townsfolk of Hāstinapura grieved exceedingly, O king, as they had once grieved before, when the Pāṇḍavas departed after the dice-game in the assembly hall of the Kurus.

15.21.13 Those women whom neither moon nor sun had ever beheld, now, when that lord of men, the chief of the Kurus, set out for the great forest, came forth into the royal highway, stricken with grief.

15.22.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then, O king, upon the palaces and mansions and upon the ground, there arose a very great clamor of women and of men.

15.22.2 With difficulty the wise king made his way out along the royal road thronged with men and women, trembling, his palms joined in reverence.

15.22.3 He went out from Hāstinapura through the Vardhamāna gate, and again and again he bade the throng of people turn back.

15.22.4 Vidura had resolved to go to the forest with the king, and so too had Saṃjaya the great minister, the charioteer, son of Gavalgaṇa.

15.22.5 But King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, lord of the earth, sent back Kṛpa and the great warrior Yuyutsu, entrusting them to Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.22.6 When the townsfolk had turned back, the king with his retinue of women, that is Yudhiṣṭhira, granted leave by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, then wished himself to return.

15.22.7 Approaching his mother Kuntī, O bull of the Bhāratas, he said: 'I shall follow the king; let your ladyship turn back.'

15.22.8 'Surrounded by the daughters-in-law, O queen, you should return to the city. Let this righteous king go, firm in his resolve, to his austerities.'

15.22.9 Thus addressed by the King of Righteousness, her eyes troubled with tears, Kuntī then spoke in this way, clasping Gāndhārī to her.

15.22.10 'Toward Sahadeva, great king, never be neglectful in anything; for he, O king, is ever devoted to me and to you alike.'

15.22.11 'Remember Karṇa always, who never fled from battle; for that hero was cast off by me in my folly long ago.'

15.22.12 'Surely, my child, the heart of your hapless mother is made of iron, since, not having looked upon the son of Sūrya, it does not shatter into a hundred pieces.'

15.22.13 'But things being thus, what could I do, O subduer of foes? Now this fault of mine, that I disowned the son of Sūrya, is openly known. On his account, mighty-armed one, you should give the highest gifts.'

15.22.14 'Together with your brothers, O crusher of foes, you must always stand by the pleasure of your eldest brother and of Draupadī, O wearer-down of enemies.'

15.22.15 'Bhīmasena and Arjuna and Nakula, O upholder of the Kurus, must be kept in harmony by you, O hero; upon you now has fallen the burden of the family.'

15.22.16 'But I, attending upon the feet of my mother-in-law and father-in-law in the forest, shall dwell together with Gāndhārī, an ascetic, soiled with dirt and mire.'

15.22.17 Thus addressed, that righteous, self-controlled king, together with his brothers, fell into keen dejection and said nothing at all.

15.22.18 After reflecting for a moment, as it were, Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, wretched and given over to anxious grief, said to his mother:

15.22.19 'What is this you have resolved? You ought not to speak so. I do not grant you leave; you should be gracious to me.'

15.22.20 'Long ago, O you of lovely sight, urging us on, you stirred us up with the words of Vidurā; you ought not now to forsake us.'

15.22.21 'Having slain the kings of the earth, I won this kingdom, heeding your wisdom and that of Vāsudeva, the bull among men.'

15.22.22 'Where now is that counsel of yours which I once heard from you? For having taught me to stand firm in the Kṣatriya's duty, you now wish to swerve from it.'

15.22.23 'Abandoning us, and the kingdom, and this illustrious daughter-in-law, how will you dwell in the desolate forests? Be gracious to me, mother.'

15.22.24 Kuntī, hearing this tear-laden speech of her son, walked on still, her eyes brimming with tears; and Bhīma said this to her:

15.22.25 'When this kingdom won by your sons is to be enjoyed, O Kuntī, and the duties of royalty are to be undertaken, whence comes this resolve of yours?'

15.22.26 'Why were we set by you long ago to bring about the destruction of the earth? For whose sake do you now wish to forsake us and go to the forest?'

15.22.27 'Why, then, were we brought as children by you out of the forest, and these two sons of Mādrī as well, who are now overcome with sorrow and grief?'

15.22.28 'Be gracious, mother; do not go to the forest today, O illustrious one. Enjoy for a while the royal fortune of Yudhiṣṭhira, won by the might of Pārtha.'

15.22.29 But she, already resolved and with her hour fixed for forest-dwelling, paid no heed to the words of her sons, who lamented in many ways.

15.22.30 And Draupadī, her face downcast, weeping, followed after her mother-in-law as she set out for the forest, together with Bhadrā.

15.22.31 That woman of great wisdom, looking again and again upon all her weeping sons, walked on still, firm in her resolve for the forest.

15.22.32 The Pāṇḍavas, with their servants and the women of their household, followed after her then; and she, wiping away her tears, spoke these words to her sons:

15.23.1 Kuntī said: It is even so, mighty-armed Pāṇḍava, as you say. In time past I roused you up when you were sinking, O king.

15.23.2 When your kingdom had been stolen by the dice-game, when you had fallen from happiness and were scorned by your kinsmen, then it was that I roused you up.

15.23.3 'How may the line of Pāṇḍu not perish, O bulls among men, and how may your fame not perish?'—it was for this that I roused you up.

15.23.4 'You are all the equals of Indra, godlike in your valor; do not stand gazing upon the faces of others'—thus was it done by me.

15.23.5 'How may you, the best of the upholders of dharma, a king like Vāsava, not again be wretched in the forest?'—it was for this that I roused you up.

15.23.6 'May this Bhīma, whose strength equals that of ten thousand elephants, of renowned might and manhood, not come to ruin'—it was for this that I roused you up.

15.23.7 'May this Vijaya, younger than Bhīmasena and like Vāsava, not sink down'—it was for this that I roused you up.

15.23.8 'How may these two, Nakula and Sahadeva, obedient to their elders, not waste away from hunger?'—it was for this that I roused you up.

15.23.9 'And may this tall, dark, beautiful, large-eyed woman not be tormented in vain upon the floor of the assembly hall'—for this too was it done.

15.23.10 For I looked on then as she, trembling like a plantain-tree, in her courses, of faultless limbs, was thus lost at the dice-game—

15.23.11 when Duḥśāsana in his folly dragged her about like a slave-girl, then it became known to me that this family was undone.

15.23.12 The Kurus too, my father-in-law and the rest, were stricken then, when she, seeking a protector, wailed like an osprey.

15.23.13 When she was seized by the hair by that wicked, witless Duḥśāsana, then, O king, I swooned away.

15.23.14 It was to increase your fiery valor that I roused you up at that time with the words of Vidurā; know this, my children.

15.23.15 'How may this royal line of Pāṇḍu, having obtained my sons, not perish?'—for this reason, my son, did I rouse you up.

15.23.16 Neither his son nor his grandsons—how indeed should that man himself, O king, from whom a lineage perishes, attain the worlds won by good deeds?

15.23.17 I have already enjoyed in full the fruit of my husband's kingdom long ago, my sons; great gifts were given, the Soma was drunk according to rule.

15.23.18 It was not for my own gain that I urged on Vāsudeva; rather, with those speeches of Vidurā, it was done to wash away your dejection.

15.23.19 I do not desire the fruit of the kingdom won by my sons, my child; I desire, O lord, the holy worlds of my husband, through austerity.

15.23.20 Doing service to my mother-in-law and father-in-law who dwell in the forest, I shall wither this body through austerity, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.23.21 Turn back, O best of the Kurus, with Bhīmasena and the rest. Let your mind be fixed upon dharma, and let your heart be great.

15.24.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Hearing the words of Kuntī, O best of kings, the sinless Pāṇḍavas turned back abashed, together with the Pāñcāla princess.

15.24.2 Then there arose a great clamor from all the women of the inner apartments, O Bhārata, as they wept, seeing Kuntī come to such a pass.

15.24.3 Then the Pāṇḍavas, having circled the king reverently and saluted him, turned back, without making Pṛthā turn back.

15.24.4 Then the great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, son of Ambikā, addressing and restraining Gāndhārī and Vidura, spoke:

15.24.5 'Let the noble lady, the mother of Yudhiṣṭhira, be made to turn back properly; for all that Yudhiṣṭhira has said is indeed the truth.'

15.24.6 'Casting aside this great and richly fruitful sovereignty of her sons, what woman would go to the impassable forest, abandoning her children, like one bereft of sense?'

15.24.7 'Remaining in the kingdom, she can practice austerity, give gifts, and keep vows even here today; let my words be heard.'

15.24.8 'Gāndhārī, I am well pleased with the attendance of our daughter-in-law; therefore, O knower of dharma, you should grant her leave.'

15.24.9 Thus addressed by the king, the daughter of Subala spoke to Kuntī, repeating all the king's words and adding her own in particular.

15.24.10 Nor could she turn back that queen, the virtuous Kuntī, devoted to dharma, whose mind was fixed upon dwelling in the forest.

15.24.11 When the women of the Kurus understood that her resolve was unshakable, and saw the foremost of the Kurus turning back, they then broke into weeping.

15.24.12 When the sons of Pṛthā had all turned back, and all the inner apartments too, the king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, vast in wisdom, then set forth to the forest.

15.24.13 The Pāṇḍavas too, wretched and given over to grief and sorrow, all entered the city in their carriages together with their women.

15.24.14 The city of Hāstinapura, with its women, elders, and children, became as though joyless, without a murmur, as if its festivals had departed.

15.24.15 All the Pāṇḍavas were dispirited, filled with grief, bereft of Kuntī and stricken with deep sorrow, like calves cut off from their mother.

15.24.16 Dhṛtarāṣṭra, having traveled a very great distance that day, the lord then made his dwelling on the bank of the Bhāgīrathī.

15.24.17 The sacred fires, kindled according to rule by the foremost of the twice-born who had mastered the Vedas and whose wealth was their austerity, blazed there on every side; and that aged lord of men too had his fire kindled.

15.24.18 That king, having attended upon the fires and offered oblations according to rule, then worshipped the thousand-rayed sun as it reached the twilight, O Bhārata.

15.24.19 Then Vidura and Saṃjaya made a bed of kuśa grass for the king, that hero of the Kurus, and another for Gāndhārī close beside him.

15.24.20 And close to Gāndhārī, Kuntī, the mother of Yudhiṣṭhira, steadfast in her holy vow, took her seat upon the kuśa grass.

15.24.21 And within their hearing Vidura and the rest sat down, as did the officiating priests, each in his appointed place, and the twice-born who were their attendants.

15.24.22 With its foremost twice-born reciting the sacred texts and its fires blazing high, that night for them became like the night of Brahman, swelling their joy.

15.24.23 Then, when the night had passed and they had performed the morning rites, all of them, having offered oblation to the fire according to rule, set forth in due order, facing northward and gazing ahead, given over to fasting.

15.24.24 That sojourn on the first day was full of grief for them, as they mourned and were mourned over by the people of the city and the countryside.

