the Kuru hero, stood around him.  And, O king, affected, with bashfulness, and with tears in their eyes, they all exclaimed, ‘Alas, O lord!  O Dharma!’ And they said, ’Thou art the chief of the Kurus, and the king of us, thy subjects!  Where dost thou go, O just monarch, leaving all these citizens and the inhabitants of the country, like a father leaving his sons?  Fie on the cruel-hearted son of Dhritarashtra!  Fie on the evil-minded son of Suvala!  Fie on Karna!  For, O foremost of monarchs, those wretches ever wish unto thee who art firm in virtue!  Having thyself established the unrivalled city of Indraprastha of the splendour of Kailasa itself, where dost thou go, leaving it, O illustrious and just king, O achiever of extraordinary deeds!  O illustrious one, leaving that peerless palace built by Maya, which possesseth the splendour of the palace of the celestials themselves, and is like unto a celestial illusion, ever guarded by the gods, where dost thou go, O son of Dharma?’ And Vibhatsu knowing the ways of virtue, pleasure, and profit said unto them in a loud voice, ’Living in the forest, the king intendeth to take away the good name of his enemies!  O we with the regenerate ones at your head, versed in virtue and profit, do you approaching the ascetics separately and inclining them to grace, represent unto them what may be for our supreme good!’ Upon hearing these words of Arjuna, the Brahmanas and the other orders, O king, saluting him cheerfully walked round the foremost of virtuous men!  And bidding farewell unto the son of Pritha, and Vrikodara, and Dhananjaya and Yajnaseni, and the twins, and commanded by Yudhishthira, they returned to their respective abodes in the kingdom with heavy hearts.”

SECTION XXIV

Vaisampayana said, “After they had departed, Yudhishthira the virtuous son of Kunti, unwavering in his promises, addressed all his brothers, saying, ’We shall have to dwell in the solitary forest for these twelve years.  Search ye, therefore, in this mighty forest for some spot abounding in birds and deer and flowers and fruits, beautiful to behold, and auspicious, and inhabited by virtuous persons and where we may dwell pleasantly for all these years!’ Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, Dhananjaya replied unto the son of Dharma, after reverencing the illustrious king as if he were his spiritual preceptor.  And Arjuna said, ’Thou hast respectfully waited upon all the great and old Rishis.  There is nothing unknown to thee in the world of men.  And O bull of the Bharata race, thou hast always waited with reverence upon Brahmanas including Dwaipayana and others, and Narada of great ascetic merit, who with senses under control, ever goeth to the gates of all the world from the world of the gods unto that of Brahma, including that of the Gandharvas and Apsaras!  And thou knowest, without doubt, the opinions of the Brahmanas, and, O king, their prowess also!  And