Chapter 196

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Then those bulls among the Kurus, dismissingthe priest and causing Kunti and Krishna to ride together on one of thosecars, themselves ascended those splendid vehicles and proceeded towardsDrupada’s place. Meanwhile, O Bharata, hearing from his priest the wordsthat Yudhishthira had said, king Drupada, in order to ascertain the orderto which those heroes belonged, kept ready a large collection of articles(required by the ordinance for the wedding of each of the four orders).And he kept ready fruits, sanctified garlands, and coats of mail, andshields, and carpets, and kine, and seeds, and various other articles andimplements of agriculture. And the king also collected, O monarch, everyarticle appertaining to other arts, and various implements and apparatusof every kind of sport. And he also collected excellent coats of mail andshining shields, and swords and scimitars, of fine temper, and beautifulchariots and horses, and first-class bows and well-adorned arrows, andvarious kinds of missiles ornamented with gold. And he also kept readydarts and rockets and battle-axes and various utensils of war. And therewere in that collection beds and carpets and various fine things, andcloths of various sorts. When the party went to Drupada’s abode, Kuntitaking with her the virtuous Krishna entered the inner apartments of theking. The ladies of the king’s household with joyous hearts worshippedthe queen of the Kurus. Beholding, O monarch, those foremost of men, eachpossessing the sportive gait of the lion, with deer-skins for their uppergarments, eyes like unto those of mighty bulls, broad shoulders, andlong-hanging arms like unto the bodies of mighty snakes, the king, andthe king’s ministers, and the king’s son, and the king’s friends andattendants, all became exceedingly glad. Those heroes sat on excellentseats, furnished with footstools without any awkwardness and hesitation.And those foremost of men sat with perfect fearlessness on those costlyseats one after another according to the order of their ages. After thoseheroes were seated, well-dressed servants male and female, and skilfulcooks brought excellent and costly viands worthy of kings on gold andsilver plates. Then those foremost of men dined on those dishes andbecame well-pleased. And after the dinner was over, those heroes amongmen, passing over all other articles, began to observe with interest thevarious utensils of war. Beholding this, Drupada’s son and Drupadahimself, along with all his chief ministers of state, understanding thesons of Kunti to be all of royal blood became exceedingly glad.'”