Chapter 80

“Sanjaya said, ‘While Krishna and Daruka were thus conversing together,that night, O king, passed away. (When morning dawned), king Yudhishthirarose from his bed. Paniswanikas and Magadhas and Madhuparkikas and Sutas,gratified that bull among men (with songs and music). And dancers begantheir dance, and sweet-voiced singers sang their sweet songs fraught withthe praises of the Kuru race. And skilled musicians, well-trained (intheir respective instruments), played on Mridangas and Jharjharas andBheris, and Panavas, and Anakas, and Gomukhas, and Adamvaras, and conchs,and Dundubhis of loud sound, and diverse other instruments. That loudnoise, deep as the roar of the clouds, touched the very heavens. And itawoke that foremost of kings, viz., Yudhishthira, from his slumber.Having slept happily on his excellent and costly bed, the king awoke.

And the monarch, rising from his bed, proceeded to the bath-room forperforming those acts that were absolutely necessary. Then a hundred andeight servants, attired in white, themselves washed, and all young,approached the king with many golden jars filled to the brim. Seated athis ease on a royal seat, attired in a thin cloth, the king bathed inseveral kinds of water fragrant with sandal-wood and purified withMantras. His body was rubbed by strong and well-trained servants withwater in which diverse kinds of medicinal herbs had been soaked. He thenwashed with adhivasha water rendered fragrant by various odoriferoussubstances. Obtaining then a long piece of cloth (for the head) that wasas white as the feathers of the swan, and that had been kept loose beforehim, the king tied it round his head for drying the water. Smearing hisbody then with excellent sandal-paste, and wearing floral garlands, andaddressing himself in clean robes, the mighty-armed monarch sat with facetowards the cast, and his hands joined together. Following the path ofthe righteous, the son of Kunti then mentally said his prayers. And thenwith great humility he entered the chamber in which the blazing fire (forworship) was kept. And having worshipped the fire with faggots of sacredwood and with libations of clarified butter sanctified with Mantras, hecame out of the chamber. Then that tiger among men, entering a secondchamber, beheld there many bulls among Brahmanas well-acquainted with theVedas. And they were all self-restrained, purified by the study of theVedas and by vows. And all of them had undergone the bath on thecompletion of sacrifices performed by them. Worshippers of the Sun, theynumbered a thousand. And, besides them, there were also eight thousandothers of the same class. And the mighty-armed son of Pandu, havingcaused them to utter, in distinct voices, agreeable benedictions, bymaking presents to them of honey and clarified butter and auspiciousfruits of the best kind, gave unto each of them a nishka of gold, ahundred steeds decked with ornaments, and costly robes and such otherpresents as were agreeable to them. And making unto them presents also ofkine yielding milk whenever touched, with calves and having their hornsdecked with gold and their hoofs with silver, the son of Panducircumambulated them. And then seeing and touching Swastikas fraught withincrease of good fortune, and Nandyavartas made of gold, and floralgarlands, water-pots and blazing fire, and vessels full of sun-dried riceand other auspicious articles, and the yellow pigment prepared from theurine of the cow, and auspicious and well-decked maidens, and curds andclarified butter and honey, and auspicious birds and diverse other thingsheld sacred, the son of Kunti came into the outer chamber. Then, Omighty-armed one, the attendants waiting in that chamber brought anexcellent and costly seat of gold that was of a circular shape. Deckedwith pearls and lapis lazuli, and overlaid with a very costly carpet overwhich was spread another cloth of fine texture, that scat was thehandiwork of the artificer himself. After the high-souled monarch hadtaken his seat, the servants brought to him all his costly and brightornaments. The high-souled son of Kunti put on those begemmed ornaments,whereupon his beauty became such as to enhance the grief of his foes. Andwhen the servants began to fan him with white yak-tails of the brighteffulgence of the moon and all furnished with handles of gold, the kinglooked resplendent like a mass of clouds charged with lightning. Andbards began to sing his praises, and panegyrists uttered his eulogies.And singers began to sing unto that delighter of Kuru’s race, and in amoment the voices of the panegyrists swelled into a loud noise. And thenwas heard the clatter of car-wheels, and the tread of horse-hoofs. And inconsequence of that noise mingling with the tinkle of elephants’ bellsand the blare of conchs and the tread of men, the very earth seemed totremble. Then one of the orderlies in charge of the doors, cased in mail,youthful in years, decked with ear-rings, and his sword hanging by hisside, entering the private apartment, knelt down on the ground, andsaluting with (a bend of) his head the monarch who deserved everyadoration, represented unto that high-souled and royal son of Dharma thatHrishikesa was waiting to be introduced. Then that tiger among men,having ordered his servants, ‘Let an excellent seat and an Arghya be keptready for him,’ caused him of Vrishni’s race to be introduced and seatedon a costly seat. And addressing Madhava with the usual enquiries ofwelcome, king Yudhishthira the just duly worshipped Kesava.’