Chapter 24

“Vaisampayana said, ‘The Pandavas alighted, at a distance, from theircars and proceeded on foot to the retreat of the king, bending themselvesin humility. All the combatants also, and all the denizens of thekingdom, and the spouses of the Kuru chiefs, followed them on foot. ThePandavas then reached the sacred retreat of Dhritarashtra which aboundedwith herds of deer and which was adorned with plantain plants. Manyascetics of rigid vows, filled with curiosity, came there for beholdingthe Pandavas who had arrived at the retreat. The king, with tears in hiseyes, asked them, saying,–‘Where has my eldest sire, the perpetuator ofKuru’s race, gone?’ They answered, O monarch, telling him that he hadgone to the Yamuna for his ablutions, as also for fetching flowers andwaters. Proceeding quickly on foot along the path pointed out by them,the Pandavas beheld all of them from a distance. Desirous of meeting withtheir sire they walked with a rapid pace. Then Sahadeva ran with speedtowards the spot where Pritha was. Touching the feet of his mother, hebegan to weep aloud. With tears gushing down her cheeks, she saw herdarling child. Raising her son up and embracing him with her arms, sheinformed Gandhari of Sahadeva’s arrival. Then seeing the king andBhimasena and Arjuna, and Nakula, Pritha endeavoured to advance quicklytowards them. She was walking in advance of the childless old couple, andwas dragging them forward. The Pandavas, beholding her, fell down on theearth. The puissant and high-souled monarch, endued with greatintelligence, recognising them by their voices and also by touch,comforted them one after another. Shedding tears, those high-souledprinces, with due formalities, approached the old king and Gandhari, asalso their own mother. Indeed, regaining their senses, and once morecomforted by their mother, the Pandavas took away from the king and theiraunt and mother the jars full of water which they had been carrying,forbearing them themselves. The ladies of those lions among men, and allthe women of the royal household, as also all the inhabitants of the cityand provinces, then beheld the old king. King Yudhishthira presented allthose individuals one after another to the old king, repeating theirnames and races, and then himself worshipped his eldest sire withreverence. Surrounded by them all, the old monarch, with eyes bathed intears of joy, regarded himself as once more staying in the midst of thecity called after the elephant. Saluted with reverence by all hisdaughters-in-law headed by Krishna, king Dhritarashtra, endued with greatintelligence, with Gandhari and Kunti, became filled with joy. He thenreached his forest-retreat that was applauded by Siddhas and Charanas,and that then teemed with vast crowds of men all desirous of beholdinghim, like the firmament teeming with innumerable stars.”