(Swayamvara Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'When the Kuru princes (Bhima and Arjuna) were wending
towards the abode of the potter, Dhrishtadyumna, the Panchala prince
followed them. And sending away all his attendants, he concealed himself
in some part of the potter's house, unknown to the Pandavas. Then Bhima,
that grinder of all foes, and Jishnu, and the illustrious twins, on
returning from their eleemosynary round in the evening, cheerfully gave
everything unto Yudhishthira. Then the kind-hearted Kunti addressing the
daughter of Drupada said, "O amiable one, take thou first a portion from
this and devote it to the gods and give it away to Brahmanas, and feed
those that desire to eat and give unto those who have become our guests.
Divide the rest into two halves. Give one of these unto Bhima, O amiable
one, for this strong youth of fair complexion--equal unto a king of
elephants--this hero always eateth much. And divide the other half into
six parts, four for these youths, one for myself, and one for thee." Then
the princess hearing those instructive words of her mother-in-law
cheerfully did all that she had been directed to do. And those heroes then
all ate of the food prepared by Krishna. Then Sahadeva, the son of Madri,
endued with great activity, spread on the ground a bed of kusa grass. Then
those heroes, each spreading thereon his deer-skin, laid themselves down
to sleep. And those foremost of the Kuru princes lay down with heads
towards the south. And Kunti laid herself down along the line of their
heads, and Krishna along that of their feet. And Krishna though she lay
with the sons of Pandu on that bed of kusa grass along the line of their
feet as if she were their nether pillow, grieved not in her heart nor
thought disrespectfully of those bulls amongst the Kurus. Then those
heroes began to converse with one another. And the conversations of those
princes, each worthy to lead an army, was exceedingly interesting, they
being upon celestial cars and weapons and elephants, and swords and arrows,
and battle-axes. And the son of the Panchala king listened (from his place
of concealment) unto all they said. And all those who were with him beheld
Krishna in that state.
"'When morning came, the prince Dhristadyumna set out from his place of
concealment with great haste in order to report to Drupada in detail all
that had happened at the potter's abode and all that he had heard those
heroes speak amongst themselves during the night. The king of Panchala had
been sad because he knew not the Pandavas as those who had taken away his
daughter. And the illustrious monarch asked Dhristadyumna on his return,
"Oh, where hath Krishna gone? Who hath taken her away? Hath any Sudra or
anybody of mean descent, or hath a tribute-paying Vaisya by taking my
daughter away, placed his dirty foot on my head? O son, hath that wreath
of flowers been thrown away on a grave-yard? Hath any Kshatriya of high
birth, or any one of the superior order (Brahmana) obtained my daughter?
Hath any one of mean descent, by having won Krishna, placed his left foot
on my head? I would not, O son, grieve but feel greatly happy, if my
daughter hath been united with Partha that foremost of men! O thou exalted
one, tell me truly who hath won my daughter today? O, are the sons of that
foremost of Kurus, Vichitravirya's son alive? Was it Partha (Arjuna) that
took up the bow and shot the mark?"'"