“Narada said, ’Repairing at my will to the mansion of Sakra, I have seen Sakra the lord or Sachi; and there, O royal sage.  I have beheld king Pandu.  There a talk arose, O monarch, regarding this Dhritarashtra and those highly austere penances which he is performing.  There I heard from the lips of Sakra himself that there are three years yet of the period of life allotted to this king.  After that, king Dhritarashtra, accompanied by his wife Gandhari, will go to the regions of Kuvera and be highly honoured by that king of kings.  He will go there on a car moving at his will, his person adorned with celestial ornaments.  He is the son of a Rishi; he is highly blessed; he has burnt all his sins by his penances.  Endued with a righteous soul, lie will rove at will through the regions of the deities, the Gandharvas, and the Rakshasas.  That about which thou hast enquired is a mystery of the gods.  Through my affection for you, I have declared this high truth.  Ye all are possessed of the wealth of Srutis and have consumed all your sins by your penances.’

“Vaisampayana continued..  “Hearing these sweet words of the celestial Rishi, all the persons there assembled, as also king Dhritarashtra, became greatly cheered and highly pleased.  Having cheered Dhritarashtra of great wisdom with such talk, they left the spot, wending away by the path that belongs to those who are crowned with success."’

SECTION XXI

" Vaisampayana said, ’Upon the retirement of the chief of the Kurus into the forest, the Pandavas, O king, afflicted besides by grief on account of their mother, became very cheerless.  The citizens also of Hastinapura were possessed by deep sorrow.  The Brahmanas always talked of the old king.  ’How, indeed, will the king, who has become old, live in the solitary woods?  How will the highly blessed Gandhari, and Pritha, the daughter of Kuntibhoja, live there?  The royal sage has always lived in the enjoyment of every comfort.  He will certainly be very miserable.  Arrived in deep woods, what is now the condition of that personage of royal descent, who is, again, bereft of vision?  Difficult is the feat that Kunti has achieved by separating herself from her sons.  Alas casting off kingly prosperity, she chose a life in the woods.  What, again, is the condition of Vidura who is always devoted to the service of his elder brother?  How also is the intelligent son of Gavalgani who is so faithful to the food given him by his master?  Verily, the citizens, including those of even nonage meeting together, asked one another these questions.  The Pandavas also, exceedingly afflicted with grief, sorrowed for their old mother, and could not live in their city long, Thinking also of their old sire, the king, who had lost all his children, and the highly blessed Gandhari, and Vidura of great intelligence, they failed to enjoy peace of mind.  They had no pleasure in sovereignty, nor in women, nor in the study of