adorns the fair locks on his head. Fierce was the battle that took place between this king and Partha, making the very hair stand on end, like that between Shakra and the Asura Vritra. This mighty-armed one, having fought Dhananjaya, the son of Pritha, and having reduced him to great straits, was at last slain by his antagonist. He who had no equal on earth in heroism and energy, that achiever of terrible feats in battle, Bhishma, lieth there, deprived of life. Behold the son of Shantanu, O Krishna, that warrior of solar effulgence, stretched on the earth, like the Sun himself fallen from the firmament at the end of the yuga. Having scorched his foes with the fire of his weapons in battle, that valiant warrior, that Sun among men, O Keshava, hath set like the real Sun at evening. Behold that hero, O Krishna, who in knowledge of duty was equal to Devapi himself, now lying on a bed of arrows, so worthy of heroes. Having spread his excellent bed of barbed and unbarbed arrows, that hero lieth on it like the divine Skanda on a clump of heath. Indeed, the son of Ganga lieth, resting his head on that excellent pillow, consisting of three arrows,--becoming complement of his bed--given him by the wielder of Gandiva. For obeying the command of his sire, this illustrious one drew up his vital seed. Unrivalled in battle, that son of Shantanu lieth there, O Madhava! Of righteous soul and acquainted with every duty, by the aid of his knowledge relating to both the worlds, that hero, though mortal, is still bearing his life like an immortal. When Shantanu's son lieth today, struck down with arrows, it seems that no other person is alive on earth that possesseth learning and prowess that is competent to achieve great feats in battle. Truthful in speech, this righteous and virtuous hero, solicited by the Pandavas, told them the means of his own death. Alas, he who had revived the line of Kuru that had become extinct, that illustrious person possessed of great intelligence, hath left the world with all the Kurus in his company. Of whom, O Madhava, will the Kurus enquire of religion and duty after that bull among men, Devavrata, who resembles a god, shall have gone to heaven? Behold Drona, that foremost of Brahmanas, that preceptor of Arjuna, of Satyaki, and of the Kurus, lying on the ground! Endued with mighty energy, Drona, O Madhava, was as conversant with the four kinds of arms as the chief of the celestials or Shukra of Bhrigu's race. Through his grace, Vibhatsu the son of Pandu, hath achieved the most difficult feats. Deprived of life, he now lies on the ground. Weapons refused to come (at last) at his bidding. Placing him at their head, the Kauravas had challenged the Pandavas. That foremost of all wielders of weapons was at last mangled with weapons. As he careered in battle, scorching his foes in every direction, his course resembled that of a blazing conflagration. Alas, deprived of life, he now lieth on the ground, like an extinguished fire. The handle of the bow is yet in his grasp. The leathern fences, O Madhava, still encase his fingers. Though slain, he still looketh as if alive. The four Vedas, and all kinds of weapons, O Keshava, did not abandon that hero even as these do not abandon the Lord Prajapati himself. His auspicious feet, deserving of every adoration and adored as a matter of fact by bards and eulogists and worshipped by disciples, are now being dragged by jackals. Deprived of her senses by grief, Kripi woefully attendeth, O slayer of Madhu, on that Drona who hath been slain by Drupada's son. Behold that afflicted lady, fallen upon the Earth, with dishevelled hair and face hanging down. Alas, she attendeth in sorrow upon her lifeless lord, that foremost of all wielders of weapons, lying on the ground. Many brahmacaris, with matted locks on their head, are attending upon the body of Drona that is cased in armour rent through and through, O Keshava, with the shafts of Dhrishtadyumna. The illustrious and delicate Kripi, cheerless and afflicted, is endeavouring to perform the last rites on the body of her lord slain in battle. There, those reciters of Samas, having placed the body of Drona on the funeral pyre and having ignited the fire with due rites, are singing the three (well-known) Samas. Those brahmacaris, with matted locks on their heads, have piled the funeral pyre of that Brahmana with bows and darts and car-boxes, O Madhava! Having collected diverse other kinds of shafts, that hero of great energy is being consumed by them. Indeed, having placed him on the pyre, they are singing and weeping. Others are reciting the three (well-known) Samas that are used on such occasions. Consuming Drona on that fire, like fire in fire, those disciples of his of the regenerate class are proceeding towards the banks of the Ganga, along the left side of the pyre and having placed Kripi at their head!'"
