(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then Bhishma and Kunti with their friends celebrated
the Sraddha of the deceased monarch, and offered the Pinda. And they
feasted the Kauravas and thousands of Brahmanas unto whom they also gave
gems and lands. Then the citizens returned to Hastinapura with the sons of
Pandu, now that they had been cleansed from the impurity incident to the
demise of their father. All then fell to weeping for the departed king. It
seemed as if they had lost one of their own kin.
"'When the Sraddha had been celebrated in the manner mentioned above, the
venerable Vyasa, seeing all the subjects sunk in grief, said one day to
his mother Satyavati, "Mother, our days of happiness have gone by and days
of calamity have succeeded. Sin beginneth to increase day by day. The
world hath got old. The empire of the Kauravas will no longer endure
because of wrong and oppression. Go thou then into the forest, and devote
thyself to contemplation through Yoga. Henceforth society will be filled
with deceit and wrong. Good work will cease. Do not witness the
annihilation of thy race, in thy old age."
"'Acquiescing in the words of Vyasa, Satyavati entered the inner apartments
and addressed her daughter-in-law, saying, "O Ambika, I hear that in
consequence of the deeds of your grandsons, this Bharata dynasty and its
subjects will perish. If thou permit, I would go to the forest with
Kausalya, so grieved at the loss of her son." O king, saying this the
queen, taking the permission of Bhishma also, went to the forest. And
arriving there with her two daughters-in-law, she became engaged in
profound contemplation, and in good time leaving her body ascended to
heaven.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Then the sons of king Pandu, having gone through
all the purifying rites prescribed in the Vedas, began to grow up in
princely style in the home of their father. Whenever they were engaged in
play with the sons of Dhritarashtra, their superiority of strength became
marked. In speed, in striking the objects aimed at, in consuming articles
of food, and scattering dust, Bhimasena beat all the sons of Dhritarashtra.
The son of the Wind-god pulled them by the hair and made them fight with
one another, laughing all the while. And Vrikodara easily defeated those
hundred and one children of great energy as if they were one instead of
being a hundred and one. The second Pandava used to seize them by the hair,
and throwing them down, to drag them along the earth. By this, some had
their knees broken, some their heads, and some their shoulders. That youth,
sometimes holding ten of them, drowned them in water, till they were
nearly dead. When the sons of Dhritarashtra got up to the boughs of a tree
for plucking fruits, Bhima used to shake that tree, by striking it with
his foot, so that down came the fruits and the fruitpluckers at the same
time. In fact, those princes were no match for Bhima in pugilistic
encounters, in speed, or in skill. Bhima used to make a display of his
strength by thus tormenting them in childishness but not from malice.
"'Seeing these wonderful exhibitions of the might of Bhima, the powerful
Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, began to conceive hostility
towards him. And the wicked and unrighteous Duryodhana, through ignorance
and ambition, prepared himself for an act of sin. He thought, "There is no
other individual who can compare with Bhima, the second son of Pandu, in
point of prowess. I shall have to destroy him by artifice. Singly, Bhima
dares a century of us to the combat. Therefore, when he shall sleep in the
garden, I shall throw him into the current of the Ganga. Afterwards,
confining his eldest brother Yudhishthira and his younger brother Arjuna,
I shall reign sole king without molestation." Determined thus, the wicked
Duryodhana was ever on the watch to find out an opportunity for injuring
Bhima. And, O Bharata, at length at a beautiful place called Pramanakoti
on the banks of the Ganga, he built a palace decorated with hangings of
broad-cloth and other rich stuffs. And he built this palace for sporting
in the water there, and filled it with all kinds of entertaining things
and choice viands. Gay flags waved on the top of this mansion. The name of
the house was "the water-sport house." Skilful cooks prepared various
kinds of viands. When all was ready, the officers gave intimation to
Duryodhana. Then the evil-minded prince said unto the Pandavas, "Let us
all go to the banks of the Ganga graced with trees and crowned with
flowers and sport there in the water." And upon Yudhishthira agreeing to
this, the sons of Dhritarashtra, taking the Pandavas with them, mounted
country-born elephants of great size and cars resembling towns, and left
the metropolis.
"'On arriving at the place, the princes dismissed their attendants, and
surveying the beauty of the gardens and the groves, entered the palace,
like lions entering their mountain caves. On entering they saw that the
architects had handsomely plastered the walls and the ceilings and that
painters had painted them beautifully. The windows looked very graceful,
and the artificial fountains were splendid. Here and there were tanks of
pellucid water in which bloomed forests of lotuses. The banks were decked
with various flowers whose fragrance filled the atmosphere. The Kauravas
and the Pandavas sat down and began to enjoy the things provided for them.
They became engaged in play and began to exchange morsels of food with one
another. Meanwhile the wicked Duryodhana had mixed a powerful poison with
a quantity of food, with the object of making away with Bhima. That wicked
youth who had nectar in his tongue and a razor in his heart, rose at
length, and in a friendly way fed Bhima largely with that poisoned food,
and thinking himself lucky in having compassed his end, was exceedingly
glad at heart. Then the sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandu together became
cheerfully engaged in sporting in the water. Their sport having been
finished, they dressed themselves in white habiliments, and decked
themselves with various ornaments. Fatigued with play, they felt inclined
in the evening to rest in the pleasurehouse belonging to the garden.
Having made the other youths take exercise in the waters, the powerful
second Pandava was excessively fatigued. So that on rising from the water,
he lay down on the ground. He was weary and under the influence of the
poison. And the cool air served to spread the poison over all his frame,
so that he lost his senses at once. Seeing this Duryodhana bound him with
chords of shrubs, and threw him into the water. The insensible son of
Pandu sank down till he reached the Naga kingdom. Nagas, furnished with
fangs containing virulent venom, bit him by thousands. The vegetable
poison, mingled in the blood of the son of the Wind god, was neutralised
by the snake-poison. The serpents had bitten all over his frame, except
his chest, the skin of which was so tough that their fangs could not
penetrate it.
"'On regaining consciousness, the son of Kunti burst his bands and began to
press the snakes down under the ground. A remnant fled for life, and going
to their king Vasuki, represented, "O king of snakes, a man drowned under
the water, bound in chords of shrubs; probably he had drunk poison. For
when he fell amongst us, he was insensible. But when we began to bite him,
he regained his senses, and bursting his fetters, commenced laying at us.
May it please Your Majesty to enquire who is."
"'Then Vasuki, in accordance with the prayer of the inferior Nagas, went to
the place and saw Bhimasena. Of the serpents, there was one, named Aryaka.
He was the grandfather of the father of Kunti. The lord of serpents saw
his relative and embraced him. Then, Vasuki, learning all, was pleased
with Bhima, and said to Aryaka with satisfaction, "How are we to please
him? Let him have money and gems in profusion."
"'On hearing the words of Vasuki, Aryaka said, "O king of serpents, when
Your Majesty is pleased with him, no need of wealth for him! Permit him to
drink of rasakunda (nectar-vessels) and thus immeasurable strength. There
is the strength of a thousand elephants in each one of those vessels. Let
this prince drink as much as he can."
"'The king of serpents gave his consent. And the serpents thereupon began
auspicious rites. Then purifying himself carefully, Bhimasena facing the
east began to drink nectar. At one breath, he quaffed off the contents of
a whole vessel, and in this manner drained off eight successive jars, till
he was full. At length, the serpents prepared an excellent bed for him, on
which he lay down at ease.'"