16. MAUSALA PARVA (8)

Om! Having bowed down unto Narayana, and to Nara, the foremost of men, asalso to the goddess Sarasvati, should the word “Jaya” be uttered.

Vaishampayana said: “While the Vrishnis and the Andhakas were thusendeavouring (to avoid the impending calamity), the embodied form of Time(death) every day wandered about their houses.

Vaishampayana said: “At that time the Vrishni ladies dreamed every nightthat a woman of black complexion and white teeth, entering their abodes,laughed aloud and ran through Dvaraka, snatching from them the auspiciousthreads in their wrists.

Vaishampayana said: “Then Daruka and Keshava and Vabhru left that spot,following in the wake of Rama (for discovering his retreat).

Vaishampayana said: “Meanwhile Daruka, going to the Kurus and seeingthose mighty car-warriors, the son of Pritha, informed them of how theVrishnis had slain one another with iron bolts.

Vaishampayana said: “The Kuru prince beheld the heroic and high-souledAnakadundubhi lying on the ground and burning with grief on account ofhis sons. The broad-chested and mighty-armed son of Pritha, moreafflicted than his uncle, with eyes bathed in tears, touched his unclesfeet, O Bharata.

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.

Vaishampayana said: “As Arjuna entered the asylum of the truthful Rishi,he beheld the son of Satyavati seated in a secluded spot.