The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 146

Section CXLVI. ( Jatu-griha Parva continued. )

Vaisampayana said, "The wicked Duryodhana became very much pleased when the king, O Bharata, had said so unto the Pandavas. And, O thou bull of the Bharata 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 mine! It behoveth thee, therefore, to protect it! I have no more trustworthy counsellor than thee with whom to consult. Therefore, O father, keep my counsel and exterminate my foes by a clever device. O do as I bid thee! The Pandavas have, by Dhrita-rashtra, been sent to Varanavata. They will, at Dhrita-rashtra's command, enjoy themselves there during the festivities. Do that by which thou mayst this very day reach Varanavata upon a chariot drawn by swift mules! Repairing thither, cause thou to be erected a quadrangular palace in the neighbourhood of the arsenal, rich in materials and furniture, and guard thou the mansion well (from 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 measure 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 a mansion, cause thou the Pandavas, after worshipping them with great reverence, to inhabit 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 Dhrita-rashtra may have no reason to complain. And 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 on a car drawn by fleet mules. And going thither, O king, without loss of time, obedient to the instructions of Duryodhana he did everything that that prince bade him do."

Thus ends the hundred and forty-sixth Section in the Jatu-griha of the Adi Parva.