The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,582 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4.

The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,582 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4.
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. 

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The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.