O son of Pritha, thy brothers, O king, were not such as to deserve Hell.  All this has been an illusion created by the chief of the gods.  Without doubt, all kings, O son, must once behold Hell.  Hence hast thou for a little while been subjected to this great affliction.  O king, neither Arjuna, nor Bhima, nor any of those foremost of men, viz., the twins, nor Karna, ever truthful in speech and possessed of great courage, could be deserving of Hell for a long time.  The princess Krishna too, O Yudhishthira, could not be deserving of that place of sinners.  Come, come, O foremost one of the Bharatas, behold Ganga who spreads her current over the three worlds.

“Thus addressed, that royal sage, viz., thy grandsire, proceeded with Dharma and all the other gods.  Having bathed in the celestial river Ganga, sacred and sanctifying and ever adored by the Rishis, he cast off his human body.  Assuming then a celestial form, king Yudhishthira the just, in consequence of that bath, became divested of all his enmities and grief.  Surrounded by the deities, the Kuru king Yudhishthira then proceeded from that spot.  He was accompanied by Dharma, and the great Rishis uttered his praises.  Indeed, he reached that place where those foremost of men, those heroes, viz., the Pandavas and the Dhartarashtras, freed from (human) wrath, were enjoying each his respective status.

4

Vaishampayana said, “King Yudhishthira, thus praised by the gods, the Maruts and the Rishis, proceeded to that place where those foremost ones of Kurus race were.  He beheld Govinda endued with his Brahma-form.  It resembled that form of his which had been seen before and which, therefore, helped the recognition.  Blazing forth in that form of his, he was adorned with celestial weapons, such as the terrible discus and others in their respective embodied forms.  He was being adored by the heroic Phalguna, who also was endued with a blazing effulgence.  The son of Kunti beheld the slayer of Madhu also in his own form.  Those two foremost of Beings, adored by all the gods, beholding Yudhishthira, received him with proper honours.

“In another place, the delighter of the Kurus beheld Karna, that foremost one among all wielders of weapons, resembling a dozen Suryas in splendour.  In another part he beheld Bhimasena of great puissance, sitting in the midst of the Maruts, and endued with a blazing form.  He was sitting by the side of the God of Wind in his embodied form.  Indeed, he was then in a celestial form endued with great beauty, and had attained to the highest success.  In place belonging to the Ashvinis, the delighter of the Kurus beheld Nakula and Sahadeva, each blazing with his own effulgence.