Vaisampayana said, "Those Brahmanas then, that had been dwelling (with
him) in the woods, beholding the son of Kunti about to set out (on the
pious pilgrimage), approached him, O king, and said, 'Thou art about to
set out, O king, on thy journey to the sacred _tirthas_, along with thy
brothers and accompanied by the illustrious Rishi Lomasa. O king, it
behoveth thee, O son of Pandu, to take us with thee. Without thee, we
shall not be able, O son of the Kuru race, to visit them at any time.
Surrounded by dangers and difficult of access, they are infested by
beasts of prey. Those _tirthas_, O lord of men, are inaccessible to
persons in small parties. Foremost of all wielders of the bow, thy
brothers are ever brave. Protected by your heroic selves, we also would
proceed to them. Permit us to acquire, O lord of earth, through thy
grace the blessed fruit of _tirthas_. Protected by thy energy, let us, O
king, be cleansed of all our sins by visiting those _tirthas_ and
purified by baths therein. Bathing in those _tirthas_, thou also, O
Bharata, wilt acquire without doubt the regions difficult of acquisition
that Kartavirya and Ashtaka, the royal sage Lomapada and the imperial
and heroic Bharata only had earned. In thy company, O king, we desire to
behold Prabhasa and other _tirthas_, Mahendra and other hills, Ganga and
other rivers, and Plaksha and other gigantic trees. If, O lord of men,
thou hast any regard for the Brahmanas, do thou our bidding. Thou wilt
surely have prosperity from this. O thou of mighty arms, the _tirthas_
are infested by Rakshasas that ever obstruct ascetic penances. It
behoveth thee to protect us from them. Protected by Lomasa and taking us
with thee, go thou to all the _tirthas_ spoken of by Dhaumya and the
intelligent Narada, as also all those that have been spoken of by the
celestial Rishi Lomasa, endued with great ascetic wealth, and be thou,
by this, cleansed of all thy sins.'
"Thus addressed respectfully by them, the king--that bull amongst the
sons of Pandu--surrounded by his heroic brothers headed by Bhima, with
tears of joy in his eyes, said unto all those ascetics, 'Let it be so.'
With the permission then of Lomasa, as also of his priest Dhaumya, that
foremost of Pandu's sons with soul under complete control, resolved,
along with his brothers and Drupada's daughter of faultless features, to
set out. Just at this time, the blessed Vyasa, as also Parvata and
Narada, all endued with high intelligence, came to Kamyaka for seeing
the son of Pandu. Beholding them, king Yudhishthira worshipped them with
due rites. And worshipped by the monarch thus, those blessed ones,
addressing Yudhishthira, said, 'O Yudhishthira, O Bhima, and ye twins,
banish all evil thoughts from your minds. Purify your hearts and then
set out for the _tirthas_. The Brahmanas have said that the observance
of regulations in respect of the body are called earthly vows, while
efforts to purify the heart, so that it may be free from evil thoughts,
are called spiritual vows. O king, the mind that is free from all evil
thoughts is highly pure. Purifying yourselves, therefore, harbouring
only friendly feelings for all, behold ye the _tirthas_. Observing
earthly vows in respect of your bodies and purifying your minds by
spiritual vows, obtain ye the fruits as recited, of pilgrimages.'
"Saying, 'So be it,' the Pandavas with Krishna, caused those celestial
and human Rishis to perform the usual propitiatory ceremonies. And those
heroes, having worshipped the feet of Lomasa and Dwaipayana and Narada
and the celestial Rishi Parvata, O king, and accompanied by Dhaumya as
also the ascetics that had been residing with them in the woods, set out
on the day following the full moon of _Agrahayana_ in which the
constellation _Pushya_ was ascendant. Dressed in barks and hides, and
with matted lock on head, they were all cased in impenetrable mail and
armed with swords. And O Janamejaya, the heroic sons of Pandu with
quivers and arrows and scimitars and other weapons, and accompanied by
Indrasena and other attendants with fourteen and one cars, a number of
cooks and servants of other classes, set out with faces turned towards
the east!"