15.25.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then the king, abiding by the counsel of Vidura, made his dwelling upon the pure bank of the Bhāgīrathī, a place fit for holy folk.

15.25.2 There the brāhmaṇas dwelling in the realm waited upon him, as did many companies of kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.25.3 Surrounded by them, the king gladdened them with discourse, and having duly honored them along with their pupils, gave them leave to depart.

15.25.4 In the evening that protector of the earth went down to the Gaṅgā and performed his ablutions according to rule, as did the illustrious Gāndhārī.

15.25.5 And so too all the others, each apart, having bathed at the sacred fords, O Bhārata, the men there performed all the rites, Vidura and the rest.

15.25.6 Then Pṛthā, the daughter of Kuntibhoja, led her aged father-in-law, his ablutions done, and Gāndhārī too, to the bank of the Gaṅgā, O king.

15.25.7 There the king's officiating priests prepared the spreading of the altar, and that lord of men, true to his pledges, offered oblation into the fire.

15.25.8 Then from the bank of the Bhāgīrathī he journeyed to Kurukṣetra, that learned king with his followers, restrained and with his senses subdued.

15.25.9 Reaching there the precinct of a hermitage, that wise prince, the royal sage, then came upon the sagacious Śatayūpa.

15.25.10 For he had been a great king among the Kekayas, a scorcher of foes; having established his son in the sovereignty over men, he had entered the forest.

15.25.11 Together with him the king then went to the hermitage of Vyāsa, and there, O king, Vyāsa received with due rite that uplifter of the Kurus.

15.25.12 Having there received consecration, the king, delight of the Kurus, then made his dwelling in that hermitage of Śatayūpa.

15.25.13 To him that king of great wisdom, with the sanction of Vyāsa, declared the whole rule of forest life, O great king.

15.25.14 Thus the high-minded king Dhṛtarāṣṭra yoked himself to austerity, and his attendants too along with him.

15.25.15 So too the queen Gāndhārī, clad in bark and deerskin, practiced the same vow together with Kuntī, O great king.

15.25.16 In deed, in mind, in speech, and in sight, O king, restraining the whole host of their senses, they took up the highest austerity.

15.25.17 Reduced to skin and bone, his flesh withered away, wearing matted locks and deerskin, his limbs wrapped in bark, that prince practiced there his austerity, fierce as a great sage and freed of all fault.

15.25.18 And Vidura, knower of dharma and statecraft, of foremost intellect, together with Saṃjaya, waited upon that king and his consort, master of himself, then gaunt with terrible austerity and clad in rags of bark.

15.26.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then thither the foremost of sages came to see the king — Nārada, and Parvata, and Devala of mighty austerity,

15.26.2 and Dvaipāyana with his pupils, and other sagacious perfected ones, and the royal sage Śatayūpa, aged and most righteous.

15.26.3 To them Kuntī rendered honor according to rule, O great king, and those ascetics too were well pleased with her ministrations.

15.26.4 There those supreme sages held discourse upon dharma, my son, delighting the great-souled Dhṛtarāṣṭra, lord of men.

15.26.5 Then in the course of one of these discourses, the divine sage Nārada, who saw all things with his own eyes, told this tale.

15.26.6 Of old there was a king, equal to Prajāpati and dreading nothing, called Sahasracitya, the grandsire of Śatayūpa.

15.26.7 Having laid the kingdom upon his eldest son, who was most righteous, that king Sahasracitya, the soul of dharma, entered the forest.

15.26.8 Having reached the far shore of blazing austerity, that high-minded lord of men attained the abode of Purandara.

15.26.9 Many a time before, O king, as I flew through the air, I saw that king in the hall of great Indra, his sins burned away by austerity.

15.26.10 So too the king Śailālaya, grandsire of Bhagadatta, by the very might of his austerity went to the hall of great Indra.

15.26.11 And there was a king named Pṛṣadhra, the equal of the thunderbolt-bearer; he too by austerity won from this very place the vault of heaven.

15.26.12 In this very forest, O king, the son of Māndhātṛ, King Purukutsa, attained a great perfection.

15.26.13 He whose wife was Narmadā, the best of rivers — that king, having practiced austerity in this forest, went to heaven.

15.26.14 And there was a king named Śaśalomā, most righteous; he too, having practiced austerity in this wood, attained heaven.

15.26.15 And by the grace of Dvaipāyana, O king, you too, having reached this forest of austerity, shall attain the foremost perfection, hard to win.

15.26.16 You too, O tiger among kings, at the end of your austerity, encompassed by splendor and together with Gāndhārī, shall go to the goal of those great-souled ones.

15.26.17 And Pāṇḍu, near the slayer of Bala, ever remembers you, O protector of the earth; he will join you to your highest good.

15.26.18 And by serving you and Gāndhārī, the illustrious Kuntī, your daughter-in-law, shall attain to the same world as her husband.

15.26.19 She is the mother of Yudhiṣṭhira, and this is the eternal dharma; we behold it, O king, with our divine sight.

15.26.20 And Vidura shall enter into the great-souled Yudhiṣṭhira, while Saṃjaya, purified by his devotion to you, shall attain heaven.

15.26.21 Hearing this, the great-souled lord of the Kurus, glad together with his wife, received and praised the learned words of Nārada, and rendered unmatched honor to Nārada.

15.26.22 So too all the companies of brāhmaṇas honored Nārada exceedingly, O king, and out of love for King Dhṛtarāṣṭra they rejoiced again and again at that time.

15.27.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: The foremost of the twice-born praised that speech of Nārada, but the royal sage Śatayūpa spoke these words to Nārada:

15.27.2 Ah, O greatly radiant one, by your reverence the faith of the Kuru king has been increased, and that of all these people, and my own as well.

15.27.3 But there is something I would say; hear it as I speak, concerning King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, O divine sage, honored by the world.

15.27.4 You know the truth of all that comes to pass, and endowed with divine sight, O divine sage, you behold the manifold destinies of men.

15.27.5 You have told of kings attaining the world of great Indra, but the worlds of this king you have not declared, O great sage.

15.27.6 I wish to hear from you, O mighty one, the abode of this lord of the earth — of what kind it is and when he shall attain it; declare that to me as I ask.

15.27.7 Thus addressed by him, Nārada, the seer of divine vision and of great austerity, uttered in the midst of the good a speech that won every heart.

15.27.8 By chance I went to the hall of Śakra and saw Śakra, the lord of Śacī; and there, O royal sage, I beheld Pāṇḍu, the lord of men.

15.27.9 There this very talk of Dhṛtarāṣṭra arose, O king — of this hard austerity that the king is now practicing.

15.27.10 There I heard this from the mouth of Śakra, O king: that three years remain of this king's full span of life.

15.27.11 Thereafter this king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, together with Gāndhārī, honored by the king of kings, shall roam at will in the dwelling of Kubera,

15.27.12 in a celestial car moving at his will, adorned with divine ornaments — that son of a sage, blessed and great, his sins burned away by austerity.

15.27.13 And that soul of dharma shall range freely through the worlds of gods, gandharvas, and rākṣasas — this is the answer to what you ask of me.

15.27.14 This great secret of the gods I have told you out of affection; for you, whose wealth is sacred learning, have had your sins burned away by austerity.

15.27.15 Hearing that sweet speech of the divine sage, all of them, glad at heart, became delighted, and so did the prince.

15.27.16 Having thus attended upon Dhṛtarāṣṭra with their discourses, those sages departed each as he wished, taking the path of the perfected ones.

15.28.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When the lord of the Kurus had gone to the forest, the Pāṇḍavas were overcome with grief and sorrow, O king, and tormented by mourning for their mother.

15.28.2 So too all the townsfolk remained mourning for the lord of men, and there the brāhmaṇas held discourse concerning the king:

15.28.3 How does that aged king dwell in the lonely forest, and the blessed Gāndhārī, and how fares Kuntī, the daughter of Pṛthā?

15.28.4 That royal sage deserves comfort, yet that great forest is no place of comfort; in what state does he abide, having reached it — he whose eye is wisdom and whose sons are slain?

15.28.5 A most difficult thing has Kuntī done: not looking upon her sons, she forsook the splendor of the kingdom and chose to dwell in the forest.

15.28.6 And in what state is Vidura, self-possessed, serving his brother, and the wise son of Gavalgaṇa, Saṃjaya, who cherishes the sustenance given by his master?

15.28.7 And the townsfolk, down to the very children, struck by anxiety and grief, held such talk here and there, meeting one another.

15.28.8 And all the Pāṇḍavas too, deeply given over to grief, mourning their aged mother, dwelt in the city but a little while.

15.28.9 And likewise grieving for their aged father, the lord of men whose sons were slain, and for the blessed Gāndhārī, and for Vidura of great wisdom.

15.28.10 As they brooded thus, no joy was left in them then—neither in the kingdom, nor in their women, nor in the study of the Vedas.

15.28.11 They sank into utter despair, dwelling on the king, and recalling again and again that dreadful slaughter of their kinsmen.

15.28.12 They remembered the death of the boy Abhimanyu at the forefront of battle, and of the mighty-armed Karṇa, who never fled from combat;

15.28.13 and likewise the slaying of the sons of Draupadī and of their other friends—remembering all this, those heroes grew heavy of heart.

15.28.14 Ever brooding, O Bhārata, over the earth bereft of her foremost heroes and stripped of her treasures, they could find no sleep.

15.28.15 Draupadī too, her sons slain, and the radiant Subhadrā—those two ladies remained joyless and unrejoicing.

15.28.16 Yet, beholding the son of Virāṭa's daughter, your father Parīkṣit, those forefathers of yours clung still to their lives.

15.29.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus those tigers among men, the Pāṇḍavas, delighters of their mother, those heroes, remembering her, became deeply afflicted with grief.

15.29.2 They who had once been ever engaged in the affairs of the realm now performed no royal duties anywhere in the city.

15.29.3 As though possessed by sorrow, they took pleasure in nothing; even when addressed, they returned no greeting at all.

15.29.4 Those heroes, unassailable, like the ocean in their depth, their understanding overwhelmed by grief, became as if bereft of their senses.

15.29.5 Then those delighters of the Kurus, recalling their mother, mused: How does emaciated Pṛthā now serve that aged couple?

15.29.6 And how does that lord of the earth, his sons slain, without refuge, dwell alone with his wife in a forest haunted by beasts of prey?

15.29.7 And how does that illustrious lady Gāndhārī, her kinsmen slain, follow her blind and aged husband through the deserted forest?

15.29.8 As they spoke thus, a longing arose in them, and their minds turned toward going, eager to behold Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.29.9 Then Sahadeva, bowing low before the king, said this: Ah, I have read your heart's wish concerning the journey!

15.29.10 Out of reverence I could not myself broach to you the matter of this journey, O lord of kings—and now the occasion has come of its own accord.

15.29.11 By good fortune I shall see Kuntī, living the life of an ascetic—matted of hair, an aged hermit-woman, her body scratched by kuśa grass and reeds.

