Chapter 195

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Thus addressed Dhrishtadyumna, that foremost of theLunar princes, cheerfully said unto his father all that had happened andby whom Krishna had been won.

And the prince said, ‘With large, red eyes,attired in deer-skin, and resembling a celestial in beauty, the youth whostrung that foremost of bows and brought down to the ground the mark seton high, was soon surrounded by the foremost of Brahmanas who alsooffered him their homage for the feat he had achieved. Incapable ofbearing the sight of a foe and endued with great activity, he began toexert his prowess. And surrounded by the Brahmanas he resembled thethunder-wielding Indra standing in the midst of the celestials, and theRishis. And like a she-elephant following the leader of a herd, Krishnacheerfully followed that youth catching hold of his deer-skin. Then whenthe assembled monarchs incapable of bearing that sight lose up in wrathand advanced for fight, there rose up another hero who tearing up a largetree rushed at that concourse of kings, felling them right and left likeYama himself smiting down creatures endued with life. Then, O monarch,the assembled kings stood motionless and looked at that couple of heroes,while they, resembling the Sun and the Moon, taking Krishna with them,left the amphitheatre and went into the abode of a potter in the suburbsof the town, and there at the potter’s abode sat a lady like unto a flameof fire who, I think, is their mother. And around her also sat threeother foremost of men each of whom was like unto fire. And the couple ofheroes having approached her paid homage unto her feet, and they saidunto Krishna also to do the same. And keeping Krishna with her, thoseforemost of men all went the round of eleemosynary visits. Some timeafter when they returned, Krishna taking from them what they had obtainedas alms, devoted a portion thereof to the gods, and gave another portionaway (in gift) to Brahmanas. And of what remained after this, she gave aportion to that venerable lady, and distributed the rest amongst thosefive foremost of men. And she took a little for herself and ate it lastof all. Then, O monarch, they all laid themselves down for sleep, Krishnalying along the line of their feet as their nether pillow. And the bed onwhich they lay was made of kusa grass upon which was spread theirdeer-skins. And before going to sleep they talked on diverse subjects invoices deep as of black clouds. The talk of those heroes indicated themto be neither Vaisyas nor Sudras, nor Brahmanas. Without doubt, Omonarch, they are bulls amongst Kshatriyas, their discourse having beenon military subjects. It seems, O father, that our hope hath beenfructified, for we have heard that the sons of Kunti all escaped from theconflagration of the house of lac. From the way in which the mark wasshot down by that youth, and the strength with which the bow was strungby him, and the manner in which I have heard them talk with one anotherproves conclusively, O monarch, that they are the sons of Prithawandering in disguise.’

“Hearing these words of his son, king Drupada became exceedingly glad,and he sent unto them his priest directing him to ascertain who they wereand whether they were the sons of the illustrious Pandu. Thus directed,the king’s priest went unto them and applauding them all, delivered theking’s message duly, saying, ‘Ye who are worthy of preference ineverything, the boon-giving king of the earth–Drupada–is desirous ofascertaining who ye are. Beholding this one who hath shot down the mark,his joy knoweth no bounds. Giving us all particulars of your family andtribe, place ye your feet on the heads of your foes and gladden thehearts of the king of Panchala mid his men and mine also. King Pandu wasthe dear friend of Drupada and was regarded by him as his counterself.And Drupada had all along cherished the desire of bestowing this daughterof his upon Pandu as his daughter-in-law. Ye heroes of features perfectlyfaultless, king Drupada hath all along cherished this desire in his heartthat Arjuna of strong and long arms might wed this daughter of hisaccording to the ordinance. If that hath become possible, nothing couldbe better; nothing more beneficial; nothing more conducive to fame andvirtue, so far as Drupada is concerned.’

“Having said this, the priest remained silent and humbly waited for ananswer. Beholding him sitting thus, the king Yudhishthira commanded Bhimawho sat near, saying, ‘Let water to wash his feet with and the Arghya beoffered unto this Brahmana. He is king Drupada’s priest and, therefore,worthy of great respect. We should worship him with more than ordinaryreverence.’ Then, O monarch, Bhima did as directed. Accepting the worshipthus offered unto him, the Brahmana with a joyous heart sat at his ease.Then Yudhishthira addressed him and said, ‘The king of the Panchalashath, by fixing a special kind of dower, given away his daughteraccording to the practice of his order and not freely. This hero hath, bysatisfying that demand, won the princess. King Drupada, therefore, hathnothing now to say in regard to the race, tribe, family and dispositionof him who hath performed that feat. Indeed, all his queries have beenanswered by the stringing of the bow and the shooting down of the mark.It is by doing what he had directed that this illustrious hero hathbrought away Krishna from among the assembled monarchs. In thesecircumstances, the king of the Lunar race should not indulge in anyregrets which can only make him unhappy without mending matters in theleast. The desire that king Drupada hath all along cherished will beaccomplished for his handsome princess who beareth, I think, everyauspicious mark. None that is weak in strength could string that bow, andnone of mean birth and unaccomplished in arms could have shot down themark. It behoveth not, therefore, the king of the Panchalas to grieve forhis daughter today. Nor can anybody in the world undo that act ofshooting down the mark. Therefore the king should not grieve for whatmust take its course.’

“While Yudhishthira was saying all this, another messenger from the kingof the Panchalas, coming thither in haste, said, ‘The (nuptial), feast isready.'”