“Overwhelmed by sorrow and grief, and with his senses agitated by anxiety, king Yudhishthira indulged in such reflections for a long time.  The royal son of Dharma then gave way to great wrath.  Indeed, Yudhishthira then censured the gods, as also Dharma himself.  Afflicted by the very foul odour, he addressed the celestial messenger, saying, Return to the presence of those whose messenger thou art.  Tell them that I shall not go back to where they are, but shall stay even here, since, in consequence of my companionship, these afflicted brothers of mine have become comforted.  Thus addressed by the intelligent son of Pandu, the celestial messenger returned to the place where the chief of the deities was, viz., he of a hundred sacrifices.  He represented unto him the acts of Yudhishthira.  Indeed, O ruler of men, he informed Indra of all that Dharmas son had said!

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