15.29.12 Reared amid palaces and lofty mansions, the partaker of every comfort—when shall I behold my mother, worn out and sore afflicted?

15.29.13 Truly the fortunes of mortals are fleeting, O bull of the Bhāratas, when Kuntī, a king's daughter, dwells joyless in the forest.

15.29.14 Hearing Sahadeva's words, the lady Draupadī, foremost of women, having honored and greeted the king, spoke.

15.29.15 When shall I see that noble lady, if Pṛthā yet lives? For if she lives, O lord of men, joy shall come to us this day.

15.29.16 May this resolve of yours endure forever; may your mind ever delight in righteousness, O lord of kings, since this day you will join us to so blessed a thing.

15.29.17 Know, O king, that these your daughters-in-law stand ready upon tiptoe, longing to behold Kuntī, Gāndhārī, and our father-in-law.

15.29.18 Thus addressed by the Pāñcāla princess, O bull of the Bhāratas, the king summoned all the commanders of his army and spoke to them.

15.29.19 Lead forth my army, rich in chariots and elephants; I shall go to behold King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who dwells in the forest.

15.29.20 And the king said to the keepers of the women's quarters: Let all my conveyances of every kind be made ready, and palanquins by the thousand.

15.29.21 Let the carts, the market-stalls, the courtesans, the artisans of the treasury, and the keepers of the treasure set out toward the hermitage in Kurukṣetra.

15.29.22 And whatever townsman wishes to see the king—unhindered, well-provided, and well-guarded, let him too go forth.

15.29.23 Let my cooks and stewards, the whole of my kitchen, and food and viands of every sort be carried in the wagons.

15.29.24 Let the departure be proclaimed for the morrow—without delay; and let various lodgings be raised along the road this very day.

15.29.25 Having so commanded, that Pāṇḍava king, together with his brothers, set out at break of day, leading forth the women and children before him.

15.29.26 Thus the king, marshalling the throng of people, encamped outside for five days, and then proceeded toward the forest.

15.30.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then that best of the Bhāratas gave the order to the army, guarded by men led by Arjuna, who were like the guardians of the world.

15.30.2 "Yoke up! Yoke up!"—a great glad clamor arose, the riders crying out, "Harness! Harness!"

15.30.3 Some men went in carriages, some on horses swift as thought, and in chariots vast as cities and blazing like fire.

15.30.4 Others on lordly elephants, some on camels, O lord of men, and others on foot, fighters armed with claws and spears.

15.30.5 The townsmen and country-folk too, in conveyances of many kinds, followed the Kuru king, eager to behold Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.30.6 And at the king's word the preceptor Kṛpa of the line of Gautama, as commander, took the host and marched toward the hermitage.

15.30.7 Then the illustrious Kuru king Yudhiṣṭhira, surrounded by brahmins and praised by many bards, heralds, and minstrels,

15.30.8 with a white parasol held above his head, set forth with a great array of chariots, that delighter of the Kurus.

15.30.9 And Vṛkodara of terrible deeds, the son of the Wind, marched forth with elephants huge as mountains, equipped with ready engines and weapons.

15.30.10 The two sons of Mādrī likewise, well-encircled by horsemen, went forth, gladdening to behold, mailed and armed with banners.

15.30.11 And Arjuna of great splendor, self-controlled, followed the king in a chariot bright as the sun, yoked with divine white horses.

15.30.12 The companies of women too, led by Draupadī, seated in palanquins and attended by their guardians, went forth, scattering boundless wealth.

15.30.13 Abounding in men, elephants, and horses, resounding with flute and lute, that Pāṇḍava host shone resplendent then, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.30.14 Halting in turn on pleasant riverbanks and beside lakes, O lord of peoples, those foremost of Kurus journeyed onward.

15.30.15 Yuyutsu of great might and the household priest Dhaumya, by Yudhiṣṭhira's command, undertook the defense of the city.

15.30.16 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, having crossed in due course the most holy river Yamunā, came down into Kurukṣetra.

15.30.17 From afar he beheld the hermitage of the wise royal sage Śatayūpa, O Kaurava, and of Dhṛtarāṣṭra as well.

15.30.18 Then all the people, full of joy, straightway entered that forest, filling it with their mighty shouts, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.31.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then the Pāṇḍavas, alighting from afar and going on foot, approached the king's hermitage, bowed low in humility.

15.31.2 And all the townsfolk, and those who dwelt in the realm, and the women of the chief Kurus, followed then likewise on foot.

15.31.3 The Pāṇḍavas then came to Dhṛtarāṣṭra's hermitage—deserted, thronged with herds of deer, and graced with groves of plantain.

15.31.4 Then the ascetics of manifold vows gathered there, filled with curiosity to see the Pāṇḍavas who had come.

15.31.5 Then the king asked them, his eyes brimming with tears: Where has he gone, that upholder of the Kaurava line, our eldest father?

15.31.6 They answered him with these words: He has gone, O lord, to bathe in the Yamunā, to gather flowers and to fill a water-jar.

15.31.7 Then, by the path the ascetics had shown, they set forth on foot, and before long they saw them all at no great distance.

15.31.8 Then, longing for the sight of their father, they hurried on; and Sahadeva ran swiftly toward where Pṛthā was.

15.31.9 Weeping aloud, the wise one touched his mother's feet; and she, her face clouded with tears, beheld her beloved son.

15.31.10 Clasping her little son in both arms and raising him up, she announced to Gāndhārī that Sahadeva had arrived.

15.31.11 And next, when Pṛthā saw the king, and Bhīmasena, and Arjuna, and Nakula, she hastened toward them.

15.31.12 She walked ahead of that royal couple whose sons were slain, leading them by the hand; and the brothers, beholding her, fell to the ground.

15.31.13 That great-souled, wise king, recognizing them by their voices and by their touch, comforted them, the lord.

15.31.14 Then those great souls, shedding tears, drew near the king who was with Gāndhārī, and to their mother, with due observance.

15.31.15 The Pāṇḍavas, recovering their senses and again consoled by their mother, themselves took up the water-jars of all of them.

15.31.16 Then the women of those lions among men, and the soldiery, and the townsmen and country-folk, looked upon the king.

15.31.17 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira presented those people to him by name and lineage, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra returned their salutations.

15.31.18 Surrounded by them, his eyes clouded with tears of joy, the king felt himself once more at home, as of old in the City of the Elephant.

15.31.19 Saluted too by his daughters-in-law, Kṛṣṇā and the rest, that wise king, together with Gāndhārī and Kuntī, greeted them gladly in return.

15.31.20 Then he came to the hermitage, frequented by siddhas and cāraṇas, thronged with eager onlookers as the sky is crowded with hosts of stars.

15.32.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: In the company of those tigers among men, his brothers, O bull of the Bhāratas, the king with their lovely lotus-eyes took his seat in that hermitage.

15.32.2 And with him were illustrious ascetics gathered from many lands, come to see the broad-chested Pāṇḍava sons of the Kuru lord.

15.32.3 They said: We wish to learn which one here is Yudhiṣṭhira, and Bhīma, Arjuna, and the twins, and the renowned Draupadī.

15.32.4 Then the sūta Saṃjaya named them all to the ascetics, each by his name, and Draupadī too, and all the other Kuru women.

15.32.5 He whose frame is fair as pure refined gold, full-grown like a great lion, with a high-bridged nose, broad long eyes, and a wide coppery face—this is the Kuru king.

15.32.6 And this one, who moves with the gait of a rutting lordly elephant, fair as refined and tempered gold, with broad wide shoulders and long thick arms—this is Vṛkodara: behold him, behold him!

15.32.7 He who stands at his side, the great bowman, dark and youthful, splendid as the leader of an elephant herd, his shoulders high as a lion's, moving with an elephant's sport, his eyes wide as lotus-petals—this hero is Arjuna.

15.32.8 And beside Kuntī, these two foremost of men, the twins, are like Viṣṇu and great Indra; in all the world of men there is none equal to them in beauty, in strength, or in character.

15.32.9 And this one, her eyes wide as lotus-petals, just touching upon middle age, with the luster of the blue lotus, like the tutelary goddess of the city—this is Kṛṣṇā, standing there like Lakṣmī made flesh.

15.32.10 At her side, with the radiance of finest gold—this fair one, a splendor as if made flesh—stands in the midst, O foremost of the twice-born, the sister of him whose weapon is the discus, that peerless one.

15.32.11 This one, the sister of the lord of the royal host, of the hue of a thick garland of blue lotuses—she is the chief consort of Vṛkodara, the king who ever vied with Kṛṣṇa.

15.32.12 And this one, the daughter of the king who ruled Magadha, he famed as Jarāsaṃdha, fair as a garland of campaka blossoms, is held to be the wife of the younger son of Mādravatī.

15.32.13 And she who stands here, dark of body as a blue water-lily, seated upon the ground close by—this lotus-eyed one is held to be the wife of the elder son of Mādravatī.

15.32.14 And this one, golden-fair as refined gold, the daughter of King Virāṭa, here with her son—she was the wife of Abhimanyu, who was slain in battle, stripped of his chariot, by Droṇa and the rest who kept to their cars.

15.32.15 And these women, their hair parted at the crown, clad in white upper garments, wives of warrior-kings—they are the more than a hundred daughters-in-law of this aged king, bereft of their heroes, their sons and lords slain.

15.32.16 These I have named to you in order of rank, O you of brahminic temper, upright in mind and being—all the wives of kings, of perfectly pure nature, of whom you have been inquiring.

15.32.17 Thus that king, foremost of the Kuru elders, having met with those sons of kings, then inquired after the welfare of them all, once all the ascetics had departed.

15.32.18 And when the warriors too, leaving that ring of hermitages, had settled and laid aside their gear, and the women, the aged, and the children were comfortably seated, he asked after the welfare of each as was fitting.

15.33.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Yudhiṣṭhira, mighty-armed, is it well with you, my son, together with all your brothers and with the townsfolk and country-folk alike?

15.33.2 And those who depend upon you—are they too free from ailment: your counsellors, the host of your servants, and your elders, O lord?

15.33.3 Do you follow the ancient way of life, that which the royal sages observed? Is your treasury filled without cutting off the rightful shares of others?

15.33.4 Do you bear yourself fittingly toward foes, the neutral, and friends? And do you duly look after the brahmins with grants of land?

15.33.5 Are they content with your conduct, O bull of the Bhāratas—your enemies, your elders, the townsfolk, your servants, and your own kin as well?

15.33.6 Do you, full of faith, worship the ancestors and the gods with sacrifice, O lord of kings, and honor guests with food and drink, O Bhārata?

15.33.7 And in your realm, are the brahmins devoted to their own duties, and the kṣatriyas, the body of vaiśyas, and the householder śūdras as well?

15.33.8 Do the women, children, and aged in your land neither grieve nor beg? Are the women of your house honored, O bull among men?

15.33.9 Does this lineage of royal sages, having gained you as its lord of the earth, not sink in renown below what befits it, O great king?

