Friends visit the Pandavas in the Kamyaka forest

Hearing that the Pandavas had been banished, the Bhojas, the Vrishnis, and the Andhakas went to those heroes residing in affliction in the great forest. The consanguineous relatives of Panchala; Dhrishtaketu, the king of Chedi; and those celebrated and powerful brothers, the Kaikeyas, their hearts fired with wrath, went to the forest to see the Pandavas. Reproaching the sons of Dhritarashtra, they said, “What should we do?” Those bulls of the Kshatriyas, with Vasudeva at their head, sat down around Yudhishthira. Respectfully saluting him, Krishna mournfully said, “The earth shall drink the blood of Duryodhana, Karna, of Duhshasana and the wicked Shakuni! Slaying these in battle and defeating their followers along with their royal allies, we all will install Yudhishthira on the throne! The wicked deserve to be slain! Verily, this is eternal morality.”

Arjuna tries to pacify Krishna

When, on account of the wrongs to Kunti's sons, Krishna had thus got into a passion, and seemed bent upon consuming all created things, Arjuna began to pacify him. Beholding Krishna angry, Arjuna began to recite the feats achieved in his former lives by that soul of all things, himself immeasurable, the eternal one, of infinite energy, the lord of Prajapati himself, the supreme ruler of the worlds, Vishnu of profound wisdom!

Arjuna said: “In days of old, you, O Krishna! had wandered on the Gandhamadana mountains for ten thousand years as a Muni having his home where evening fell! Living upon water alone, you had, in days of old, also dwelt for full eleven thousand years by the lake of Pushkara! With arms upraised and standing on one leg, you had passed a hundred years on the high hills of Badari, living all the while upon air! Leaving aside your upper garment, with body emaciated and looking like a bundle of veins, you had lived on the banks of the Sarasvati, employed in your sacrifice extending for twelve years! In observance of your vow, you had stood on one leg for the length of a thousand years of the celestials, on the plains of Prabhasa! Vyasa has told me that you are the cause of the creation and its course! You are the mover of all minds, and the beginning and end of all things! All asceticism rests in you, and you are the embodiment of all sacrifices, and the eternal one! Slaying the Asura Naraka, offspring of the Earth-first begotten, you had obtained his ear-rings, and performed the first horse-sacrifice! Having performed that feat, you have become victorious over all! You had slain all the Daityas and Danavas mustered in battle, and giving Indra the sovereignty of the universe, you have taken your birth among men! Having floated on the primordial waters, you subsequently became Hari, Brahma, Surya, Dharma, Dhatri, Yama, Anala, Vasu, Vaishravana, Rudra, Kala and the firmament, the earth, and the ten directions! Yourself increate, you are the lord of the mobile and the immobile universe, the Creator of all! In the forest of Chitraratha you gratified, with your sacrifice, the chief of all the gods, the highest of the high! At each sacrifice you offererd, according to shares, gold by hundreds and thousands. Becoming the son of Aditi, you have been known as the younger brother of Indra! Even while a child you, in consequence of your energy, filled by only three steps the heaven, the firmament, and the earth! Covering the heaven and the firmament, you dwelled in the body of the Sun and afflicted him with your own splendour! In your incarnations on those thousand occasions, you had slain sinful Asuras by hundreds! By destroying the Mauravas and the Pashas, and slaying Nishunda and Naraka, you have again rendered safe the road to Pragjyotisha! You have slained Ahvriti at Jaruthi, and Kratha and Shishupala with his supporters, and Jarasandha and Shaibhya and Shatadhanwan! On your car roaring like unto clouds and effulgent like the sun, you obtained for your queen the daughter of Bhoja, defeating Rukmi in battle! In fury, you slayed Indradyumna and the Yavana called Kaseruman! Slaying Salva the lord of Saubha, you destroyed that city of Saubha itself! These have all been slain in battle; listen to me as I speak of others! At Iravati you have slain king Bhoja equal unto Kartavirya in battle, and both Gopati and Talaketu also have been slain by you! You have also appropriated unto yourself the sacred city of Dvaraka, abounding in wealth and agreeable unto the Rishi themselves, and you will submerge it at the end within the ocean! How can crookedness be in you, devoid as you are of anger, envy, untruth and cruelty? All the Rishis, coming unto you seated in your glory on the sacrificial ground, seek protection from you! You stay at the end of the Yuga, contracting all things and withdrawing this universe into your own self! At the beginning of the Yuga, there sprang from your lotus-like navel, Brahma himself, lord of all mobile and immobile things, whose is this entire universe! When the dreadful Danavas Madhu and Kaitabha were bent on slaying Brahma, beholding their impious endeavour, you were angry, and from your forehead, sprang Shambhu, the holder of the trident. Thus these two foremost of the deities have sprung from your body in order to do your work! It was Narada who has told me this! O Narayana! You did, in the forest of Chaitraratha, celebrate with plentiful gifts a grand sacrifice consisting of a multitude of rites! The deeds you have performed while still a boy, having recourse to your might and aided by Baladeva, have never been done by others, nor are they capable of being achieved by others in the future! You did even dwell in Kailasa, accompanied by Brahmanas!”

