Chapter 223
“Yudhishthira said, ‘Tell me, O grandsire, by adopting what sort ofintelligence may a monarch, who has been divested of prosperity andcrushed by Time’s heavy bludgeon, still live on this earth.’
“Yudhishthira said, ‘Tell me, O grandsire, by adopting what sort ofintelligence may a monarch, who has been divested of prosperity andcrushed by Time’s heavy bludgeon, still live on this earth.’
“Vaisampayana said, ‘The king dismissed all his subjects, who, commandedby the monarch, returned to their respective homes.
“Bhishma said, ‘Once more, laughing at Vali who was sighing like a snake,Sakra addressed him for saying something more pointed than what had saidbefore.[837]
“Janamejaya said, ‘It behoveth thee, O learned Brahmana, to tell me whatwas next done by Yudhishthira the mighty-armed son of Dharma after he hadregained his kingdom. It behoveth thee to tell me also, O Rishi, what theheroic Hrishikesa, the supreme master of the three worlds did after this.’
“Bhishma said, ‘After this, he of hundred sacrifices beheld the goddessof Prosperity, in her own embodied form that blazed splendour, issue outof the form of the high-souled Vali. The illustrious chastiser of Paka,beholding the goddess blazing with radiance, addressed Vali in thesewords, with eyes expanded in wonder.’
“Yudhishthira said, ‘How wonderful is this, O thou of immeasurableprowess, that thou art rapt in meditation! O great refuge of theuniverse, is it all right with the three worlds?
“Bhishma said, ‘In this connection is also cited the old narrative of thediscourse between him of a hundred sacrifices and the Asura Namuchi, OYudhishthira.
“Janamejaya said, ‘How did the grandsire of the Bharatas, who lay on abed of arrows, cast off his body and what kind of Yoga did he adopt?’
“Yudhishthira said, ‘What, indeed, is good for a man that is sunk in diredistress, when loss of friends or loss of kingdom, O monarch hasoccurred? In this world, O bull of Bharata’s race, thou art the foremostof our instructors. I ask thee this. It behoveth thee to tell me what Iask.’
Vaisampayana said, “Then Hrishikesa and king Yudhishthira, and all thosepersons headed by Kripa, and the four Pandavas, riding on those carslooking like fortified cities and decked with standards and banners,speedily proceeded to Kurukshetra with the aid of their fleet steeds.