SECTION 3
Vaishampayana said, "King Yudhishthira the just, the son of Pritha, had
not stayed there for more than a moment when, O thou of Kurus race, all
the gods with Indra at their head came to that spot. The deity of
Righteousness in his embodied form also came to that place where the Kuru
king was, for seeing that monarch. Upon the advent of those deities of
resplendent bodies and sanctified and noble deeds, the darkness that had
overwhelmed that region immediately disappeared. The torments undergone
by beings of sinful deeds were no longer seen. The river Vaitarani, the
thorny Salmali, the iron jars, and the boulders of rock, so terrible to
behold, also vanished from sight. The diverse repulsive corpses also,
which the Kuru king had seen, disappeared at the same time. Then a
breeze, delicious and fraught with pleasant perfumes, perfectly pure and
delightfully cool, O Bharata, began to blow on that spot in consequence
of the presence of the gods. The Maruts, with Indra, the Vasus with the
twin Ashvinis, the Sadhyas, the Rudras, the Adityas, and the other
denizens of Heaven, as also the Siddhas and the great Rishis, all came
there where Dharmas royal son of great energy was.
"Then Shakra, the lord of the deities, endued with blazing prosperity,
addressed Yudhishthira and comforting him, said, O Yudhishthira of mighty
arms, come, come, O chief of men. These illusions have ended, O puissant
one. Success has been attained by thee, O mighty-armed one, and eternal
regions (of felicity) have become thine. Thou shouldst not yield to
wrath. Listen to these words of mine. Hell, O son, should without doubt
be beheld by every king. Of both good and bad there is abundance, O chief
of men. He who enjoys first the fruits of his good acts must afterwards
endure Hell. He, on the other hand, who first endures Hell, must
afterwards enjoy Heaven. He whose sinful acts are many enjoys Heaven
first. It is for this, O king, that desirous of doing thee good, I caused
thee to be sent for having a view of Hell. Thou hadst, by a pretence,
deceived Drona in the matter of his son. Thou hast, in consequence
thereof, been shown Hell by an act of deception. After the manner of
thyself, Bhima and Arjuna, and Draupadi, have all been shown the place of
sinners by an act of deception. Come, O chief of men, all of them have
been cleansed of their sins. All those kings who had aided thee and who
have been slain in battle, have all attained to Heaven. Come and behold
them, O foremost one of Bharatas race.
"Karna, the mighty bowman, that foremost of all wielders of weapons for
whom thou art grieving, has also attained to high success. Behold, O
puissant one, that foremost of men, viz., the son of Surya. He is in that
place which is his own, O mighty-armed one. Kill this grief of thine, O
chief of men. Behold thy brothers and others, those kings, that is, who
had espoused thy side. They have all attained to their respective places
(of felicity). Let the fever of thy heart be dispelled. Having endured a
little misery first, from this time, O son of Kurus race, do thou sport
with me in happiness, divested of grief and all thy ailments dispelled. O
mighty-armed one, do thou now enjoy, O king, the rewards of all thy deeds
of righteousness of those regions which thou hast acquired thyself by thy
penances and of all thy gifts. Let deities and Gandharvas, and celestial
Apsaras, decked in pure robes and excellent ornaments, wait upon and
serve thee for thy happiness. Do thou, O mighty-armed one, enjoy now
those regions (of felicity) which have become thine through the Rajasuya
sacrifice performed by thee and whose felicities have been enhanced by
the sacrificial scimitar employed by thee. Let the high fruits of thy
penances be enjoyed by thee. Thy regions, O Yudhishthira, are above,
those of kings. They are equal to those of Hariscandra, O son of Pritha.
Come, and sport there in bliss. There where the royal sage Mandhatri is,
there where king Bhagiratha is, there where Dushmantas son Bharata is,
there wilt thou sport in bliss. Here is the celestial river, sacred and
sanctifying the three worlds. It is called Heavenly Ganga. Plunging into
it, thou wilt go to thy own regions. Having bathed in this stream, thou
wilt be divested of thy human nature. Indeed, thy grief dispelled, thy
ailments conquered, thou wilt be freed from all enmities.
"While, O Kuru king, the chief of the gods was saying so unto
Yudhishthira, the deity of Righteousness, in his embodied form, then
addressed his own son and said, O king, I am greatly pleased, O thou of
great wisdom, with thee, O son, by thy devotion to me, by thy
truthfulness of speech, and forgiveness, and self-restraint. This,
indeed, is the third test, O king, to which I put thee. Thou art
incapable, O son of Pritha, of being swerved from thy nature or reason.
Before this, I had examined thee in the Dwaita woods by my questions,
when thou hadst come to that lake for recovering a couple of fire sticks.
Thou stoodst it well. Assuming the shape of a dog, I examined thee once
more, O son, when thy brothers with Draupadi had fallen down. This has
been thy third test; thou hast expressed thy wish to stay at Hell for the
sake of thy brothers. Thou hast become cleansed, O highly blessed one.
Purified of sin, be thou happy.
O son of Pritha, thy brothers, O king, were not such as to deserve Hell.
All this has been an illusion created by the chief of the gods. Without
doubt, all kings, O son, must once behold Hell. Hence hast thou for a
little while been subjected to this great affliction. O king, neither
Arjuna, nor Bhima, nor any of those foremost of men, viz., the twins, nor
Karna, ever truthful in speech and possessed of great courage, could be
deserving of Hell for a long time. The princess Krishna too, O
Yudhishthira, could not be deserving of that place of sinners. Come,
come, O foremost one of the Bharatas, behold Ganga who spreads her
current over the three worlds.
"Thus addressed, that royal sage, viz., thy grandsire, proceeded with
Dharma and all the other gods. Having bathed in the celestial river
Ganga, sacred and sanctifying and ever adored by the Rishis, he cast off
his human body. Assuming then a celestial form, king Yudhishthira the
just, in consequence of that bath, became divested of all his enmities
and grief. Surrounded by the deities, the Kuru king Yudhishthira then
proceeded from that spot. He was accompanied by Dharma, and the great
Rishis uttered his praises. Indeed, he reached that place where those
foremost of men, those heroes, viz., the Pandavas and the Dhartarashtras,
freed from (human) wrath, were enjoying each his respective status.
