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