of his son.  Thou hast, in consequence thereof, been shown Hell by an act of deception.  After the manner of thyself, Bhima and Arjuna, and Draupadi, have all been shown the place of sinners by an act of deception.  Come, O chief of men, all of them have been cleansed of their sins.  All those kings who had aided thee and who have been slain in battle, have all attained to Heaven.  Come and behold them, O foremost one of Bharatas race.

“Karna, the mighty bowman, that foremost of all wielders of weapons for whom thou art grieving, has also attained to high success.  Behold, O puissant one, that foremost of men, viz., the son of Surya.  He is in that place which is his own, O mighty-armed one.  Kill this grief of thine, O chief of men.  Behold thy brothers and others, those kings, that is, who had espoused thy side.  They have all attained to their respective places (of felicity).  Let the fever of thy heart be dispelled.  Having endured a little misery first, from this time, O son of Kurus race, do thou sport with me in happiness, divested of grief and all thy ailments dispelled.  O mighty-armed one, do thou now enjoy, O king, the rewards of all thy deeds of righteousness of those regions which thou hast acquired thyself by thy penances and of all thy gifts.  Let deities and Gandharvas, and celestial Apsaras, decked in pure robes and excellent ornaments, wait upon and serve thee for thy happiness.  Do thou, O mighty-armed one, enjoy now those regions (of felicity) which have become thine through the Rajasuya sacrifice performed by thee and whose felicities have been enhanced by the sacrificial scimitar employed by thee.  Let the high fruits of thy penances be enjoyed by thee.  Thy regions, O Yudhishthira, are above, those of kings.  They are equal to those of Hariscandra, O son of Pritha.  Come, and sport there in bliss.  There where the royal sage Mandhatri is, there where king Bhagiratha is, there where Dushmantas son Bharata is, there wilt thou sport in bliss.  Here is the celestial river, sacred and sanctifying the three worlds.  It is called Heavenly Ganga.  Plunging into it, thou wilt go to thy own regions.  Having bathed in this stream, thou wilt be divested of thy human nature.  Indeed, thy grief dispelled, thy ailments conquered, thou wilt be freed from all enmities.

“While, O Kuru king, the chief of the gods was saying so unto Yudhishthira, the deity of Righteousness, in his embodied form, then addressed his own son and said, O king, I am greatly pleased, O thou of great wisdom, with thee, O son, by thy devotion to me, by thy truthfulness of speech, and forgiveness, and self-restraint.  This, indeed, is the third test, O king, to which I put thee.  Thou art incapable, O son of Pritha, of being swerved from thy nature or reason.  Before this, I had examined thee in the Dwaita woods by my questions, when thou hadst come to that lake for recovering a couple of fire sticks.  Thou stoodst it well.  Assuming the shape of a dog, I examined thee once more, O son, when thy brothers with Draupadi had fallen down.  This has been thy third test; thou hast expressed thy wish to stay at Hell for the sake of thy brothers.  Thou hast become cleansed, O highly blessed one.  Purified of sin, be thou happy.