Having addressed Krishna thus, the illustrious Arjuna, who was the soul of Krishna, became dumb. Then Janardana said, “You are mine and I am yours, while all that is mine is yours also! He that hates you hates me as well, and he that follows you follows me! You are Nara and I am Narayana or Hari! We are the Rishis Nara and Narayana born in the world of men for a special purpose. O Arjuna! you are from me and I am from you! No one can understand the difference that is between us!”

Draupadi pours out her grief onto Krishna

When the illustrious Krishna had said so in the midst of that assembly of brave kings, all excited with anger, Draupadi surrounded by Dhrishtadyumna and her other heroic brothers, approached him of eyes like lotus leaves seated with his cousins, and, desirous of protection, addressed in angry accents that refuge of all, saying:

“Asita and Devala have said that in the matter of the creation of all things, you have been indicated as the only Prajapati and the Creator of all the worlds! Jamadagnya Rama says that you are Vishnu, and, that you are Sacrifice, Sacrificer and he for whom the sacrifice is performed! The Rishis indicate you as Forgiveness and Truth! Kashyapa has said that you are Sacrifice sprung from Truth! O exalted one! Narada calls you the god of the Sadhyas, and of the Shaivas, as alone the Creator and the Lord of all things. You repeatedly sport with the gods including, Brahma and Shankara and Indra even as children sporting with their toys! The firmament is covered by your head, and the earth by your feet; these worlds are as your womb and you are the Eternal one! With Rishis sanctified by Vedic lore and asceticism, and whose souls have been purified by penance, and who are contented with soul-vision, you are the best of all objects! O chief of all male beings; you are the refuge of all royal sages devoted to virtuous acts, never turning their backs on the field of the battle, and possessed of every accomplishment! You are the Lord of all, you are Omnipresent, you are the Soul of all things, and you are the active power pervading everything! The rulers of the several worlds, those worlds themselves, the stellar conjunctions, the ten points of the horizon, the firmament, the moon, and the sun, are all established in you! O mighty-armed one, the morality of creatures, the immortality of the universe, are established in you! You are the Supreme lord of all creatures, celestial or human! Therefore it is that impelled by the affection you bear me that I will relate to you my griefs!

“O Krishna, how could one like me, the wife of Pritha's sons, the sister of Dhrishtadyumna, and the friend of you, be dragged to the assembly! Alas! During my period, stained with blood, with but a single cloth on, trembling all over, and weeping, I was dragged to the court of the Kurus! Beholding me, stained with blood in the presence of those kings in the assembly, the wicked sons of Dhritarashtra laughed at me! While the Pandavas, the Panchalas and the Vrishnis lived, they dared express the desire of using me as their slave! I am, according to the ordinance, the daughter in-law of both Dhritarashtra and Bhishma! Yet, they wished to make me a slave by force! I blame the Pandavas who are mighty and foremost in battle, for they saw their own wedded wife, treated with such cruelty! Oh! Fie on the might of Bhimasena, fie on the Gandiva of Arjuna, for they both suffered me being thus disgraced by little men! This eternal course of morality is ever followed by the virtuous, that the husband, however weak, protects his wedded wife! By protecting the wife, one protects his offspring and by protecting the offspring, one protects his own self! One's own self is begotten on one's wife, and therefore it is that the wife is called Jaaya. A wife also should protect her lord, remembering that he is to take his birth in her womb! The Pandavas never forsake the person that solicits their protection, and yet they abandoned me who solicited it! By my five husbands, five sons of exceeding energy have been born of me: Prativindhya by Yudhishthira, Sutasoma by Bhimasena, Srutakirti by Arjuna, Shatanika by Nakula and Shrutakarma by the youngest, all of them of energy that cannot be baffled. For their sake, it was necessary to protect me! As Pradyumna, they are mighty warriors all! They are foremost of bowmen, and invincible in battle by any foe! Why do they bear the wrongs inflicted on me by the sons of Dhritarashtra of such contemptible strength? Deprived of their kingdom by deception, the Pandavas were made slaves and I myself was dragged to the assembly in my period, and having only a single cloth on! Fie on that Gandiva which none else can string save Arjuna and Bhima and yourself! Fie on the strength of Bhima, and fie on the prowess of Arjuna, since, Duryodhana has drawn breath even for a moment!