15.33.10 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: To him who spoke thus, asking after his welfare, that knower of right replied, himself skilled in the conduct of speech.

15.33.11 Does your austerity prosper, O king, while your toil is light? And this mother of mine, who serves you—is she free from weariness? Will her dwelling in the forest, O king, bear its fruit?

15.33.12 And this eldest mother of mine, worn by the buffeting of wind and journeys, the queen given to grim austerities—does she not grieve?

15.33.13 Her sons of great valor, devoted to the kṣatriya code, are slain—does she not ever brood ill upon us as evildoers?

15.33.14 And where is that Vidura, O king? We do not see him. And is this Saṃjaya well? Does he abide in austerity?

15.33.15 Thus addressed, Dhṛtarāṣṭra answered the lord of men: Vidura is well, my son; he has taken up a grim austerity.

15.33.16 Feeding on air, taking no food, gaunt, his veins standing out, he is now and then glimpsed by brahmins somewhere in this empty forest.

15.33.17 Even as he was speaking thus, there appeared one with matted locks, a pebble in his mouth, emaciated, clad only in the directions, his limbs smeared with grime and sprinkled with the dust of the forest.

15.33.18 From afar the Steward was spied and pointed out to the king there; but, seeing the company, he at once turned back toward the hermitage.

15.33.19 After him ran the king, Yudhiṣṭhira, alone, as he entered the dread forest—now seen, now lost to view, here and there.

15.33.20 "Ho, Vidura! I am the king, your beloved Yudhiṣṭhira!"—so crying, the lord of men pursued him with all his effort.

15.33.21 Then in a lonely, secluded spot the foremost of the wise, Vidura, came to a halt, leaning against a certain tree there in the depths of the wood.

15.33.22 That man, all but wasted away, betrayed by his form alone, the keenly wise Yudhiṣṭhira recognized as the man of mighty understanding.

15.33.23 "I am Yudhiṣṭhira," he said, and stood before him, within Vidura's hearing; and the other answered him by a sign.

15.33.24 Then, growing unblinking, Vidura gazed upon the king, fixing his sight upon him, wholly composed, eye joined with eye.

15.33.25 The wise Vidura entered into him, limb by limb into limbs, setting his vital breaths within his breaths and his senses within his senses.

15.33.26 Having recourse to the power of yoga, Vidura entered the body of the king, into the Dharma King, blazing as it were with splendor.

15.33.27 Vidura's body, just so, with its eyes fixed motionless, leaning against the tree and now bereft of consciousness, the king then beheld.

15.33.28 And the Dharma King of great splendor then felt himself grown strong and enriched manifold; and the Pāṇḍava called that to mind.

15.33.29 Learned, of great splendor, he recalled all his own ancient nature, O lord of peoples, and the law of yoga as it had been told by Vyāsa.

15.33.30 Then the Dharma King, wishing to perform the last rites for him there, the learned one, desired to cremate him; but thereupon a voice spoke.

15.33.31 "Ho, O king! This body, known by the name of Vidura, must not be burned. This is the eternal law for you here.

15.33.32 The worlds called Saṃtānaka shall be his, O prince; he has attained the law of the ascetic and is in no way to be mourned, O scorcher of foes."

15.33.33 So addressed, the Dharma King turned back from there once more and reported all of this to the son of Vicitravīrya.

15.33.34 Then that splendid king, and all that company, and Bhīmasena and the rest as well, were filled with the greatest wonder.

15.33.35 Hearing this, the king was glad, and said to the son of Dharma: "Let this water, these roots and fruit of mine be accepted."

15.33.36 "For whatever food a man eats, O king, of that same food his guest is held to partake." Thus addressed, the son of Dharma said only "So be it" to the king, and ate the fruit and roots given by him, together with his younger brothers.

15.33.37 Then they all, taking up their lodging at the roots of the trees, passed that night living on fruit, roots, and water.

15.34.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus that night of theirs, men of holy deeds, in the hermitage—auspicious and graced with stars—passed away, O Bhārata.

15.34.2 Here and there were their discourses, marked by dharma and artha, ranging through manifold turns of phrase, furnished with various sacred lore.

15.34.3 But the Pāṇḍavas slept that night on the bare ground all about their mother, having forsaken their most costly couches, O lord of men.

15.34.4 On whatever fare the high-minded king Dhṛtarāṣṭra subsisted, on that same fare those heroes of men lived through that night.

15.34.5 When the night had passed, the son of Kuntī, his early-morning rites performed, beheld together with his brothers the ring of hermitages.

15.34.6 With the women of the household and his retinue, with his servants and his priest, he roamed at ease and at will, by Dhṛtarāṣṭra's leave.

15.34.7 There he saw the altars with their fires brightly ablaze, attended by sages who had bathed and made their offerings into the flames.

15.34.8 With heaps of forest flowers and with the rising smoke of clarified butter, endowed with a holy aspect and thronged with bands of sages were those altars.

15.34.9 With herds of deer, unstartled, sheltering here and there, and with flocks of birds, all unafraid and as if breaking into song, O lord—

15.34.10 with the cries of blue-throated peacocks, the calling of the gallinules, and the auspicious warbling of cuckoos, lovely to the ear—

15.34.11 and adorned here and there with the sound of brahmins reciting their lessons, and graced with great burdens of fruit and roots borne along.

15.34.12 Then that king bestowed, for the ascetics' sake, the pots that had been brought—golden ones, O king, and likewise those of udumbara wood—

15.34.13 and deerskins and woven mats, the sacrificial ladle and spoon, the water-jars, the cooking-pots and pans, O Bhārata—the lord of earth gave all these.

15.34.14 and iron vessels and dishes of many kinds, O king—whatever each one wished for, and however much, and whatever else was desired.

15.34.15 Thus that righteous king, having gone round the ring of hermitages and distributed all that wealth, the lord of earth returned again.

15.34.16 And he beheld the wise king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, his daily rites performed, seated calm and untroubled together with Gāndhārī.

15.34.17 And the righteous one saw his mother Kuntī standing near, bowed like a pupil, she who walked ever in the path of dharma.

15.34.18 Having honored that king and proclaimed his own name aloud, when bidden "Be seated," he took his place upon a mat of grass.

15.34.19 And Bhīmasena and the other Pāṇḍavas, having saluted the bull of the Kurus and clasped his feet, sat down at the king's command.

15.34.20 Surrounded by them, that Kaurava king shone exceedingly, bearing a brahmic splendor blazing forth, like Bṛhaspati amid the gods.

15.34.21 As they sat thus, the great sages came together—Śatayūpa and the rest, dwellers of Kurukṣetra.

15.34.22 And the lord Vyāsa, the brahmin honored by the host of divine sages, of great splendor, encircled by his disciples, presented himself to that king.

15.34.23 Then the Kaurava king, and the valiant son of Kuntī, and Bhīmasena and the rest, rose up and paid him honor.

15.34.24 Then Vyāsa, drawing near, encircled by Śatayūpa and the others, said to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the guardian of earth, "Let all be seated."

15.34.25 And a fresh seat of kuśa grass, spread over with a black antelope-skin and topped with kuśa, prepared for that very purpose, Vyāsa then took.

15.34.26 And all those best of brahmins, of ample might, by Dvaipāyana's leave, sat down upon seats all around.

15.35.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When the great-souled Pāṇḍavas had thus taken their seats, Vyāsa, son of Satyavatī, addressed the king and spoke.

15.35.2 "Dhṛtarāṣṭra, mighty-armed, does your austerity prosper? Does your mind find contentment in this dwelling in the forest, O lord of men?

15.35.3 Is there no grief in your heart, O king, born of the loss of your sons? Are all your faculties of knowledge serene, O blameless one?

15.35.4 Do you, having made your resolve firm, follow the rule of forest life? And is your daughter-in-law Gāndhārī not overcome by sorrow?

15.35.5 That queen of great wisdom and understanding, who discerns dharma and artha, who knows the truth of coming and going—does she not grieve?

15.35.6 And does Kuntī, O king, serve you free of all pride, she who, forsaking her own kingdom, delights in the service of her elders?

15.35.7 Has the king, the son of Dharma, been welcomed by you with affection? And Bhīma, Arjuna, and the twins—have these too been consoled?

15.35.8 Do you rejoice to see them? Is your mind unstained? Are you of purified nature, O lord of men, with knowledge now arisen in you?"

15.35.9 For these three, O Bhārata, are the highest among all creatures: freedom from enmity, O great king, truthfulness, and the absence of malice.

15.35.10 You feel no regret, I trust, O Bhārata, at this dwelling in the forest? Does the wild food please you, O lord, and the garments of the sages?

15.35.11 And known to me as well, O king, is the departure of the high-souled Vidura, by what ordinance he, who was the great-souled Dharma himself, passed away.

15.35.12 For by the curse of Māṇḍavya did Dharma indeed enter into the state of Vidura—he of great wisdom, the mighty yogin, the great-souled one, exceedingly noble of mind.

15.35.13 Neither Bṛhaspati among the gods, nor Śukra among the asuras, was so endowed with intellect as that bull among men.

15.35.14 Expending a vast store of ascetic power long accumulated, the sage Māṇḍavya overpowered the eternal Dharma himself.

15.35.15 By the command of Brahmā of old, and by my own power, that one of exceeding wisdom was born in the field of Vicitravīrya.

15.35.16 Your brother, O great king, was the eternal god of gods—that Dharma whom the seers know by reason of his upholding the good and his meditation.

15.35.17 By truth he increases it, and by self-restraint and by discipline, by non-injury and by giving and by austerity—he, the eternal one.

15.35.18 By whom, through the power of yoga, the Kuru king Yudhiṣṭhira was begotten—this is Dharma, O king, by that wise one of boundless intellect.

15.35.19 As fire, as wind, as the waters, as earth, as ether—so does Dharma abide, both here and in the world beyond.

15.35.20 All-pervading, O Kaurava, pervading the whole world of moving and unmoving things, that god of gods is seen by the perfected ones whose sins have been burned away.

15.35.21 For he who is Dharma, he is Vidura; and he who is Vidura, he is the Pāṇḍava. This Pāṇḍava, O king, stood subject to you, ready like a servant.

15.35.22 He has entered into his own self—your brother, best in wisdom; by good fortune the great-souled one, endowed with the great power of yoga, has passed into the son of Kuntī.

15.35.23 You too I shall soon join with what is good, O bull of the Bhāratas; know me, dear child, to have come for the cutting away of doubt.

15.35.24 A deed that no great seers in the world have ever wrought before—a marvel, the fruit of austerity—this I shall reveal to you all.

15.35.25 What more than human thing do you wish to obtain from me, O protector of the earth—to see, to touch, or to hear? Speak, and I shall make it so.

15.36.1 Janamejaya said: When the lord of the earth Dhṛtarāṣṭra had gone, O brāhmaṇa, to dwell in the forest—that tiger among kings, together with his wife and accompanied by his daughter-in-law Kuntī—

15.36.2 and when Vidura too had attained perfection, merging into the Dharma King, while all the sons of Pāṇḍu dwelt within the circle of the hermitage—

15.36.3 that marvel which Vyāsa of supreme splendor, the great seer, said he would perform—tell that to me.

