Chapter 41

“Vaisampayana said, ‘The royal son of Kunti, freed from grief and thefever of his heart, took his seat, with face eastwards, on excellent seatmade of gold. On another seat, beautiful and blazing and made of gold,sat with face directed towards him, those two chastisers of foes, viz.,Satyaki and Vasudeva. Placing the king in their midst, on his two sidessat Bhima and Arjuna upon two beautiful seats adorned with gems. Upon awhite throne of ivory, decked with gold, sat Pritha with Sahadeva andNakula. Sudharman,[123] and Vidura, and Dhaumya, and the Kuru kingDhritarashtra, each sat separately on separate seats that blazed with theeffulgence of fire. Yuyutsu and Sanjaya and Gandhari of great fame, allsat down where king Dhritarashtra had taken his seat. Therighteous-souled king, seated there, touched the beautiful white flowers,Swastikas, vessels full of diverse articles, earth, gold, silver, andgems, (that were placed before him). Then all the subjects, headed by thepriest, came to see king Yudhishthira, bringing with them diverse kindsof auspicious articles. Then earth, and gold, and many kinds of gems, andall the things in profusion that were necessary for the performance ofthe coronation rite, were brought there. There were golden jars full tothe brim (with water), and those made of copper and silver and earth, andflowers, and fried paddy, and Kusa grass, and cow’s milk, and(sacrificial) fuel consisting of the wood of Sami, Pippala, and Palasa,and honey and clarified butter and (sacrificial) ladles made of Udumvara,and conches adorned with gold.[124] Then the priest Dhaumya, at therequest of Krishna, constructed, according to rule, an altar graduallyinclining towards the cast and the north. Causing the high-souledYudhishthira then, with Krishna the daughter of Drupada, to be seatedupon a handsome seat, called Sarvatobhadra, with firm feet and coveredwith tiger-skin and blazing with effulgence, began to pour libations ofclarified butter (upon the sacrificial fire) with proper mantras. Then heof Dasaratha’s race, rising from his seat, took up the sanctified conch,poured the water it contained upon the head of that lord of earth, viz.,Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti. The royal sage Dhritarashtra and all thesubjects also did the same at the request of Krishna. The son of Panduthen, with his brothers, thus bathed with the sanctified water of theconch, looked exceedingly beautiful. Then Panavas and Anakas and drumswere beaten. King Yudhishthira the just duly accepted the gifts made untohim by the subjects. Always giving away presents in profusion in all hissacrifices, the king honoured his subjects in return. He gave a thousandnishkas unto the Brahmanas that uttered (especial) benedictions on him.All of them had studied the Vedas and were endued with wisdom and goodbehaviour. Gratified (with gifts), the Brahmanas, O king, wished himprosperity and victory, and with voice melodious like that of swans,uttered his praises, saying, ‘O Yudhishthira of mighty arms, by goodluck, O son of Pandu, victory has been thine. By good luck, O thou ofgreat splendour, thou hast recovered thy position through prowess. Bygood luck, the wielder of Gandiva, and Bhimasena, and thyself, O king,and the two sons of Madri, are all well, having slain your foes andescaped with life from the battle, so destructive of heroes. Do thou, OBharata, attend without delay to those acts that should next be done.’Thus adored by those pious men, king Yudhishthira the just, with hisfriends, became installed on the throne of a large kingdom, O Bharata!'”