Chapter 1
Om! Having bowed down into Narayana, and to Nara, the foremost of men, asalso to the goddess Sarasvati, should the word “Jaya” be uttered.
Janamejaya said, “Having attained to Heaven, what regions wererespectively attained by my grandsires of old, viz., the Pandavas and thesons of Dhritarashtra? I desire to hear this. I think that thou artconversant with everything, having been taught by the great Rishi Vyasaof wonderful feats.
Vaishampayana said, “Listen now to what thy grandsires, Yudhishthira andothers, did after having attained to Heaven, that place of the deities.Arrived at Heaven, king Yudhishthira the just, beheld Duryodhana enduedwith prosperity and seated on an excellent seat. He blazed witheffulgence like the sun and wore all those signs of glory which belong toheroes. And he was in the company of many deities of blazing effulgenceand of Sadhyas of righteous deeds. Yudhishthira, beholding Duryodhana andhis prosperity, became suddenly filled with rage and turned back from thesight.
“He loudly addressed his companions, saying, I do not desire to shareregions of felicity with Duryodhana who was stained by cupidity andpossessed of little foresight. It was for him that friends, and kinsmen,over the whole Earth were slaughtered by us whom he had afflicted greatlyin the deep forest. It was for him that the virtuous princess of Pancala,Draupadi of faultless features, our wife, was dragged into the midst ofthe assembly before all our seniors. Ye gods, I have no desire to evenbehold Suyodhana. I wish to go there where my brothers are.
“Narada, smiling, told him, It should not be so, O king of kings. Whileresiding in Heaven, all enmities cease. O mighty-armed Yudhishthira, donot say so about king Duryodhana. Hear my words. Here is king Duryodhana.He is worshipped with the gods by those righteous men and those foremostof kings who are now denizens of Heaven. By causing his body to be pouredas a libation on the fire of battle, he has obtained the end thatconsists in attainment of the region for heroes. You and your brothers,who were veritable gods on Earth, were always persecuted by this one. Yetthrough his observance of Kshatriya practices he has attained to thisregion. This lord of Earth was not terrified in a situation fraught withterror.
“O son, thou shouldst not bear in mind the woes inflicted on thee onaccount of the match at dice. It behoveth thee not to remember theafflictions of Draupadi. It behoveth thee not to remember the other woeswhich were yours in consequence of the acts of your kinsmen,the woes,viz., that were due to battle or to other situations. Do thou meetDuryodhana now according to the ordinances of polite intercourse. This isHeaven, O lord of men. There can be no enmities here.
“Though thus addressed by Narada, the Kuru king Yudhishthira, endued withgreat intelligence, enquired about his brothers and said, If theseeternal regions reserved for heroes be Duryodhanas, that unrighteous andsinful wight, that man who was the destroyer of friends and of the wholeworld, that man for whose sake the entire Earth was devastated with allher horses and elephants and human beings, that wight for whose sake wewere burnt with wrath in thinking of how best we might remedy our wrongs,I desire to see what regions have been attained by those high-souledheroes, my brothers of high vows, steady achievers of promises, truthfulin speech, and distinguished for courage. The high-souled Karna, the sonof Kunti, incapable of being baffled in battle, Dhrishtadyumna, Satyaki,the sons of Dhrishtadyumna and those other Kshatriyas who met with deathin the observance of Kshatriya practices, where are those lords of Earth,O Brahmana? I do not see them here, O Narada. I desire to see, O Narada,Virata and Drupada and the other great Kshatriyas headed by Dhrishtaketu,as also Shikhandi, the Pancala prince, the sons of Draupadi, andAbhimanyu, irresistible in battle.