15.36.4 And how long a time did the Kaurava, the unwavering king of men Yudhiṣṭhira, dwell in the forest with his people, O brāhmaṇa?

15.36.5 On what food did those great-souled ones live there, with their army and the women of the inner apartments, O lord? Tell me that, O sinless one.

15.36.6 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Granted leave then, O king, by the Kuru king, the Pāṇḍavas, resting, partook of food and drink of various kinds.

15.36.7 For one month they dwelt there in the forest, with their army and their women; then Vyāsa came to that place, as I have told you, O sinless one.

15.36.8 And as they all sat there in the king's presence with their talk, attending upon Vyāsa, O king, other sages too arrived.

15.36.9 Nārada and Parvata and Devala of great austerity, and Viśvāvasu and Tumburu and Citrasena, O Bhārata.

15.36.10 To them too, in due form, the noble-minded Kuru king Yudhiṣṭhira, with Dhṛtarāṣṭra's leave, paid honor.

15.36.11 Then, having received honor from Yudhiṣṭhira, they all sat down upon holy seats and upon excellent cushions of kuśa grass.

15.36.12 When they had taken their seats there, that king of great wisdom, the upholder of the Kurus, surrounded by the sons of Pāṇḍu, sat down.

15.36.13 Gāndhārī and Kuntī, and Draupadī and the Sātvatī woman, and the other women too then sat down together with still others.

15.36.14 Their talk there became celestial and most righteous, O king, and of the ancient seers, mingled with tales of gods and asuras.

15.36.15 Then, at the close of the talk, Vyāsa, best of speakers, of great splendor, foremost of all who know the Vedas, well pleased, spoke once more those words to that lord whose eye was wisdom.

15.36.16 Known to me is it, O king of kings, what you wish to utter in your heart, you who are consumed by the grief brought on by your sons.

15.36.17 And the sorrow that abides in Gāndhārī's heart, O king, and that which dwells in the heart of Kuntī, O great king, and in Draupadī's—

15.36.18 and the keen grief born of her son's destruction that Subhadrā, Kṛṣṇa's sister, bears—that too is known to me.

15.36.19 Having heard of this gathering of you all, O king, I have come for the cutting away of doubt, O delight of the Kurus.

15.36.20 And let these gods and gandharvas, and all the great seers, behold today the might of my austerity, long stored up.

15.36.21 Therefore let it be told, O mighty-armed one, what desire I may grant you; I am inclined to give a boon—behold the power of my austerity.

15.36.22 Thus addressed by Vyāsa of boundless intellect, that king of kings, after pondering for a moment, set himself to speak.

15.36.23 Blessed am I, favored am I, and fruitful is my life, in that today I have here this meeting with you, the holy ones.

15.36.24 And today too I perceive the desired destiny of my soul, in that I am united with you, who are like unto Brahmā, O you whose wealth is austerity.

15.36.25 By the mere sight of you I am made pure—of this there is no doubt; nor is there any fear in me from the world beyond, O sinless ones.

15.36.26 Yet my mind is ever sorely tormented by the misdeeds of that dull-witted, foolish son of mine, who was greedy and grasping, whenever I remember him.

15.36.27 By whom, of wicked mind, the innocent Pāṇḍavas were wronged, and this earth with its men and elephants was suddenly brought to slaughter—

15.36.28 and great-souled kings, lords of diverse realms, having come for my son's sake, all passed into the power of death.

15.36.29 Those heroes who, forsaking their sons and wives and their lives, dear to their hearts, went to the abode of the king of the dead—

15.36.30 what now is the destiny, O brāhmaṇa, of those who were slain in battle for a friend's sake, and likewise of those of my sons and grandsons who were killed in the fight?

15.36.31 My mind is tormented again and again at having caused the slaying of the mighty Bhīṣma, the aged son of Śaṃtanu, and Droṇa, that best of brāhmaṇas—

15.36.32 by my son, deluded and wicked, a hater of his own friends, who, coveting the kingdom of the earth, brought our illustrious house to ruin.

15.36.33 Remembering all this, burning day and night, I find no peace, stricken by pain and grief; for me, brooding thus, O father, there is no comfort to be found.

15.37.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having heard the manifold lamentation of that royal sage, the grief of Gāndhārī was renewed, O Janamejaya.

15.37.2 And of Kuntī, and of Drupada's daughter, and likewise of Subhadrā, and of those noble women, the brides of the Kaurava house.

15.37.3 Overwhelmed by grief for her sons, Gāndhārī, the queen with bound eyes, rose with joined palms and spoke this to her father-in-law:

15.37.4 These sixteen years have passed, O bull among sages, yet for this king, grieving for his slain sons, there is no peace, O lord.

15.37.5 Overwhelmed with grief for his sons, sighing, this lord of the earth, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, sleeps not through all the nights, O great sage.

15.37.6 You are able to create whole other worlds by the power of your austerity; how much more, then, to show the king his sons who have gone to another world?

15.37.7 And this Kṛṣṇā, Draupadī, whose kinsmen and sons were slain, grieves exceedingly—the virtuous one, the dearest of your daughters-in-law.

15.37.8 So too Kṛṣṇa's sister Subhadrā, sweet of speech, scorched by the slaying of Saubhadra, grieves greatly, the lovely woman.

15.37.9 And this wife of Bhūriśravas, most sorely afflicted, tormented by grief at her husband's calamity, sleeps not through the nights, O lord.

15.37.10 Whose father-in-law, the wise Bāhlika, upholder of the Kurus, was slain, and Somadatta together with his father, in the great battle.

15.37.11 And the hundred sons of your son—he the illustrious, of great wisdom, who never fled in battles—who were slain on the field of war.

15.37.12 This hundred wives of his, stricken with grief for their sons, again and again increasing the sorrow of the king and of myself, with that great undertaking attends upon me, O great sage.

15.37.13 And those heroes, the great-souled mighty charioteers, my fathers-in-law, Somadatta and the rest—what now is their destiny, O lord?

15.37.14 By your grace, O blessed one, may this lord of the earth pass his time free from grief, and I as well, and this Kuntī, your daughter-in-law.

15.37.15 When Gāndhārī had thus spoken, Kuntī, her face wasted by vows, remembered that son of hers, secretly born, sprung from the Sun.

15.37.16 That boon-granting sage Vyāsa, of far-reaching hearing and sight, beheld her grieving, the queen, the mother of Savyasācin.

15.37.17 Then Vyāsa said to her: Whatever matter you wish to speak of, tell it, O most wise one, that which abides in your mind.

15.37.18 Then Kuntī, bowing her head to her two elders, spoke with shame these words, disclosing a thing of long ago.

15.38.1 Kuntī said: O blessed one, you are my father-in-law, the deity even of deities; you are to me the god above gods—hear my truthful word.

15.38.2 An ascetic, an irascible brāhmaṇa, Durvāsas by name, came to my father's house to take alms and eat; him I fully satisfied.

15.38.3 By purity, by the avoidance of offense, and with a cleansed mind, even on great occasions for anger I never grew angry at any time.

15.38.4 He, well pleased, granted me a boon; "It is enough," said I, but he spoke this word to me: "It must surely be received by you."

15.38.5 Then, for fear of a curse, I said to the brāhmaṇa once again, "So be it"; and that twice-born one spoke to me once more:

15.38.6 "You shall be the mother of righteousness, O gracious one, O fair-faced lady; those gods whom you summon shall stand subject to you."

15.38.7 Having said this, the brāhmaṇa vanished; then I was filled with wonder, and in all conditions thereafter my memory of it never faded.

15.38.8 Then, standing upon the terrace of the palace, gazing at the rising sun, recalling that word of the sage, longing for the maker of day, I stood—in childish innocence not perceiving the fault therein.

15.38.9 Then the thousand-rayed god drew near to me; dividing his body in two, both on the earth and in the sky, with the one he warmed the worlds, and with the other he came to me.

15.38.10 He said to me, who was trembling, "Choose a boon from me, then let me go"; and I, bowing my head to him, spoke:

15.38.11 The fierce-rayed one said to me, "A summoning in vain is not permitted you; I shall burn both you and the brāhmaṇa by whom this boon was given to you."

15.38.12 Then I, seeking to shield the brāhmaṇa, who was guiltless, from a curse, said this: "Let there be born to me, O god, a son equal to you."

15.38.13 Then the Sun, entering me with his radiance and clouding my senses, said, 'A son shall be yours,' and ascended to heaven.

15.38.14 Then, within my father's palace, guarding the secret of what had passed, I set adrift upon the water the infant son secretly born—Karṇa.

15.38.15 Surely, O brāhmaṇa, by the grace of that very god I became a maiden once again, even as the sage had foretold to me.

15.38.16 Foolish that I was, I forsook that son though I knew him to be mine—and that, O sage among brāhmaṇas, burns me, as you well know.

15.38.17 Whether it be sin or no sin, I have laid it all bare before you. You, revered one, ought now to take away this fear of mine.

15.38.18 And that wish which dwells in this king's heart, known to you, O sinless and best of sages—let him obtain it this very day.

15.38.19 Thus addressed, Vyāsa, foremost of those who know the Vedas, replied: 'It is well. All this is true, just as you have told me.'

15.38.20 'No fault lies with you, for you regained your maidenhood. The gods, indeed, in their lordly power, enter into bodies.'

15.38.21 'There are orders of gods who beget offspring by will alone, by word, by glance, by touch, and by union—thus in five ways.'

15.38.22 'The law of men cannot be measured by the law of the gods. Know this, O Kuntī, and let the fever of your mind depart.'

15.38.23 'For the mighty all is wholesome, for the mighty all is pure, for the mighty all is righteous, for the mighty all is their own.'

15.39.1 Vyāsa said: Gracious Gāndhārī, you shall behold your sons, your brothers, your friends, and your daughters-in-law together with their husbands tonight, as though they had risen from sleep.

15.39.2 Kuntī shall behold Karṇa, and the Yādava lady Subhadrā her son Abhimanyu; Draupadī shall see her five sons, her fathers, and her brothers as well.

15.39.3 This resolve had already arisen in my heart before, even as I have now been urged by the king, by you, and by Pṛthā herself.

15.39.4 Those great-souled men, every one of those bulls among warriors, are not to be mourned, for devoted to the warrior's duty they met their end.

15.39.5 That which had to be was inevitable, a work of the gods, O blameless one; for all of them descended to the earth as portions of divine beings.

15.39.6 Gandharvas and apsarases, piśācas, guhyakas, and rākṣasas, the holy yakṣas, the siddhas, and the divine seers as well—

15.39.7 gods and dānavas too, and the stainless brahmā-seers—all these met their death on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra.

15.39.8 That wise king of the gandharvas known by the name Dhṛtarāṣṭra—he it is who in the world of men is Dhṛtarāṣṭra, your husband.

