Chapter 167
After this citizens returned to their respective houses and the Pandavascontinued to dwell at Ekachakra as before.
“Janamejaya said, ‘O Brahmana, what did those tigers among men, thePandavas, do after they had slain the Rakshasa Vaka?’
“Vaisampayana said, ‘The Pandavas, O king, after slaying the RakshasaVaka, continued to dwell in the abode of that Brahmana, employed in thestudy of the Vedas. Within a few days there came a Brahmana of rigid vowsunto the abode of their host to take up his quarters there. Their host,that bull among Brahmanas, ever hospitable unto all guests, worshippingthe newly-arrived Brahmana with due ceremonies, gave him quarters in hisown abode. Then those bulls among men, the Pandavas, with their motherKunti, solicited the new lodger to narrate to them his interestingexperiences. The Brahmana spake to them of various countries and shrinesand (holy) rivers, of kings and many wonderful provinces and cities. Andafter this narration was over, that Brahmana, O Janamejaya, also spoke ofthe wonderful self-choice of Yajnasena’s daughter, the princes ofPanchala, and of the births of Dhrishtadyumna and Sikhandi, and of thebirth, without the intervention of a woman, of Krishna (Draupadi) at thegreat sacrifice of Drupada.
“Then those bulls among men, the Pandavas, hearing of these extraordinaryfacts regarding that illustrious monarch (Drupada), and desiring to knowthe details thereof, asked the Brahmana, after his narration wasconcluded, to satisfy their curiosity. The Pandavas said, ‘How, OBrahmana, did the birth of Dhrishtadyumna the son of Drupada, take placefrom the (sacrificial) fire? How also did the extraordinary birth ofKrishna take place from the centre of the sacrificial platform? How alsodid Drupada’s son learn all weapons from the great bowman Drona? And, OBrahmana, how and for whom and for what reason was the friendship betweenDrona and Drupada broken off?’
“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Thus questioned, O monarch, by those bullsamong men, the Brahmana narrated all the particulars about the birth ofDraupadi.'”