“It is Duryodhana who formerly drove the guileless Pandavas with their mother from the kingdom, while they were children still engaged in study and the observance of their vows. It is that sinful wretch, who, horrible to relate, mixed in Bhima's food fresh and virulent poison in full dose. But, Bhima digested that poison with the food, without sustaining any injury, for, Bhima's days had not been ended! It is Duryodhana who, at the house standing by the banyan called Pramana, bound the sleeping Bhima unsuspectingly, and casting him into the Ganges returned to the city. But the powerful Bhimasena, on waking from sleep, tore his bonds and rose from the water. It is Duryodhana, who caused venomous black-cobras to bite all over the body of Bhimasena, but that slayer of foes died not. Awaking, he smashed all the serpents and with his left hand killed the favourite charioteer of Duryodhana. Again, while the children were asleep at Varanavata with their mother, it is Duryondhana who set fire to the house intending to burn them to death. Who is there capable of doing such an act? It was then that the illustrious Kunti, overtaken by this calamity, and surrounded by the flames, began to cry out in terror, speaking to the children, ‘Alas! I am undone! How shall we escape from this fire today! Alas! I shall meet with destruction with my little children!’ Then Bhima, possessed of mighty arms, and prowess like unto the force of the wind, comforted his illustrious mother as also his brothers, saying, ‘Like that king of birds, Garuda, I will spring up into the air. We have no fear from this fire.’

“Then taking his mother on his left flank, and the king in his right, and the twins on each shoulder, and Arjuna on his back, the mighty Bhimasena, thus taking all of them, at one leap cleared the fire and delivered his mother and brothers from the conflagration. Setting out that night with their renowned mother, they came near the forest of Hidimba. While fatigued and distressed, they were sleeping fast with her, a Rakshasa woman called Hidimba approached them. Beholding the Pandavas with their mother asleep on the ground, influenced by desire she sought to have Bhimasena for her lord. She, being weak with love, then took up Bhima's feet on her lap to press them with her soft hands. The mighty Bhima of immeasurable energy then woke from sleep, and asked her, saying, ‘O you of faultless features! What do you wish here?’ Thus asked by him, the Rakshasa lady, capable of assuming any form at will, replied unto Bhima, saying, ‘Do you speedily fly from this place! My brother gifted with strength will come to slay you! Therefore speed and tarry not!’ But Bhima haughtily said, ‘I do not fear him! If he comes here, I will slay him!’

“Hearing their converse, that vilest of cannibals came to the spot. Of frightful form and dreadful to behold, uttering loud cries as he came, the Rakshasa said, ‘O Hidimba! with whom do you converse? Bring him unto me, I will eat him up. It Do not tarry!’ But moved by compassion, the Rakshasa lady of pure heart said nothing out of pity. Then the man-eating monster, uttering dreadful cries, rushed at Bhima with great force. Approaching him furiously, the mighty cannibal, possessed with rage, caught hold of Bhima's hand with his own and clenching fast his other hand and making it hard as the thunder-bolt of Indra, suddenly struck Bhima a blow that descended with the force of lightning. His hand having been seized by the Rakshasa, Bhimasena, without being able to brook it, flew into a rage. Then a dreadful combat took place between Bhimasena and Hidimba, both skilled in all weapons and which was like unto the encounter of Vasava with Vritra. After sporting with the Rakshasa for a long while, the powerful Bhima slew the cannibal when the latter had become weak with exertion. Then having slain Hidimba, and taking his sister Hidimba at their head, of whom was born Ghatotkacha, Bhima and his brothers went away.

“Then all those repressors of their foes, accompanied by their mother and surrounded by many Brahmanas proceeded towards Ekachakra. In the matter of their journey, Vyasa, ever engaged in their welfare, had become their counsellor. Then arriving at Ekachakra, the Pandavas there also slew a mighty cannibal, Baka by name, terrible as Hidimba himself. Having slain that fierce cannibal, Bhima went with all his brothers to the capital of Drupada. As you had acquired Rukmini, so Arjuna, while residing there, obtained me! Arjuna won me in the Swayamvara, having performed a feat difficult of achievement by others and having fought also with the assembled kings!

