(Jatugriha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then, when the night had passed away, a large
concourse of the townspeople came there in haste to see the sons of Pandu.
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. And the people began to bewail aloud
saying, "Indeed, this had been contrived by the sinful Duryodhana for the
destruction of the Pandavas. There is little doubt that Duryodhana hath,
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 Santanu, and Drona and Vidura and Kripa and
other Kauravas have not, any of them, followed the dictates of duty. Let
us now send to Dhritarashtra to say, 'Thy great desire hath been achieved!
Thou hast 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. And he said, "King Pandu, my brother of great fame,
hath, indeed, died today when those heroic sons of his together with their
mother have been burnt to death. Ye men, repair 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 deceased be sanctified
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 repair thither. Let also all other beneficial
acts that ought, 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 the sons of Pandu. And all of
them, afflicted with excessive sorrow, bewailed aloud, exclaiming, "O
Yudhishthira! Oh prince of the Kuru race!"--While others cried aloud, "Oh,
Bhima!--O Phalguna!"--while some again,--"Oh, the twins!--Oh, Kunti!"--
Thus did they sorrow for the Pandavas and offer oblations of water unto
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 Varanavata arrived at
the banks of the 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. After
much suffering they at last reached, O king, 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 woods. We know not which
side is which, nor can we proceed much further. We do not know whether
that wretch Purochana hath or hath not been burnt to death. How shall we
escape from these dangers unseen by others? O Bharata, taking us on
thyself, proceed thou as before. Thou alone amongst us art strong and
swift as the wind."
"'Thus addressed by Yudhishthira the just, the mighty Bhimasena, taking up
on his body Kunti and his brothers, began to proceed with great
celerity.'"