24 "Gandhari said, 'Behold the son of Somadatta, who was slain by Yuyudhana, pecked at and torn by a large number of birds! Burning with grief at the death of his son, Somadatta, O Janardana, (as he lies there) seems to censure the great bowman Yuyudhana. There the mother of Bhurishrava, that faultless lady, overcome with grief, is addressing her lord Somadatta, saying, "By good luck, O king, thou seest not this terrible carnage of the Bharatas, this extermination of the Kurus, this sight that resembles the scenes occurring at the end of the yuga. By good luck, thou seest not thy heroic son, who bore the device of the sacrificial stake on his banner and who performed numerous sacrifices with profuse presents to all, slain on the field of battle. By good luck, thou hearest not those frightful wails of woe uttered amidst this carnage by thy daughters-in-law like the screams of a flight of cranes on the bosom of the sea. Thy daughters-in-law, bereaved of both husbands and sons, are running hither and thither, each clad in a single piece of raiment and each with her black tresses all dishevelled. By good luck, thou seest not thy son, that tiger among men, deprived of one of his arms, overthrown by Arjuna, and even now in course of being devoured by beasts of prey. By good luck, thou seest not today thy son slain in battle, and Bhurishrava deprived of life, and thy widowed daughters-in-law plunged into grief. By good luck, thou seest not the golden umbrella of that illustrious warrior who had the sacrificial stake for the device on his banner, torn and broken on the terrace of his car. There the black-eyed wives of Bhurishrava are indulging in piteous lamentations, surrounding their lord slain by Satyaki. Afflicted with grief on account of the slaughter of their lords, those ladies, indulging in copious lamentations, are falling down on the earth with their faces towards the ground, and slowly approaching thee, O Keshava! Alas, why did Arjuna of pure deeds perpetrate such a censurable act, since he struck off the arm of a heedless warrior who was brave and devoted to the performance of sacrifices. Alas, Satyaki did an act that was still more sinful, for he took the life of a person of restrained soul while sitting in the observance of the praya vow. Alas, O righteous one, thou liest on the ground, slain unfairly by two foes." Even thus, O Madhava, those wives of Bhurishrava are crying aloud in woe. There, those wives of that warrior, all possessed of slender waists, are placing upon their laps the lopped off arm of their lord and weeping bitterly!
"'"Here is that arm which used to invade the girdles, grind the deep bosoms, and touch the navel, the thighs, and the hips, of fair women, and loosen the ties of the drawers worn by them! Here is that arm which slew foes and dispelled the fears of friends, which gave thousands of kine and exterminated Kshatriyas in battle! In the presence of Vasudeva himself, Arjuna of unstained deeds, lopped it off thy heedless self while thou wert engaged with another in battle. What, indeed, wilt thou, O Janardana, say of this great feat of Arjuna while speaking of it in the midst of assemblies. What also will the diadem-decked Arjuna himself say of it?" Censuring thee in this way, that foremost of ladies hath stopped at last. The co-wives of that lady are piteously lamenting with her as if she were their daughter-in-law!
"'There the mighty Shakuni, the chief of Gandharas, of prowess incapable of being baffled, hath been slain by Sahadeva, the maternal uncle by the sister's son! Formerly, he used to be fanned with a couple of gold-handed fans! Alas, now, his prostrate form is being fanned by birds with their wings! He used to assume hundreds and thousands of forms. All the illusions, however, of that individual possessed of great deceptive powers, have been burnt by the energy of the son of Pandu. An expert in guile, he had vanquished Yudhishthira in the assembly by his powers of deception and won from him his vast kingdom. The son of Pandu, however, hath now won Shakuni's life-breaths. Behold, O Krishna, a large number of birds is now sitting around Shakuni. An expert in dice, alas, he had acquired that skill for the destruction of my sons. This fire of hostility with the Pandavas had been ignited by Shakuni for the destruction of my children as also of himself and his followers and kinsmen. Like those acquired by my sons, O puissant one, by the use of weapons, this one too, however wicked-souled, has acquired many regions of bliss by the use of weapons. My fear, O slayer of Madhu, is that that crooked person may not succeed in fomenting dissensions even (there, the region attained by them) between my children, all of whom are confiding and possessed of candour!'"
