SECTION LXV
"'The Brahmanas said, 'Let offerings be made unto the high-souled
Mahadeva of three eyes. Having duly dedicated those offerings, O king, we
shall then strive to gain our object.' Hearing these words of those
Brahmanas, Yudhishthira caused offerings to be duly made unto that deity
who loved to lie down on mountain-breasts. Gratifying the (sacrificial)
fire with (libations of) sanctified butter according to the ordinance,
the priest (Dhaumya) cooked Charu with the aid of Mantras and performed
the necessary rites. He took up many flowers and sanctified them with
Mantras, O king. With Modakas and frumenty and meat, he made offerings to
the deity. With diverse kinds of flowers and with fried paddy, of very
superior kind, Dhaumya, well-versed in the Vedas, performed the remaining
rites. He next presented offerings according to the ordinance unto those
ghostly beings who formed Mahadeva's train. And offerings were next made
to Kuvera, the chief of the Yakshas, and unto Manibhadra also. Unto the
other Yakshas also and unto them that were the foremost ones among the
ghostly companions of Mahadeva, the priest offered due worship, having
filled many jugs with food, with Krisaras and meat and Nivapas mixed with
sesame seeds. The king gave away unto the Brahmanas thousands of kine. He
then directed the presentation, according to due rites, of offerings unto
those night-wandering beings (who live with Mahadeva). Surcharged, as it
were, with the scent of Dhupas, and filled with the fragrance of flowers,
that region, sacred to the deity of deities, O king, became exceedingly
delightful. Having performed the worship of Rudra and of all the Ganas,
the king, placing Vyasa ahead, proceeded towards the place where the
treasure was buried. Once more worshipping the Lord of treasures, and
bowing unto him with reverence and saluting him properly, with diverse
kinds of flowers and cakes and Krisara, having worshipped those foremost
of gems, viz., Sankha and Nidhi, and those Yakshas who are the lords of
gems, and having worshipped many foremost of Brahmanas and caused them to
utter blessings, the king endued with great puissance, strengthened by
the energy and the auspicious benedictions of those Brahmanas, caused
that spot to be excavated. Then numerous vessels of diverse and
delightful forms, and Bhringaras and Katahas and Kalasas and
Bardhamanakas, and innumerable Bhajanas of beautiful forms, were dug out
by king Yudhishthira the just. The wealth thus dug out was placed in
large 'Karaputas' for protection.[182] A portion of the wealth was caused
to be borne upon the shoulders of men in stout balances of wood with
baskets slung like scales at both ends. Indeed, O king, there were other
methods of conveyance there for bearing away that wealth of the son of
Pandu.[183] There were sixty thousands of camels and a hundred and twenty
thousand horses, and of elephants, O monarch, there were one hundred
thousand. Of cars there were as many, and of carts, too as many, and of
she-elephants as many. Of mules and men the number was untold. That
wealth which Yudhishthira caused to be dugout was even so much. Sixteen
thousand coins were placed on the back of each camel; eight thousand on
each car; four and twenty thousand on each elephant; (while proportionate
loads were placed on horses and mules and on the backs, shoulder and
heads of men). Having loaded these vehicles with that wealth and once
more worshipping the great deity Siva, the son of Pandu set out for the
city called after the elephant, with the permission of the Island-born
Rishi, and placing his priest Dhaumya in the van. That foremost of men,
viz., the royal son of Pandu, made short marches everyday, measured by a
Goyuta (4 miles). That mighty host, O king, afflicted with the weight
they bore, returned, bearing that wealth, towards the capital, gladdening
the hearts of all those perpetuators of the Kuru race.'"
