Indian Myth and LegendMackenzie, Donald A. (Donald Alexander)
History
Indian Myth and Legend
Mackenzie, Donald A. (Donald Alexander)
Hindu mythology; Legends -- India
Dharma said: “O Yudhishthira, thou art indeed mine own son. Thou
wouldst not abandon me, thy hound, because that I was faithful unto
thee. Thine equal cannot be found in heaven.”
Then Yudhishthira was transported to the city of eternal bliss, and
there he beheld Duryodhana seated upon a throne. All the Kauravas were
in heaven also, but the rajah could not find his brethren or fair
Draupadi.
Said Indra: “Here thou shalt dwell, O Yudhishthira, in eternal bliss.
Forget all earthly ties and attain to perfection; thy brethren have
fallen short, therefore they sank by the way.”
Yudhishthira said: “I cannot remain here with the Kauravas who have
done me great wrong. Where my brethren are, there would I be also with
our wife Draupadi.”
Then a celestial being conducted Yudhishthira to the abode of his
brethren and the Princess of Panchala. He entered the forest of the
nether regions, where the leaves were like to sharp weapons and the
path was covered with knives. Darkness hung heavily, and the way was
miry with blood and strewn with foul and mutilated corpses. Shapes
of horror flitted round about like to shadows; fierce birds of prey
feasted upon human flesh. The damned were burning in everlasting fires,
and the air reeked with foul odours. A boiling river went past, and
Yudhishthira saw the place of torture with thorns, and the desert of
fiery sand: he gazed mutely upon each horror that was unfolded before
his eyes.
Fain would Yudhishthira have turned back, but he heard in the darkness
the voices of his brethren and Draupadi bidding him to stay a little
while to comfort them while they suffered torment.
Then Yudhishthira said to the celestial being: “Depart now from me,
for I must remain here to assuage the sufferings of my brethren and
Draupadi.”
As he spake the gods appeared, and the scene of horror vanished from
before the eyes of Yudhishthira, for it was an illusion conjured up to
test his constancy.
Then Yudhishthira was led to the heavenly Ganges, and having bathed in
its sacred waters, he cast off his mortal body and became a celestial.
Then, rejoicing, he entered Swarga, the celestial city of Indra, and
was welcomed by Krishna in all his divine glory, and by his brethren
and by Draupadi, and all whom he had loved upon earth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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