25 "Gandhari said, 'Behold that irresistible ruler of the Kambojas, that bull-necked hero, lying amid the dust, O Madhava, though deserving of being stretched at his ease on Kamboja blankets. Stricken with great grief, his wife is weeping bitterly at sight of his blood-stained arms, which, however, formerly used to be smeared with sandal-paste. Indeed, the beauteous one exclaims, "Even now adorned with beautiful palms and graceful fingers, these two arms of thine resemble a couple of spiked maces, getting within whose clasp, joy never left me for a moment! What will be my end, O ruler of men, when I am deprived of thee?" Endued with a melodious voice, the Kamboja queen is weeping helplessly and quivering with emotion. Behold that bevy of fair ladies there. Although tired with exertion and worn out with heat, yet beauty leaves not their forms, like the sightliness of the wreaths worn by the celestials although exposed to the Sun. Behold, O slayer of Madhu, the heroic ruler of the Kalingas lying there on the ground with his mighty arms adorned with a couple of angadas. Behold, O Janardana, those Magadha ladies crying and standing around Jayatsena, the ruler of the Magadhas. The charming and melodious wails of those long-eyed and sweet-voiced girls, O Krishna, are stupefying my heart exceedingly. With all their ornaments displaced, crying, and afflicted with grief, alas, those ladies of Magadha, worthy of resting on costly beds, are now lying down on the bare ground! There, again, those other ladies, surrounding their lord, the ruler of the Kosalas, prince Brihadbala, are indulging in loud wails. Engaged in plucking from his body the shafts with which it was pierced by Abhimanyu with the full might of his arms, those ladies are repeatedly losing their senses. The faces of those beautiful ladies, O Madhava, through toil and the rays of the Sun, are looking like faded lotuses. There, the brave sons of Dhrishtadyumna, of tender years and all adorned with garlands of gold and beautiful angadas, are lying, slain by Drona. Like insects on a blazing fire, they have all been burnt by falling upon Drona, whose car was the chamber of fire, having the bow for its flame and shafts and darts and maces for its fuel. Similarly, the five Kekaya brothers, possessed of great courage, and adorned with beautiful angadas, are lying on the ground, slain by Drona and with their faces turned towards that hero. Their coats of mail, of the splendour of heated gold, and their tall standards and cars and garlands, all made of the same metal, are shedding a bright light on the earth like so many blazing fires. Behold, O Madhava, king Drupada overthrown in battle by Drona, like a mighty elephant in the forest slain by a huge lion. The bright umbrella, white in hue of the king of the Pancalas, shines, O lotus-eyed one, like the moon in the autumnal firmament. The daughters-in-law and the wives of the old king, afflicted with grief, having burnt his body on the funeral pyre, are proceeding, keeping the pyre to their right. There those ladies, deprived of their senses, are removing the brave and great bowman Dhrishtaketu, that bull among the Cedis, slain by Drona. This crusher of foes, O slayer of Madhu, this great bowman, having baffled many weapons of Drona, lieth there, deprived of life, like a tree uprooted by the wind. Alas, that brave ruler of the Cedis, that mighty car-warrior Dhrishtaketu, after having slain thousands of foes, lies himself deprived of life! There, O Hrishikesha, the wives of the ruler of the Cedis are sitting around his body still decked with fair locks and beautiful earrings, though torn by carnivorous birds. Those foremost of ladies placing upon their laps the prostrate form of the heroic Dhrishtaketu born of the Dasharha race, are crying in sorrow. Behold, O Hrishikesha, the son, possessed of fair locks and excellent earrings, of that Dhrishtaketu, hacked in battle by Drona with his shafts. He never deserted his sire while the latter battled with his foes. Mark, O slayer of Madhu, he does not, even in death, desert that heroic parent. Even thus, my son's son, that slayer of hostile heroes, the mighty-armed Lakshmana, hath followed his sire Duryodhana! Behold, O Keshava, the two brothers of Avanti, Vinda and Anuvinda, lying there on the field, like two blossoming shala trees in the spring overthrown by the tempest. Clad in golden armour and adorned with Angadas of gold, they are still armed with swords and bows. Possessed of eyes like those of a bull, and decked with bright garlands, both of them are stretched on the field. The Pandavas, O Krishna, with thyself, are surely unslayable, since they and thou have escaped from Drona, from Bhishma, from Karna the son of Vikartana, from Kripa, from Duryodhana, from the son of Drona, from the mighty car-warrior Jayadratha, from Somadatta, from Vikarna, and from the brave Kritavarma. Behold the reverses brought about by Time! Those bulls among men that were capable of slaying the very celestials by force of their weapons have themselves been slain. Without doubt, O Madhava, there is nothing difficult for destiny to bring about, since even these bulls among men, these heroes, have been slain by Kshatriya warriors. My sons endued with great activity were (regarded by me as) slain even then, O Krishna, when thou returnedst unsuccessfully to Upaplavya. Shantanu's son and the wise Vidura told me then, "Cease to bear affection for thy children!" The interviews of those persons could not go for nothing. Soon, O Janardana, have my sons been consumed into ashes!'"
