Chapter 7

Vaishampayana said: “That scorcher of foes, Vibhatsu, thus addressed byhis maternal uncle, replied, with great cheerlessness of heart, untoVasudeva who was equally cheerless, saying, O uncle, I am unable to lookat this Earth when she is reft of that hero of Vrishnis race and those myother kinsmen. The king and Bhimasena and Sahadeva and Nakula andYajnaseni, numbering the sixth, are of the same mind with myself in thismatter. The time has come for the departure of the king also. Know this,that the hour of our departure too is at hand. Thou art the foremost ofthose that are well conversant with the course of time. I shall, however,O chastiser of foes, first remove to Indraprastha the women of theVrishni race as also the children and the aged. Having said so unto hisuncle, Arjuna next addressed Daruka, saying, I wish to see without anydelay the chief officers of the Vrishni heroes. Having uttered thesewords, the heroic Arjuna, grieving for those great car-warriors (who hadbeen slain), entered the great hall of the Yadavas (where they used tohold their court), called Sudharma. When he had taken his seat there, allthe citizens, including the Brahmanas, and all the ministers of statecame and stood surrounding him. Then Partha, more grieved than they,addressed those grieving and cheerless citizens and officers who weremore dead than alive, and said these words that were well suited to theoccasion: I shall take away with me the remnants of the Vrishnis and theAndhakas. The sea will soon engulf this city. Equip all your cars andplace on them all your wealth. This Vajra (the grandson of Krishna) willbe your king at Shakraprastha. On the seventh day from this, at sunrise,we shall set out. Make your preparations without delay.

“Thus addressed by Prithas son of pure deeds, all of them hastened theirpreparations with eagerness for achieving their safety. Arjuna passedthat night in the mansion of Keshava. He was suddenly overwhelmed withgreat grief and stupefaction. When morning dawned, Vasudeva of greatenergy and prowess attained, through the aid of Yoga, to the highestgoal. A loud and heart-rending sound of wailing was heard in Vasudevasmansion, uttered by the weeping ladies. They were seen with dishevelledhair and divested of ornaments and floral wreaths. Beating their breastswith their hands, they indulged in heart-rending lamentations. Thoseforemost of women, Devaki and Bhadra and Rohini and Madira threwthemselves on the bodies of their lord. Then Partha caused the body ofhis uncle to be carried out on a costly vehicle borne on the shoulders ofmen. It was followed by all the citizens of Dwaraka and the people of theprovinces, all of whom, deeply afflicted by grief, had been well-affectedtowards the deceased hero. Before that vehicle were borne the umbrellawhich had been held over his head at the conclusion of thehorse-sacrifice he had achieved while living, and also the blazing fireshe had daily worshipped, with the priests that had used to attend tothem. The body of the hero was followed by his wives decked in ornamentsand surrounded by thousands of women and thousands of theirdaughters-in-law. The last rites were then performed at that spot whichhad been agreeable to him while he was alive. The four wives of thatheroic son of Sura ascended the funeral pyre and were consumed with thebody of their lord. All of them attained to those regions of felicitywhich were his. The son of Pandu burnt the body of his uncle togetherwith those four wives of his, using diverse kinds of scents and perfumedwood. As the funeral pyre blazed up, a loud sound was heard of theburning wood and other combustible materials, along with the clear chantof Samans and the wailing of the citizens and others who witnessed therite. After it was all over, the boys of the Vrishni and Andhaka races,headed by Vajra, as also the ladies, offered oblations of water to thehigh-souled hero.

“Phalguna, who was careful in observing every duty, having caused thisduty to be performed, proceeded, O chief of Bharatas race, next to theplace where the Vrishnis were slaughtered. The Kuru prince, beholdingthem lying slaughtered all around, became exceedingly cheerless. He,however, did what was required to be done in view of that which hadhappened. The last rites were performed, according to the order ofseniority, unto the bodies of those heroes slain by the iron bolts born,by virtue of the curse denounced by the Brahmanas, of the blades of Erakagrass. Searching out the bodies then of Rama and Vasudeva, Arjuna causedthem to be burnt by persons skilled in that act. The son of Pandu, havingnext performed duly those sraddha rites that are done to the dead,quickly set out on the seventh day, mounting on his car. The widows ofthe Vrishni heroes, wailing aloud, followed the high-souled son of Pandu.Dhananjaya, on cars drawn by bullocks and mules and camels. All were indeep affliction. The servants of the Vrishnis, their horsemen, and theircar-warriors too, followed the procession. The citizens and theinhabitants of the country, at the command of Prithas son, set out at thesame time and proceeded, surrounding that cavalcade destitute of heroesand numbering only women and the aged and the children. The warriors whofought from the backs of elephants proceeded on elephants as huge ashills. The foot-soldiers also set out, together with the reserves. Thechildren of the Andhaka and the Vrishni races, all followed Arjuna. TheBrahmanas and Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, and wealthy Sudras, set out,keeping before them the 16,000 women that had formed Vasudevas harem, andVajra, the grandson of the intelligent Krishna. The widows of the otherheroes of the Bhoja, the Vrishni, and the Andhaka races, lordless now,that set out with Arjuna, numbered many millions. That foremost ofcar-warriors, that conqueror of hostile towns, the son of Pritha,escorted this vast procession of Vrishnis, which still abounded withwealth, and which looked like a veritable ocean.

