(Jatugriha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'The wicked Duryodhana became very pleased when the
king, O Bharata, had said so unto the Pandavas. And, O bull of Bharata's
race, 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 thine equally with me. It behoveth thee,
therefore, to protect it. I have no more trustworthy counsellor than thee
with whom to consult. Therefore, O sire, keep my counsel and exterminate
my foes by a clever device. O, do as I bid thee. The Pandavas have, by
Dhritarashtra, been sent to Varanavata, where they will, at
Dhritarashtra's command, enjoy themselves during the festivities. Do that
by which thou mayest this very day reach Varanavata in a car drawn by
swift mules. Repairing thither, cause thou to be erected a quadrangular
palace in the neighbourhood of the arsenal, rich in the materials and
furniture, and guard thou the mansion well (with prying eyes). And use
thou (in erecting that house) hemp and resin and all other inflammable
materials that are procurable. And mixing a little earth with clarified
butter and oil and fat and a large quantity of lac, make thou a plaster
for lining the walls, and scatter thou all around that house hemp and oil
and clarified butter and lac and wood in such a way that the Pandavas, or
any others, may not, even with scrutiny behold them there or conclude the
house to be an inflammable one. And having erected such mansion, cause
thou the Pandavas, after worshipping them with great reverence, to dwell
in it with Kunti and all their friends. And place thou there seats and
conveyances and beds, all of the best workmanship, for the Pandavas, so
that Dhritarashtra may have no reason to complain. Thou must also so
manage it all that none of Varanavata may know anything till the end we
have in view is accomplished. And assuring thyself that the Pandavas are
sleeping within in confidence and without fear, thou must then set fire to
that mansion beginning at the outer door. The Pandavas thereupon must be
burnt to death, but the people will say that they have been burnt in (an
accidental) conflagration of their house."
"'Saying, "So be it" unto the Kuru prince, Purochana repaired to Varanavata
in a car drawn by fleet mules. And going thither, O king, without loss of
time, obedient to the instructions of Duryodhana, did everything that the
prince had bid him do.'"