Vaishampayana continued, "Having said these words, Gandhari, deprived of her senses by grief, fell down on the earth! Casting off her fortitude, she suffered her senses to be stupefied by grief. Filled with wrath and with sorrow at the death of her sons, Gandhari, with agitated heart, ascribed every fault to Keshava.
"Gandhari said, 'The Pandavas and the Dhartarashtras, O Krishna, have both been burnt. Whilst they were thus being exterminated, O Janardana, why wert thou indifferent to them? Thou wert competent to prevent the slaughter, for thou hast a large number of followers and a vast force. Thou hadst eloquence, and thou hadst the power (for bringing about peace). Since deliberately, O slayer of Madhu, thou wert indifferent to this universal carnage, therefore, O mighty-armed one, thou shouldst reap the fruit of this act. By the little merit I have acquired through waiting dutifully on my husband, by that merit so difficult to attain, I shall curse thee, O wielder of the discus and the mace! Since thou wert indifferent to the Kurus and the Pandavas whilst they slew each other, therefore, O Govinda, thou shalt be the slayer of thy own kinsmen! In the thirty-sixth year from this, O slayer of Madhu, thou shalt, after causing the slaughter of thy kinsmen and friends and sons, perish by disgusting means in the wilderness. The ladies of thy race, deprived of sons, kinsmen, and friends, shall weep and cry even as these ladies of the Bharata race!'"
Vaishampayana continued, "Hearing these words, the high-souled Vasudeva, addressing the venerable Gandhari, said unto her these words, with a faint smile, 'There is none in the world, save myself, that is capable of exterminating the Vrishnis. I know this well. I am endeavouring to bring it about. In uttering this curse, O thou of excellent vows, thou hast aided me in the accomplishment of that task. The Vrishnis are incapable of being slain by others, be they human beings or gods or Danavas. The Yadavas, therefore shall fall by one another's hand.' After he of Dasharha's race had said these words, the Pandavas became stupefied. Filled with anxiety all of them became hopeless of life!"
26 26 "The holy one said, 'Arise, arise, O Gandhari, do not set thy heart on grief! Through thy fault, this vast carnage has taken place! Thy son Duryodhana was wicked-souled, envious, and exceedingly arrogant. Applauding his wicked acts, thou regardest them to be good. Exceedingly cruel, he was the embodiment of hostilities, and disobedient to the injunctions of the old. Why dost thou wish to ascribe thy own faults to me? Dead or lost, the person that grieves for what has already occurred, obtaineth more grief. By indulging in grief, one increases it two-fold. A woman of the regenerate class bears children for the practice of austerities; the cow brings forth offspring for bearing burdens; the mare brings forth her young for acquiring speed of motion; the Shudra woman bears a child for adding to the number of servitors; the Vaishya woman for adding to the number of keepers of cattle. A princess, however, like thee, brings forth sons for being slaughtered!'"
Vaishampayana said, "Hearing these words of Vasudeva that were disagreeable to her, Gandhari, with heart exceedingly agitated by grief, remained silent. The royal sage Dhritarashtra, however, restraining the grief that arises from folly, enquired of Yudhishthira the just, saying, 'If, O son of Pandu, thou knowest it, tell me the number of those that have fallen in this battle, as also of those that have escaped with life!'
"Yudhishthira answered, 'One billion 660 million and 20,000 men have fallen in this battle. Of the heroes that have escaped, the number is 240,165.'
"Dhritarashtra said, 'Tell me, O mighty-armed one, for thou art conversant with everything, what ends have those foremost of men attained.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'Those warriors of true prowess that have cheerfully cast off their bodies in fierce battle have all attained regions like those of Indra. Knowing death to be inevitable, they that have encountered it cheerlessly have attained the companionship of the Gandharvas. Those warriors that have fallen at the edge of weapons, while turning away from the field or begging for quarter, have attained the world of the guhyakas. Those high-souled warriors who, observant of the duties of Kshatriya-hood and regarding flight from battle to be shameful, have fallen, mangled with keen weapons, while advancing unarmed against fighting foes, have all assumed bright forms and attained the regions of Brahman. The remaining warriors, that have in anyhow met with death on the precincts of the field of battle, have attained the region of the Uttara-Kurus.'