“After all the people had set out, the ocean, that home of sharks andalligators, flooded Dvaraka, which still teemed with wealth of everykind, with its waters. Whatever portion of the ground was passed over,ocean immediately flooded over with his waters. Beholding this wonderfulsight, the inhabitants of Dvaraka walked faster and faster, saying,Wonderful is the course of fate! Dhananjaya, after abandoning Dvaraka,proceeded by slow marches, causing the Vrishni women to rest in pleasantforests and mountains and by the sides of delightful streams. Arrived atthe country of the five waters, the puissant Dhananjaya planted a richencampment in the midst of a land that abounded with corn and kine andother animals. Beholding those lordless widows escorted by Prithas sonalone O Bharata, the robbers felt a great temptation (for plunder). Thenthose sinful wretches, with hearts overwhelmed by cupidity, those Abhirasof ill omen, assembled together and held a consultation. They said, Herethere is only one bowman, Arjuna. The cavalcade consists of children andthe old. He escorts them, transgressing us. The warriors (of theVrishnis) are without energy. Then those robbers, numbering by thousands,and armed with clubs, rushed towards the procession of the Vrishnis,desirous of plunder. Urged by the perverse course of time they fell uponthat vast concourse, frightening it with loud leonine shouts and desirousof slaughter. The son of Kunti, suddenly ceasing to advance along thepath, turned, with his followers, towards the place where the robbers hadattacked the procession. Smiling the while, that mighty-armed warrioraddressed the assailants, saying, You sinful wretches, forbear, if yelove your lives. Ye will rue this when I pierce your bodies with myshafts and take your lives. Though thus addressed by that hero, theydisregarded his words, and though repeatedly dissuaded, they fell uponArjuna. Then Arjuna endeavoured to string his large, indestructible,celestial bow with some effort. He succeeded with great difficulty instringing it, when the battle had become furious. He then began to thinkof his celestial weapons but they would not come to his mind. Beholdingthat furious battle, the loss of the might of his arm, and thenon-appearance of his celestial weapons, Arjuna became greatly ashamed.The Vrishni warriors including the foot-soldiers, the elephant-warriors,and the car-men, failed to rescue those Vrishni women that were beingsnatched away by the robbers. The concourse was very large. The robbersassailed it at different points. Arjuna tried his best to protect it, butcould not succeed. In the very sightof all the warriors, many foremost ofladies were dragged away, while others went away with the robbers oftheir own accord. The puissant Arjuna, supported by the servants of theVrishnis, struck the robbers with shafts sped from Gandiva. Soon,however. O king, his shafts were exhausted. In former days his shafts hadbeen inexhaustible. Now, however, they proved otherwise. Finding hisshafts exhausted, he became deeply afflicted with grief. The son of Indrathen began to strike the robbers with the horns of his bow. ThoseMlecchas, however, O Janamejaya, in the very sight of Partha, retreated,taking away with them many foremost ladies of the Vrishnis and Andhakas.The puissant Dhananjaya regarded it all as the work of destiny. Filledwith sorrow he breathed heavy sighs at the thought of the non-appearanceof his (celestial) weapons, the loss of the might of his arms, therefusal of his bow to obey him, and the exhaustion of his shafts.Regarding it all as the work of destiny, he became exceedingly cheerless.He then ceased, O king, to make further efforts, saying, he had not thepower which he had before. The high-souled one, taking with him theremnant of the Vrishni women, and the wealth that was still with them,reached Kurukshetra. Thus bringing with him the remnant of the Vrishnis.he established them at different places. He established the son ofKritavarma at the city called Marttikavat, with the remnant of the womenof the Bhoja king. Escorting the remainder, with children and old men andwomen, the son of Pandu established them, who were reft of heroes, in thecity of Indraprastha. The dear son of Yuyudhana, with a company of oldmen and children and women, the righteous-souled Arjuna established onthe banks of the Sarasvati. The rule of Indraprastha was given to Vajra.The widows of Akrura then desired to retire into the woods. Vajra askedthem repeatedly to desist, but they did not listen to him. Rukmini, theprincess of Gandhara, Saivya, Haimavati, and queen Jamvabati ascended thefuneral pyre. Satyabhama and other dear wives of Krishna entered thewoods, O king, resolved to set themselves to the practice of penances.They began to live on fruits and roots and pass their time in thecontemplation of Hari. Going beyond the Himavat, they took up their abodein a place called Kalpa. Those men who had followed Arjuna fromDwaravati, were distributed into groups, and bestowed upon Vajra. Havingdone all these acts suited to the occasion, Arjuna, with eyes bathed intears, then entered the retreat of Vyasa. There he beheld the Island-bornRishi seated at his ease.”