the sweet notes of his song are heard all over the Gandhamadana.  O child, O Yudhishthira, here during the Parvas, all creatures see and hear marvels like this.  O Pandavas, till ye meet with Arjuna, do ye stay here, partaking of luscious fruits, and the food of the Munis.  O child as thou hast come hither, do thou not betray any impertinence.  And, O child, after living here at thy will and diverting thyself as thou listest, thou wilt at length rule the earth, having conquered it by the force of thy arms.’”

SECTION CLIX

Janamejaya said, “How long did my great grandsires, the highsouled sons of Pandu of matchless prowess, dwell in the Gandhamadana mountain?  And what did those exceedingly powerful ones, gifted with manliness, do?  And what was the food of those high-souled ones, when those heroes of the worlds dwelt (there)?  O excellent one, do thou relate all about this.  Do thou describe the prowess of Bhimasena, and what that mighty-armed one did in the mountain Himalayan.  Surely, O best of Brahmanas, he did not fight again with the Yakshas.  And did they meet with Vaisravana?  Surely, as Arshtishena said, the lord of wealth cometh thither.  All this, O thou of ascetic wealth, I desire to hear in detail.  Surely, I have not yet been fully satisfied by hearing about their acts.”

Vaisampayana continued, “Having heard from that one of incomparable energy, (Arshtishena), that advice conducive to their welfare, those foremost of the Bharatas, began to behave always accordingly.  Those best of men, the Pandavas, dwelt upon the Himavan, partaking of the food eaten by the Munis, and luscious fruit, and the flesh of deer killed with unpoisoned shafts and various kinds of pure honey.  Living thus, they passed the fifth year, hearing various stories told by Lomasa.  O lord, saying, ‘I shall be present when occasion ariseth,’ Ghatotkacha, together with all the Rakshasas, had ere this already gone away.  Those magnanimous ones passed many months in the hermitage of Arshtishena, witnessing many marvels.  And as the Pandavas were sporting there pleasantly, there came to see them some complacent vow-observing Munis and Charanas of high fortune, and pure souls.  And those foremost of the Bharata race conversed with them on earthly topics.  And it came to pass that when several days has passed, Suparna all of a sudden carried off an exceedingly powerful and mighty Naga, living in the large lake.  And thereupon that mighty mountain began to tremble, and the gigantic trees, break.  And all the creatures and the Pandavas witnessed the wonder.  Then from the brow of that excellent mountain, the wind brought before the Pandavas various fragrant and fair blossoms.  And the Pandavas, and the illustrious Krishna, together with their friends, saw those unearthly blossoms of five hues.  And as the mighty-armed Bhimasena was seated at ease upon the mountain, Krishna addressed him, saying, ’O best of the Bharata race, in