SRIMAD MAHABHARATA - AADI PARVA - JATUGRIHADAAHA (UPA) PARVA - PART 146

“Vaishampaayana said, ‘O Bharata (Janamejaya), the wicked Duryodhana became very pleased when the king (Dhritarashtra) had said so to Pandavas. O bull of Bharata's race (Janamejaya), Duryodhana, then, summoning his counsellor, Purochana in private, took hold of his right hand and said, ‘O Purochana, this world, so full of wealth, is mine. But it is yours equally with me. It is your duty, therefore, to protect it. I have no more trustworthy counsellor (advisor) than you with whom to consult. O respectful one, therefore keep my counsel (advice) and destroy my enemies by a clever device. O, do as I command you. The Pandavas have, by Dhritarashtra, been sent to Vaaranaavata, where they will, at Dhritarashtra's command, enjoy themselves during the festivities. Do that by which you may this very day reach Vaaranaavata in a chariot drawn by swift horses. Travelling there, you cause to be erected a quadrangular (four-sided) palace in the neighbourhood of the weaponry, rich in the materials and furniture, and you guard the mansion well. You use (in erecting that house) hemp and resin and all other flammable materials that are procurable. Mixing a little clay with clarified butter, oil and fat and a large quantity of lac, you make a plaster for lining the walls, and you scatter all around that house hemp, oil, clarified butter, lac and wood in such a way that the Pandavas, or any others, may not, even with survey see them there or conclude the house to be an inflammable one. Having erected such mansion, you cause the Pandavas, after worshipping them with great respect, to stay in it with Kunti and all their friends. You place there, seats, conveyances and beds, all of the best workmanship, for the Pandavas, so that Dhritarashtra may have no reason to complain. Also, you must so manage it all that none of Vaaranaavata may know anything till the end we have in view is accomplished. Assuring yourself that the Pandavas are sleeping within in confidence and without fear, you must then set fire to that mansion beginning at the outer door. The Pandavas immediately must be burnt to death, but the people will say that they have been burnt in (an accidental) fire of their house.

“Saying, ‘So be it’ to the Kuru prince (Duryodhana), Purochana travelled to Vaaranaavata in a chariot drawn by fast-paced horses. O king (Janamejaya), going there without loss of time, obedient to the instructions of Duryodhana, did everything that the prince (Duryodhana) had bid him do.”