The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 152

Section CLII. ( *Jatu-griha Parva continued.* ) Vaisampayana said, "Then when the night had passed away, a large concourse of the towns-people came there in haste to see the sons of Pandu. Extinguishing the fire, they saw that the house just burnt down had been built of laccine materials and that (Duryodhana's) counsellor Purochana had been burnt to death. And the people began to wail aloud, saying, 'Indeed, this had been contrived by the sinful Duryo-dhana for the destruction of the Pandavas. There is little doubt that Duryodhana hath, with Dhrita-rashtra's knowledge, burnt to death their heirs of Pandu, else the prince would have been prevented by his father. There is little doubt that even Bhisma the son of Shantanu and Drona and Vidura and Kripa and the other Kauravas have, none of them, followed the dictates of duty. Let us now send to Dhrita-rashtra to say—Thy great desire hath been achieved! Thou hast burnt to death the Pandavas!' "They then began to extinguish the embers for obtaining 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 Dhrita-rashtra to inform him that the Pandavas along with (Duryodhana's) counsellor Purochana had been burnt to death. King Drhita-rashtra 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 ye 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 by 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 whatever other beneficial acts that ought, under these circumstances, be performed by us for the Pandavas and Kunti be accomplished by wealth.' "Having said this, Dhrita-rashtra the son of Amvika, surrounded by the relatives, offered oblations of water to the sons of Pandu. And all of them, afflicted with excessive sorrow, bewailed aloud, exclaiming, 'Oh Yudhish-thira! Oh prince of the Kuru race!—while others cried aloud, 'Oh Bhima!—Oh Falgoona!'—while some again, 'Oh the twins!—Oh Kunti!—Thus did they bewail 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 Ganges. 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 favorable wind. Leaving the boat they proceeded in a southern direction finding their way in the darkness by the light of the stars. After much suffering they at last reached, O king, a dense forest. They were then tired and thirsty and sleep was closing their eyes every moment. Then Yudhish-thira, 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—unmarked 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 Yudhish-thira the just, the mighty Bhima-sena, taking up on his body Kunti and his brothers, began to proceed with great celerity." Thus ends the hundred and fifty-second Section in the Jatu-griha of the Adi Parva.