15.39.9 Know Pāṇḍu to have been the most excellent and steadfast among the host of the Maruts; Vidura was a portion of Dharma, and so too is this king Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.39.10 Know Duryodhana to have been Kali, and Śakuni the Dvāpara age; and Duḥśāsana and the rest, O fair-faced one, know them to have been rākṣasas.

15.39.11 Know the mighty subduer of foes, Bhīmasena, to have sprung from the host of the Maruts; this Pārtha, Dhanaṃjaya, was the seer Nara; Hṛṣīkeśa was Nārāyaṇa; and the twins were the two Aśvins.

15.39.12 Know Karṇa, O lovely one, to have been the Sun—first among the burning ones, who, dividing his own body in two, scorches the worlds—he who was born to be the cause of enmity and to kindle strife.

15.39.13 And that heir of the Pāṇḍavas, slain by six great chariot-warriors—Subhadrā's son—was the Moon, who by his yogic power had become twofold here.

15.39.14 Know Dhṛṣṭadyumna, born with Draupadī from the sacred fire, to have been an auspicious portion of Agni; but Śikhaṇḍin was a rākṣasa.

15.39.15 Know Droṇa to have been a portion of Bṛhaspati, and Droṇa's son born of Rudra; and know Bhīṣma, the son of Gaṅgā, to have been a Vasu come to the state of man.

15.39.16 Thus, O most wise lady, these gods, having come to the human condition and accomplished their glorious task, returned again to heaven.

15.39.17 And this grief that has long dwelt in the hearts of all of you—the dread born of thought for the other world—I shall today drive away.

15.39.18 Let all of you go down to the river Bhāgīrathī. There you shall behold all those who fell upon this field of battle.

15.39.19 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having heard these words of Vyāsa, all the people then, with a great lion's roar, set forth toward the Gaṅgā.

15.39.20 And Dhṛtarāṣṭra, with his ministers, set out together with the Pāṇḍavas, accompanied by the tigers among sages and by the assembled gandharvas.

15.39.21 Then, having reached the Gaṅgā in due order, that whole ocean of people made their dwelling, each as he pleased and at his ease.

15.39.22 And the wise king, together with the Pāṇḍavas and his followers, made his dwelling in a chosen spot, with the women and the elders at the fore.

15.39.23 And that day passed like a hundred years for them as they awaited the night, longing to behold the kings who had died.

15.39.24 Then the sun went down behind the sacred peak of the foremost mountain; and they, having performed their ablutions, set about the rites of the night.

15.40.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then, when night had come and the evening rites were done, all who were gathered there approached Vyāsa.

15.40.2 And the righteous Dhṛtarāṣṭra, together with the Pāṇḍavas, purified and single-minded, sat down with those sages.

15.40.3 With Gāndhārī the women sat down together, and all the folk of city and countryside as well, each according to his age.

15.40.4 Then the mighty-splendored Vyāsa, the great sage, having entered the holy water of the Bhāgīrathī, summoned forth all the realms of beings.

15.40.5 the warriors of the Pāṇḍavas and of the Kauravas, all of them, and the illustrious kings who dwelt in many lands—

15.40.6 Then, O Janamejaya, a tremendous tumult arose from within the water, even as of old between the armies of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas.

15.40.7 Then all those kings, led by Bhīṣma and Droṇa, rose up from that water by the thousands, together with their armies.

15.40.8 Both Virāṭa and Drupada, with their sons and their soldiers, and the sons of Draupadī, and Subhadrā's son, and the rākṣasa Ghaṭotkaca;

15.40.9 both Karṇa and Duryodhana, and Śakuni the great chariot-warrior, and Duḥśāsana and the rest, the great car-warriors among the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra;

15.40.10 the son of Jarāsaṃdha, Bhagadatta, and king Jalasaṃdha, Bhūriśravas, Śala, Śalya, and Vṛṣasena with his younger brother;

15.40.11 the prince Lakṣmaṇa, and the sons of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and all the sons of Śikhaṇḍin, and Dhṛṣṭaketu with his younger brother;

15.40.12 Acala and Vṛṣaka, and the rākṣasa Alāyudha, Bāhlika and Somadatta, and king Cekitāna;

15.40.13 these and many others, who for their multitude are not named, all of radiant form, rose up then from the water.

15.40.14 Whatever garb, whatever banner, and whatever mount belonged to each hero—by these very tokens were the lords of men beheld, each fully arrayed.

15.40.15 All clad in celestial raiment, all with gleaming earrings, free of enmity, free of pride, their anger and resentment gone.

15.40.16 hymned by gandharvas and praised by bards, wearing celestial garlands and robes, encircled by throngs of apsarases.

15.40.17 And then, O lord of men, the sage, son of Satyavatī, well pleased, by the power of his austerities bestowed divine sight upon Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.40.18 And the glorious Gāndhārī, endowed with the power of divine vision, beheld all those her sons and the others as well who had been slain in battle.

15.40.19 That marvel, beyond thought, immense and hair-raising, all those people gazed upon in wonder, their eyes unblinking.

15.40.20 That host was seen approaching, exultant as at a festival, thronged with rejoicing women and men, splendid as a painting upon a canvas.

15.40.21 And Dhṛtarāṣṭra, beholding all of them with his divine eye, rejoiced, O best of the Bhāratas, by the grace of that sage.

15.41.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then those best of the Bhāratas came together with one another, all of them with anger and envy gone, freed from every stain.

15.41.2 Following the supreme and auspicious ordinance laid down by the brahmā-seer, all glad of heart, like the immortals in the world of the gods.

15.41.3 Son with father and with mother, wife together with husband, brother with brother, and friend with friend, O king, were reunited.

15.41.4 And the Pāṇḍavas, in their great joy, came together with the mighty archer Karṇa and with Subhadrā's son, and with all the sons of Draupadī.

15.41.5 Then those Pāṇḍavas, those guardians of the earth, full of affection, having met with Karṇa, came to abide in friendship with him.

15.41.6 By the grace of the sage, those other warriors too, their wrath destroyed, cast off all enmity and came to stand in friendship.

15.41.7 Thus were all those tigers among men reunited—with their elders, their kinsmen, and their sons—the Kurus and the other folk besides.

15.41.8 Having passed that one whole night in delight, glad of heart, those kings in their contentment deemed themselves dwellers in heaven.

15.41.9 There was no grief, no fear, no terror, no discontent nor any disgrace, O bull of the Bhāratas, when the warriors met one another.

15.41.10 Reunited with their fathers, their brothers, their husbands, and their sons, the women, attaining the highest joy, then cast off their sorrow.

15.41.11 Having thus passed one night, those heroes and those women, taking leave of one another and embracing, then departed as they had come.

15.41.12 Then that bull among sages dismissed those hosts of beings, and in an instant they vanished, even as the onlookers watched.

15.41.13 Plunging into the holy river that flows by three paths, those great souls, with their chariots and their banners, betook themselves to their own abodes.

15.41.14 Some went to the world of the gods, some to the assembly of Brahmā, some attained the world of Varuṇa, and some that of Kubera.

15.41.15 And some of those kings attained the world of Vaivasvata, some that of the rākṣasas and piśācas, and some the Northern Kurus.

15.41.16 By wondrous paths they all departed—those great souls who had come with the immortals, together with their mounts and their attendants on foot.

15.41.17 When all of them had departed, the great sage standing in the water—righteous in conduct, of mighty splendor, ever the benefactor of the Kurus—then spoke to all those warrior-women whose lords had been slain.

15.41.18 Whichever of these noble women desire the worlds won by their husbands, let them without delay and without sloth plunge into the water of the Jāhnavī.

15.41.19 Then, hearing his words, those fair women, full of faith, having taken leave of their father-in-law, entered the water of the Jāhnavī.

15.41.20 Freed from their human bodies, those virtuous women then, O lord of peoples, were every one reunited with their husbands.

15.41.21 Thus, one after another, all those virtuous women of noble houses, entering the water and liberated, attained to the same world as their husbands.

15.41.22 Endowed with celestial forms, adorned with celestial ornaments, wearing celestial garlands and raiment—even as were their husbands, so were they.

15.41.23 Endowed with virtue and goodness, free of darkness and weariness, all of them graced with every excellence, they reached each her own abode.

15.41.24 And whatever wish belonged to each at that time, that very wish Vyāsa, the bestower of boons, devoted to righteousness, then granted to each.

15.41.25 Hearing of this return of the god-kings, the people rejoiced and were filled with gladness, even those who had passed into other bodies.

15.41.26 The man who hears of their reunion with their loved ones wins what is dear to him forever, both here and after death.

15.41.27 The learned man who recites this account of reunion with cherished kin, free of toil and free of ill, attains the highest perfection.

15.41.28 O Bhārata, men devoted to sacred study, intent upon rites, joined to spiritual discipline, and steadfast, by ever hearing this parva, shall attain the supreme goal.

15.42.1 The Sūta said: Hearing this, the learned king Janamejaya was filled with joy at the going and coming of all his forefathers.

15.42.2 And full of gladness he spoke concerning their return: How can there be again the sight of the forms of those who have cast off their bodies?

15.42.3 Thus addressed, that best of the twice-born, the mighty disciple of Vyāsa, foremost among speakers, replied to King Janamejaya.

15.42.4 It is established that none of all deeds is ever lost; bodies are born of action, and so too, O king, are their very forms.

15.42.5 The great elements are eternal, resting upon the Lord of beings; their union is everlasting, and there is no destruction for those that are parted.

15.42.6 Action done is done so as not to perish, and the coming of its fruit is desired; the self, joined with these, partakes of pleasure and pain.

15.42.7 It is established that the Knower of the field is indestructible and eternal; for those who truly understand, it is the abiding selfhood of all beings.

15.42.8 So long as action is not spent, so long does its own form endure; the man whose action is exhausted assumes a change of form.

15.42.9 The manifold states, gaining a body, are gathered into oneness and become joined; yet to those who understand, they remain eternal in their separate being.

15.42.10 And there is this Vedic teaching in the horse-sacrifice concerning the slaying of the horse: the life-breaths pass eternally to another world, for the steeds are eternal.

15.42.11 I speak this for your welfare, O king, if it be pleasing to you: the paths that lead to the gods are heard of as laid out upon the altar of sacrifice.

15.42.12 Where your sacrifice is well performed, there the gods are favorable to you; and when the gods, lords over the passage of the sacrificial victims, are gathered, then by that worship those who move onward, and no others, become eternal.

15.42.13 This fivefold group is eternal, and eternal too is the self; the man of vain mind who sees only the diverse combining of these, and grieves overmuch at their parting, is a child—such is my judgment.

15.42.14 He who sees the fault in separation should shun all union here below; where there is no attachment there is no joining, and on earth the sorrow that is born of parting.

15.42.15 But the man who knows the higher and the lower is not driven on by pride; knowing the lower, once he has touched the supreme wisdom, he is freed from delusion.