"Dhritarashtra said, 'By the power of what knowledge, O son, thou seest these things like one crowned with ascetic success? Tell me this, O mighty-armed one, if thou thinkest that I can listen to it without impropriety!'
"Yudhishthira said, 'While at thy command I wandered in the forest, I obtained this boon on the occasion of sojourning to the sacred places. I met with the celestial rishi Lomasa and obtained from him the boon of spiritual vision. Thus on a former occasion I obtained second sight through the power of knowledge!'
"Dhritarashtra said, 'It is necessary that our people should burn, with due rites, the bodies of both the friendless and the friended slain. What shall we do with those that have none to look after them and that have no sacred fires? The duties that await us are many. Who are those whose (last) rites we should perform? O Yudhishthira, will they obtain regions of blessedness by the merit of their acts, they whose bodies are now being torn and dragged by vultures and other birds?'"
Vaishampayana continued, "Thus addressed, Kunti's son Yudhishthira of great wisdom commanded Sudharma (the priest of the Kauravas) and Dhaumya, and Sanjaya of the Suta order, and Vidura of great wisdom, and Yuyutsu of Kurus race, and all his servants headed by Indrasena, and all the other Sutas that were with him, saying, 'Cause the funeral rites of the slain, numbering by thousands, to be duly performed, so that nobody may perish for want of persons to take care of them!' At this command of king Yudhishthira the just, Vidura and Sanjaya and Sudharma and Dhaumya and Indrasena and others, procuring sandal, aloe and other kinds of wood used on such occasions, as also clarified butter and oil and perfumes and costly silken robes and other kinds of cloth, and large heaps of dry wood, and broken cars and diverse kinds of weapons, caused funeral pyres to be duly made and lighted and then without haste burnt, with due rites the slain kings in proper order. They properly burned upon those fires that blazed forth with libations of clarified butter in torrents over them, the bodies of Duryodhana and his hundred brothers, of Shalya, and king Bhurishrava; of king Jayadratha and Abhimanyu, O Bharata; of Duhshasana's son and Lakshmana and king Dhrishtaketu; of Vrihanta and Somadatta and the hundreds of Srinjayas; of king Kshemadhanva and Virata and Drupada; of Shikhandi the prince of Pancalas, and Dhrishtadyumna of Prishata's race; of the valiant Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja; of the ruler of the Kosalas, the sons of Draupadi, and Shakuni the son of Subala; of Acala and Vrishaka, and king Bhagadatta; of Karna and his son of great wrath; of those great bowmen, the Kekaya princes, and those mighty car-warriors, the Trigartas; of Ghatotkaca the prince of Rakshasas, and the brother of Vaka, of Alambusha, the foremost of Rakshasas, and king Jalasandha; and of hundreds and thousands of other kings. The pitri-medha rites in honour of some of the illustrious dead were performed there, while some sang Samas, and some uttered lamentations for the dead. With the loud noise of Samas and Riks, and the lamentations of the women, all creatures became stupefied that night. The funeral fires, smokeless and blazing brightly (amid the surrounding darkness), looked like luminous planets in the firmament enveloped by clouds. Those among the dead that had come from diverse realms and were utterly friendless were piled together in thousands of heaps and, at the command of Yudhishthira, were caused to be burnt by Vidura through a large number of persons acting coolly and influenced by good-will and affection, on pyres made of dry wood. Having caused their last rites to be performed, the Kuru king Yudhishthira, placing Dhritarashtra at his head, proceeded towards the river Ganga."
