themselves on the bodies of their lord. Then Partha
caused the body of his uncle to be carried out on
a costly vehicle borne on the shoulders of men.
It was followed by all the citizens of Dwaraka and
the people of the provinces, all of whom, deeply afflicted
by grief, had been well-affected towards the deceased
hero. Before that vehicle were borne the umbrella
which had been held over his head at the conclusion
of the horse-sacrifice he had achieved while living,
and also the blazing fires he had daily worshipped,
with the priests that had used to attend to them.
The body of the hero was followed by his wives decked
in ornaments and surrounded by thousands of women
and thousands of their daughters-in-law. The
last rites were then performed at that spot which
had been agreeable to him while he was alive.
The four wives of that heroic son of Sura ascended
the funeral pyre and were consumed with the body of
their lord. All of them attained to those regions
of felicity which were his. The son of Pandu
burnt the body of his uncle together with those four
wives of his, using diverse kinds of scents and perfumed
wood. As the funeral pyre blazed up, a loud sound
was heard of the burning wood and other combustible
materials, along with the clear chant of Samans and
the wailing of the citizens and others who witnessed
the rite. After it was all over, the boys of
the Vrishni and Andhaka races, headed by Vajra, as
also the ladies, offered oblations of water to the
high-souled hero.
“Phalguna, who was careful in observing every
duty, having caused this duty to be performed, proceeded,
O chief of Bharatas race, next to the place where
the Vrishnis were slaughtered. The Kuru prince,
beholding them lying slaughtered all around, became
exceedingly cheerless. He, however, did what
was required to be done in view of that which had
happened. The last rites were performed, according
to the order of seniority, unto the bodies of those
heroes slain by the iron bolts born, by virtue of
the curse denounced by the Brahmanas, of the blades
of Eraka grass. Searching out the bodies then
of Rama and Vasudeva, Arjuna caused them to be burnt
by persons skilled in that act. The son of Pandu,
having next performed duly those sraddha rites that
are done to the dead, quickly set out on the seventh
day, mounting on his car. The widows of the Vrishni
heroes, wailing aloud, followed the high-souled son
of Pandu. Dhananjaya, on cars drawn by bullocks
and mules and camels. All were in deep affliction.
The servants of the Vrishnis, their horsemen, and their
car-warriors too, followed the procession. The
citizens and the inhabitants of the country, at the
command of Prithas son, set out at the same time and
proceeded, surrounding that cavalcade destitute of
heroes and numbering only women and the aged and the
children. The warriors who fought from the backs
of elephants proceeded on elephants as huge as hills.
The foot-soldiers also set out, together with the reserves.