15.42.16 From the unseen he has come forth, and to the unseen he has gone again; I know him not, nor he me, and yet there is in me no aversion.

15.42.17 By whatever body this powerless one does a deed, by that very body he must inevitably reap it; what is of the mind he gains with the mind, and what is of the body he, the embodied, gains in the body.

15.43.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: O foremost of the Kurus, the king who had not seen his sons regained the sight of them in their own true forms, by the grace of the sage.

15.43.2 That best of men, the king, attained the duties of kingship and the secret doctrine of Brahman, and firm resolve of mind as well.

15.43.3 And the deeply wise Vidura attained perfection by the power of his austerities, having drawn near to Dhṛtarāṣṭra and to the ascetic Vyāsa as well.

15.43.4 Janamejaya said: If Vyāsa, the bestower of boons, would show me too my father in that same form, garb, and age, then I would believe everything you have told.

15.43.5 It would be dear to me, and I would be fulfilled and resolved of purpose; by the grace of the sage's son, may my desire be accomplished.

15.43.6 The Sūta said: When the king had spoken these words, the mighty and wise Vyāsa showed his grace and brought forth Parīkṣit.

15.43.7 Then King Janamejaya beheld his glorious father, the king, come down from heaven in that very form and age.

15.43.8 And he beheld the great-souled Śamīka and his son Śṛṅgin, and those who had been the king's counselors as well.

15.43.9 Then at the purificatory bath the king Janamejaya, full of joy, himself bathed his father, and the lord of earth bathed as well.

15.43.10 And having bathed, that best of the Bhāratas then said this to Āstīka, born of the Yāyāvara line, the son of Jaratkāru.

15.43.11 O Āstīka, this sacrifice is full of wonders—such is my thought—for today my father has been regained, dispeller of my grief.

15.43.12 Āstīka said: Where the ancient sage Dvaipāyana, that treasury of austerity, is present at the sacrifice, O best of the Kuru line, by him both worlds are won.

15.43.13 A wondrous tale has been heard by you, O joy of the Pāṇḍavas; the serpents have been reduced to ashes and have gone the way of your father.

15.43.14 By some means Takṣaka was set free, through your truthfulness, O king; and all the sages were honored, beholding the destiny of the great-souled one.

15.43.15 A very great merit has been gained by hearing what destroys sin; the knot of the heart is loosed by the sight of noble men.

15.43.16 Those who take the side of righteousness and delight in good conduct—those at the sight of whom sin falls away—to them obeisance must be made.

15.43.17 The Sūta said: Hearing this from the best of the twice-born, King Janamejaya honored that sage, paying him reverence again and again.

15.43.18 And the knower of dharma, that best of men, questioned the steadfast sage Vaiśaṃpāyana about the remainder of the tale of the dwelling in the forest.

15.44.1 Janamejaya said: Having seen his sons and grandsons together with their kin, what did the lord of men, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, do, and what did King Yudhiṣṭhira do?

15.44.2 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having seen that great wonder, the renewed sight of his sons, that royal sage, his grief gone, returned again to his hermitage.

15.44.3 And all the other people, and those supreme sages as well, departed each as he wished, with the leave of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

15.44.4 But the great-souled Pāṇḍavas, with but a small body of troops, followed that great-souled lord of earth, together with his wives.

15.44.5 The wise brahmin-sage, honored by the world, the muni born of Satyavatī, addressed Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who had reached the hermitage.

15.44.6 O mighty-armed Dhṛtarāṣṭra, joy of the Kauravas, listen: you have heard the words of sages ripe in wisdom and holy in deeds,

15.44.7 the manifold discourses of those grown great in noble birth, knowers of the Vedas and their auxiliaries, learned in dharma and the ancient lore, as they spoke.

15.44.8 Do not set your mind upon grief; the wise man is not troubled by fate. You have heard the secret of the gods from Nārada, who beholds the gods.

15.44.9 By the law of the warrior they have gone to that blessed state made pure by the sword, just as you have seen your sons roaming wherever they wished.

15.44.10 But this wise Yudhiṣṭhira waits upon your wishes, together with all his brothers, with his wife, and with his friends.

15.44.11 Dismiss him; let him go and govern his own kingdom, for more than a month has now passed while they have dwelt here in the forest.

15.44.12 For this station must ever be guarded with care, O scorcher of foes; this thing called a kingdom has many adversaries, O lord of men.

15.44.13 Thus addressed by Vyāsa of measureless wisdom, the Kaurava king, eloquent of speech, then called Yudhiṣṭhira and spoke these words.

15.44.14 O Ajātaśatru, blessings upon you; hear me, you and your brothers. By your grace, O guardian of earth, grief no longer torments us.

15.44.15 And I delight in you, my son, as of old in the City of the Elephant, attended by you, O wise one, my protector who moves ever among those I love.

15.44.16 The reward of a son I have gained from you; great is my joy in you, and there is no anger in me, O mighty-armed one. Go now, my son; tarry no longer.

15.44.17 And as I gaze upon you here, my austerity falls away; yet this body, devoted to penance, is sustained once more at the sight of you.

15.44.18 And these two mothers of yours, who feed on fallen leaves and share my vows, O son, will not long endure.

15.44.19 Duryodhana and the rest, gone to the other world, have been seen, through the power of Vyāsa's austerity and through your coming together with us.

15.44.20 My purpose has long been served, and so too my life, O sinless one; I shall undertake fierce austerity, and you ought to grant me leave.

15.44.21 In you now rest the offering to the ancestors, our fame, and this whole lineage; tomorrow or today, O mighty-armed one, go, my son, and tarry no longer.

15.44.22 You have heard the science of statecraft many times over, O bull of the Bhāratas; I see nothing left to enjoin upon you—so much has already been done, O lord.

15.44.23 When he had spoken thus, my dear, the king replied to the king: You ought not, O knower of dharma, to abandon me who am without offense.

15.44.24 Let all my brothers and followers go as they please; but I shall stay close to you and to my two mothers steadfast in their vows.

15.44.25 Then Gāndhārī said to him: Not so, my son; listen to me. Upon you depends the Kuru line, and the offering for my father-in-law as well.

15.44.26 Go, my son; this is enough—we have been honored sufficiently. What the king has said must be done by you, my son: it is your father's word.

15.44.27 Thus addressed by Gāndhārī, he, wiping his eyes clouded with tears of affection, said this to the weeping Kuntī.

15.44.28 The king dismisses me, and so does the illustrious Gāndhārī; but with my heart bound to you, how shall I depart in sorrow?

15.44.29 Yet I do not dare to be an obstacle to your austerity, O practicer of righteousness; for there is nothing higher than penance—by penance one attains greatness.

15.44.30 Nor is my mind set upon the kingdom, O queen, as it once was; my heart is wholly given over to austerity, with my entire being.

15.44.31 This whole earth is emptied and brings me no delight, O fair one; our kinsmen are wasted away, and our strength is not what it was before.

15.44.32 The Pāñcālas are utterly reduced, with only women left remaining; I see no one among them, O fair one, who might continue their line.

15.44.33 For all were reduced to ashes by Droṇa alone in battle, and those who remained were slain by Droṇa's son in the night.

15.44.34 The Cedis and the Matsyas, once seen by us, are likewise gone; only the circle of the Vṛṣṇis remains, by Vāsudeva's protection—seeing whom I wish to abide, for the sake of dharma and no other cause.

15.44.35 Look upon us all with kindly eye; hard to obtain will the sight of you become, mother, for the king will undertake fierce austerity.

15.44.36 Hearing this, the mighty-armed Sahadeva, lord of warriors, his eyes troubled with tears, said this to Yudhiṣṭhira:

15.44.37 I cannot bear to abandon our mother, O bull among kings; let you return swiftly—I shall perform austerity here in the forest.

15.44.38 Here will I wither away my body through penance, devoted to the service of the feet of the king and of these two mothers.

15.44.39 Then Kuntī, embracing the mighty-armed one, said to him: Go, my son; do not speak so—do as I bid you.

15.44.40 May your comings be auspicious; be well, my dear sons. In this way you would only become a hindrance to our austerity.

15.44.41 Bound by the cords of love for you, I would fall away from the supreme austerity; therefore go, my son, for little now remains to us, O lord.

15.44.42 Thus, O lord of kings, by Kuntī's words of many kinds was the mind of Sahadeva steadied, and most especially that of the king Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.44.43 Given leave by their mother and by the king, those bulls among the Kurus saluted Yudhiṣṭhira, the best of the Kurus, and began to take their leave.

15.44.44 "O king, we shall return, blessed by your goodwill; granted leave by you, O king, we shall go forth free of sin."

15.44.45 So addressed by the great-souled Dharmarāja, the royal sage gave his leave, greeting Yudhiṣṭhira with blessings of victory.

15.44.46 The king consoled Bhīma too, foremost of the strong; and the wise and valiant Bhīma received his words with full grace.

15.44.47 Embracing Arjuna and the twins, those bulls among men, the Kaurava gave them leave, clasping and greeting them with affection.

15.44.48 Granted leave by Gāndhārī, having bowed at her feet, smelled upon the head and embraced by their mother, they all circled the king to the right, like calves held back from their pen.

15.44.49 Looking back again and again, they walked round him to the right; and so too did the chaste Draupadī and all the women of the Kauravas.

15.44.50 Having rendered fitting service to their father-in-law, they set out; given leave by their two mothers-in-law, embraced and greeted, and instructed in their duties, they departed together with their husbands.

15.44.51 Then arose the clamor of the charioteers crying "Yoke up!", and of camels bawling and horses neighing.

15.44.52 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, with his wife, with his troops, and with his kinsmen, came back again to the city of Hāstinapura.

15.45.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When the Pāṇḍavas had returned, in the second year, O king, the divine sage Nārada came of his own accord to Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.45.2 Having honored him, the mighty-armed Kuru king Yudhiṣṭhira, best of speakers, addressed him as he sat at ease and fully at rest.

15.45.3 "After a long time indeed do I see your blessed self come to us. Is all well with you, O brāhmaṇa, and has good fortune attended you?"

15.45.4 "What lands have you visited, and what task may I perform for you? Tell me that, O foremost of the twice-born; you are our welcome guest."

15.45.5 Nārada said: After long I behold you, O king. I have come from the penance-grove. I have visited the sacred fords, and the Gaṅgā too, O ruler of men.

15.45.6 Yudhiṣṭhira said: Men dwelling on the banks of the Gaṅgā tell me today that the great-souled Dhṛtarāṣṭra has undertaken the most severe austerities.

15.45.7 Did you see there in good health that upholder of the Kurus, and Gāndhārī, and Pṛthā, and the charioteer's son Saṃjaya?

15.45.8 And how fares now my father, that king? I wish to hear, O blessed one, if you have seen the monarch.

15.45.9 Nārada said: Steady yourself, O great king, and hear all just as it is, as it was heard and seen by me in that penance-grove.

15.45.10 When you had returned from your sojourn in the forest, O delight of the Kurus, your father went from Kurukṣetra to the Gate of the Gaṅgā, O king.