27 Vaishampayana said, "Arrived at the auspicious Ganga full of sacred water, containing many lakes, adorned with high banks and broad shores, and having a vast bed, they cast off their ornaments, upper garments, and belts and girdles. The Kuru ladies, crying and afflicted with great grief, offered oblations of water unto their sires and grandsons and brothers and kinsmen and sons and reverend seniors and husbands. Conversant with duties, they also performed the water-rite in honour of their friends. While those wives of heroes were performing this rite in honour of their heroic lords, the access to the stream became easy, although the paths (made by the tread of many feet) disappeared afterwards. The shores of the stream, though crowded with those spouses of heroes, looked as broad as the ocean and presented a spectacle of sorrow and cheerlessness. Then Kunti, O king, in a sudden paroxysm of grief, weepingly addressed her sons in these soft words, 'That hero and great bowman, that leader of leaders of car-divisions, that warrior distinguished by every mark of heroism, who hath been slain by Arjuna in battle, that warrior whom, ye sons of Pandu, ye took forth, Suta's child born of Radha, that hero who shone in the midst of his forces like the lord Surya himself, who battled with all of you and your followers, who looked resplendent as he commanded the vast force of the Duryodhana, who had no equal on earth for energy, that hero who preferred glory to life, that unretiring warrior firm in truth and never fatigued with exertion, was your eldest brother. Offer oblations of water unto that eldest brother of yours who was born of me by the god of day. That hero was born with a pair of earrings and clad in armour, and resembled Surya himself in splendour!' Hearing these painful words of their mother, the Pandavas began to express their grief for Karna. Indeed, they became more afflicted than ever. Then that tiger among men, the heroic Yudhishthira, sighing like a snake, asked his mother, 'That Karna who was like an ocean having shafts for his billows, his tall standard for his vortex, his own mighty arms for a couple of huge alligators, his large car for his deep lake, and the sound of his palms for his tempestuous roar, and whose impetuosity none could withstand save Dhananjaya, O mother, wert thou the authoress of that heroic being? How was that son, resembling a very celestial, born of thee in former days? The energy of his arms scorched all of us. How, mother, couldst thou conceal him like a person concealing a fire within the folds of his cloth? His might of arms was always worshipped by the Dhartarashtras even as we always worship the might of the wielder of Gandiva! How was that foremost of mighty men, that first of car-warriors, who endured the united force of all lords of earth in battle, how was he a son of thine? Was that foremost of all wielders of weapons our eldest brother? How didst thou bring forth that child of wonderful prowess? Alas, in consequence of the concealment of this affair by thee, we have been undone! By the death of Karna, ourselves with all our friends have been exceedingly afflicted. The grief I feel at Karna's death is a hundred times greater than that which was caused by the death of Abhimanyu and the sons of Draupadi, and the destruction of the Pancalas and the Kurus. Thinking of Karna, I am burning with grief, like a person thrown into a blazing fire. Nothing could have been unattainable by us, not excepting things belonging to heaven. Alas, this terrible carnage, so destructive of the Kurus, would not have occurred.' Copiously indulging in lamentations like these, king Yudhishthira the just uttered loud wails of woe. The puissant monarch then offered oblations of water unto his deceased elder brother. Then all the ladies that crowded the shores of the river suddenly sent up a loud wail of grief. The intelligent king of the Kurus, Yudhishthira, caused the wives and members of Karna's family to be brought before him. Of righteous soul, he performed, with them, the water-rite in honour of his eldest brother. Having finished the ceremony, the king with his senses exceedingly agitated, rose from the waters of Ganga."
The end of Stri-parva.
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa BOOK 12 SANTI PARVA Translated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit Text by Kisari Mohan Ganguli [1883-1896] Scanned at sacred-texts.com, 2004. Proofed by John Bruno Hare, November 2004.
THE MAHABHARATA SANTI PARVA SECTION I (Rajadharmanusasana Parva) Om! Having bowed down to Narayana, and Nara, the foremost of male beings, and unto the goddess Saraswati, must the word Jaya be uttered.
"Vaisampayana said, 'Having offered oblations, of water unto all their friends and kinsmen, the sons of Pandu, and Vidura, and Dhritarashtra, and all the Bharata ladies, continued to dwell there (on the banks of the sacred stream). The high-souled sons of Pandu desired to pass the period of mourning,[1] which extended for a month, outside the Kuru city. After king Yudhishthira the just had performed the water-rites, many high-souled sages crowned with ascetic success and many foremost of regenerate Rishis came there to see the monarch. Among them were the Island-born (Vyasa), and Narada, and the great Rishi Devala, and Devasthana, and Kanwa. They were all accompanied by best of their pupils. Many other members of the regenerate order, possessed of wisdom and accomplished in the Vedas, leading lives of domesticity or belonging to the Snataka class, came to behold the Kuru king. Those high-souled ones, as they came, were duly worshipped by Yudhishthira. The great Rishis then took their seats on costly carpets. Accepting the worship suited to that period (of mourning and impurity) that was offered them, they sat in due order around the king. Thousands of Brahmanas offered consolation and comfort to that king of kings residing on the sacred banks of the Bhagirathi with heart exceedingly agitated by grief. Then Narada, after having accosted the Rishis with the Island-born for their first, in due time, addressed Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma, saying, "Through the