15.45.11 The wise one, together with Gāndhārī, accompanied by his daughter-in-law Kuntī, and by the charioteer Saṃjaya, took with him his sacred fires and his priests.

15.45.12 Your father, rich in penance, took up fierce austerity; placing a pebble in his mouth, that sage became one who fed on air alone.

15.45.13 In the forest, honored by all the sages, that king of great penance, reduced to mere skin and bone, so passed six months.

15.45.14 Gāndhārī subsisted on water, Kuntī fasted for a month at a time, and Saṃjaya sustained himself by taking food only every sixth meal, O Bhārata.

15.45.15 There the officiating priests offered into the king's fires according to the rite, O lord, the king himself being now seen and now unseen in that forest.

15.45.16 The king then became homeless, ranging the forest; and the two queens together, and Saṃjaya, followed after him.

15.45.17 Saṃjaya was the king's guide over smooth ground and rough; and the blameless Pṛthā, O king, was the eyes of Gāndhārī.

15.45.18 Then once, on the bank of the Gaṅgā, that best of kings, the wise one, having bathed in the Gaṅgā, set his face toward the hermitage.

15.45.19 Then a wind arose and a great forest fire sprang up; it seized and burned that whole wood on every side.

15.45.20 As the herds of deer burned all around, and the serpents, and the herds of boars, all taking refuge in the pools of water,

15.45.21 when that forest was engulfed and this dire calamity had come, the king, his vital movements feeble from fasting, was unable to flee, and so were your two mothers, worn utterly thin.

15.45.22 Then that king, seeing the fire drawing near, spoke thus to the charioteer Saṃjaya, O lord of the earth:

15.45.23 "Go, Saṃjaya, where the fire may never burn you; we here, joined with this fire, shall go to the supreme goal."

15.45.24 To him Saṃjaya, best of speakers, much agitated, replied: "O king, this will be an unwished-for death for you, by a fire kindled in vain."

15.45.25 "And I see no means of escape from the fire. What now must be done at once—that you should tell me."

15.45.26 So addressed by Saṃjaya, the king spoke again: "This is no unwished-for death for us, who left our home of our own will."

15.45.27 "Water, fire, wind, and likewise self-starvation—these are praised for ascetics as ends. Go, Saṃjaya, without delay."

15.45.28 Having said this to Saṃjaya, the king then composed his mind and sat down facing east, together with Gāndhārī and Kuntī.

15.45.29 Saṃjaya, seeing him thus, walked round him to the right; and the wise man said to him, "Unite your self in yoga," O lord.

15.45.30 That king, son of a sage and thoughtful, did as he bade; restraining the whole host of his senses, he became then like a log of wood.

15.45.31 And the greatly blessed Gāndhārī, and Pṛthā your mother, and that king your father—all were joined with the forest fire.

15.45.32 But the high-minded Saṃjaya escaped from that conflagration; I saw him on the bank of the Gaṅgā, surrounded by ascetics.

15.45.33 That radiant one, taking leave of them and reporting all this in full, the charioteer Saṃjaya set out for the mountain Himavat.

15.45.34 Thus did the high-minded Kuru king meet his end, and so too Gāndhārī and Pṛthā, your two mothers, O ruler of men.

15.45.35 Wandering there by chance, I beheld the king's body and the bodies of both those queens, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.45.36 Then into that penance-grove gathered the ascetics, having heard of the king's end; yet they did not grieve, knowing the goal he and they had attained.

15.45.37 There I heard all of this, O best of men: how the king was burned, and the two queens as well, O Pāṇḍava.

15.45.38 You should not grieve, O lord of kings; that ruler of the earth came to a good end, attaining union with the fire, as did Gāndhārī and your mother.

15.45.39 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Hearing of the passing of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, great grief arose among all the great-souled Pāṇḍavas.

15.45.40 And then a great cry of anguish went up from the inner apartments and from the townsfolk, O great king, when they heard of the king's end.

15.45.41 "Alas! Shame!" cried King Yudhiṣṭhira, sore stricken with grief; with arms upraised, remembering his mother, he wept aloud, and so did all his brothers, led by Bhīmasena.

15.45.42 And then a very great sound of weeping arose in the inner apartments, O great king, when they heard that Pṛthā had so passed away.

15.45.43 And all of them mourned that aged king, burned thus, whose sons had been slain, and the ascetic Gāndhārī as well.

15.45.44 When that clamor had subsided, after a moment, O Bhārata, Dharmarāja, restraining his tears by firmness, spoke these words.

15.46.1 Yudhiṣṭhira said: That such a great-souled one, engaged in fierce penance, should perish as if helpless, while we his kinsmen yet lived—

15.46.2 hard indeed to fathom, I think, are the destinies of men, when that son of Vicitravīrya was thus burned by the forest fire.

15.46.3 He whose splendid hundred sons were born to him, the strong-armed king with the might of ten thousand elephants—he it is who was burned by the forest fire.

15.46.4 He whom of old the loveliest women fanned with palm-leaf fans—him, scorched by the forest fire, the vultures fanned with their wings.

15.46.5 He who as he lay was wakened by throngs of bards and minstrels—that king now lies upon the bare earth, through the deeds of my own sin.

15.46.6 Yet I do not grieve for the illustrious Gāndhārī, her sons slain, who has reached her husband's world, so steadfast in her vow of devotion to her lord.

15.46.7 But for Pṛthā alone do I grieve, who, casting aside the great and shining sovereignty of her sons, chose instead to dwell in the forest.

15.46.8 Fie on this kingdom of ours, fie on our strength, fie on our valor, and fie on the warrior's code, since we live on while she is dead!

15.46.9 Most subtle indeed is the course of Time, O most excellent of the twice-born, in that she gave up the kingdom and chose to dwell in the forest.

15.46.10 The mother of Yudhiṣṭhira, of Bhīma, and of Vijaya—how could she have been burned as though she had no protector? Thinking on it I am bewildered.

15.46.11 In vain, it seems, was the fire gratified at Khāṇḍava by the ambidextrous Arjuna; ungrateful is that fire, heedless of the kindness done it—so I think.

15.46.12 For there that lord burned the mother of the ambidextrous one—the same who, in the guise of a brāhmaṇa, had once come begging for alms. Fie on that fire, and fie on the renowned fidelity to truth of Pārtha!

15.46.13 And this other thing seems to me more grievous still, O blessed one: that the lord of the earth met his end through a fire kindled in vain.

15.46.14 For that ascetic Kaurava royal sage—how could a death of such a kind befall him, who had ruled over this whole earth?

15.46.15 Though his fires sanctified by sacred mantras stood there in the great forest, my father met his end joined to a fire kindled in vain.

15.46.16 I imagine Pṛthā, trembling, gaunt, her veins standing out, crying aloud in that great terror, "Alas, my son, O Dharmarāja!"

15.46.17 And wailing too, "Bhīma, save me from this peril!"—my mother was encircled on every side by the forest fire.

15.46.18 Sahadeva was dear to her, dearer even than her own sons; yet that hero, the son of Mādrī, could not deliver her.

15.46.19 Hearing this, the five Pāṇḍavas all wept, embracing one another, stricken with grief, like beings at the dissolution of an age.

15.46.20 And the sound of those lords of men weeping, pent up within the vast expanse of the palace, made heaven and earth resound in answer.

15.47.1 Nārada said: That king, the son of Vicitravīrya, was not burned by a fire kindled in vain, as I heard there; this I shall tell you, O Bhārata.

15.47.2 As that wise one entered the forest, feeding on air alone, he had a sacrifice performed and then released his fires—so we have heard.

15.47.3 His officiating priests then let those fires loose in the lonely forest and went their way as they pleased, O best of the Bhāratas.

15.47.4 That fire then grew great in that forest, and by it, they say, the wood was set ablaze—so the ascetics told me.

15.47.5 Thus that king, on the bank of the Jāhnavī, as I have told you, was joined with that fire—his own very fire, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.47.6 Thus did the sages report to me, O sinless one—those whom I beheld upon the bank of the Bhāgīrathī, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

15.47.7 Thus, O lord of the earth, the king was united with his own sacred fire. Do not grieve: that monarch has gone to the highest goal.

15.47.8 And through her devoted service to her elders, your mother too, O son of Pāṇḍu, has attained a most exalted perfection—of this I have no doubt.

15.47.9 It is fitting, O scion of Kuru, that you perform the water-rites for them, together with all your brothers; let this now be ordained here.

15.47.10 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then that guardian of the earth, the foremost bearer of the Pāṇḍavas' burden, set forth together with his brothers and his wife, O bull of the Bhāratas.

15.47.11 And the city-folk and the country-folk, moved foremost by their devotion to the king, went down all around to the Gaṅgā, each clad in a single garment.

15.47.12 Then, plunging into the water, all those bulls among the Kurus, with Yuyutsu placed at their head, offered the libation to the great-souled one.

15.47.13 And for Gāndhārī and for Pṛthā, duly by name and lineage, they performed the rites; and completing the period of mourning, they dwelt there outside the city.

15.47.14 That best of the Kurus dispatched men who knew the rites and were faithful in their duties to Gaṅgādvāra, the place where the king had been consumed by fire.

15.47.15 There at Gaṅgādvāra the lord of the earth then instructed those men, on whom gifts had been bestowed, that the funerary water-offerings for them were to be performed.

15.47.16 On the twelfth day, his mourning ended, that ruler of men, the son of Pāṇḍu, duly offered for them the śrāddha rites, attended with sacrificial fees.

15.47.17 Designating the offering for Dhṛtarāṣṭra, that lord of the earth gave gold, silver, cattle, and couches of very great worth.

15.47.18 And for Gāndhārī and for Pṛthā, each in turn, the splendid king, proclaiming their names, bestowed gifts beyond compare.

15.47.19 Whatever a brahmin desired, and however much, that much he received—bedding, food, a carriage, jewels and gems, and wealth besides.

15.47.20 Carriages, garments, comforts, and serving-maids as attendants—all these the king, that lord of the earth, gave, designating the offerings for those two mothers.

15.47.21 Then that guardian of the earth, having offered the śrāddha rites many times over, the wise one entered once more the city called after the elephant.

15.47.22 And those men who had gone forth at the king's command, having duly performed the water-offerings for them, came back again from there.

15.47.23 Having honored them according to rule with garlands and divers perfumes, and having duly performed the water-rites for them, they then reported it to the lord of the earth.

15.47.24 And having consoled the king, the righteous-souled Yudhiṣṭhira, Nārada too, that supreme sage, departed, O king, as he wished.

15.47.25 Thus passed the years of the wise Dhṛtarāṣṭra—three then in dwelling in the forest, and fifteen within the city.

15.47.26 His sons slain in battle, he ever bestowed gifts in memory of his kinsmen, his relations by marriage, his friends, his brothers, and his own people.

15.47.27 But King Yudhiṣṭhira, his heart far from glad, his kinsmen and relatives slain, upheld that kingdom even then.