“Thus, O Krishna, afflicted with numerous griefs, and in great distress, am I living, with Dhaumya at our head, but deprived of the company of the adorable Kunti! Why do these that are gifted with strength and possessed of the prowess of the lion, sit indifferently, beholding me thus afflicted by enemies so despicable? Suffering such wrongs at the hands of wicked and evil-doing foes of small strength, am I to burn in grief so long? Born I was in a great race, coming into the world in an extraordinary way! I am also the beloved wife of the Pandavas, and the daughter-in-law of the illustrious Pandu! The foremost of women and devoted to my husbands, even I was seized by hair, in the sight of the Pandavas, each of whom is like an Indra himself!”

Saying this, the mild-speeched Drupadi hid her face with her soft hands like the buds of lotus, and began to weep. The tears of Panchali begot of grief washed her deep, plump and graceful breasts crowned with auspicious marks. Wiping her eyes and sighing frequently she said these words angrily and in a choked voice, “Husbands, or sons, or friends, or brothers, or father, I have none! Nor have I you, O you slayer of Madhu, for you all, beholding me treated so cruelly by inferior foes, sit still unmoved! My grief at Karna's ridicule is incapable of being assuaged! On these grounds I deserve to be ever protected by you, O Krishna, our relationship, your respect for me, our friendship, and your lordship.”

In that assembly of heroes, Krishna then spoke unto the weeping Draupadi as follows: “O fair lady! The wives of those with whom you are angry, shall weep like you, beholding their husbands dead on the ground, weltering in blood and their bodies covered with the arrows of Arjuna! Weep not, lady! for I will exert to the utmost of my powers for the sons of Pandu! I promise you shall be the queen of kings! The heavens might fall, or the Himavat might split, the earth might be rent, or the waters of the ocean might dry up, but my words shall never be futile!”

Hearing those words of Krishna in reply, Draupadi looked obliquely at her third husband Arjuna. Arjuna said unto Draupadi: “Grieve not! It shall be as Krishna has said! It can never be otherwise!”

Dhrishtadyumna said: “I will slay Drona, Shikhandi will slay Bhishma. Bhimasena will slay Duryodhana, and Arjuna will slay Karna. O sister! Assisted by Rama and Krishna, we are invincible in battle by even Indra, what are the sons of Dhritarashtra?”

After these words had been spoken, all the heroes there turned their faces towards Krishna, who then in their midst began to speak as follows: “Yudhishthira! If I had been present at Dvaraka, then, this evil would not have befallen you! Coming unto the gambling-match, even if uninvited by Dhritarashtra, or Duryodhana, or by the other Kauravas, I would have prevented the game from taking place, by showing its many evils, summoning to my aid Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, and Bahlika! For your sake I would have told Dhritarashtra, let your sons have nothing to do with dice! I would have shown the many evils of dice through which you have fallen into such distress and Nala, the son of Virasena, was formerly deprived of his kingdom! Unthought of evils, befall a man from dice! I would have described how a man once engaged in the game continues to play. Women, dice, hunting and drinking to which people become addicted in consequence of temptation, have been regarded as the four evils that deprive a man of prosperity. Those versed in the Shastras are of opinion that evils attend upon all these. Even those that are addicted to dice know all its evils. Appearing before Dhritarashtra, I would have pointed out that through dice, men in a day lose their possessions, and fall into distress, and are deprived of their untasted wealth, and exchange harsh words! I would have pointed out these and other attendant evils! If he had accepted my words thus addressed, the welfare of the Kurus as also virtue itself would both have been secured! If he had rejected my gentle counsels offered as medicine, then, I would have compelled him by force! If those who wait at his court, professing to be his friends but in reality his foes, had supported him, then I would have slain them all, along with those gamblers, there present! It is owing to my absence from Dvaraka at that time that you have fallen into such distress begot of dice! On arriving at Dvarka I learnt from Satyaki all about your calamity! Directly I heard it with a heart sore agitated by grief, and I have speedily come here wishing to see you! Alas! You have all fallen into dire distress! I see you with your brothers plunged in misfortune!”

Yudhishthira said: “O Krishna! Why were you absent from Dvaraka? While you were away, where did you go? What did you do while out of your kingdom?”

Krishna said: “O Yudhishthira! I had gone for the purpose of destroying the city Salva. Listen to the reasons I had for so doing! The heroic son of Damaghosha, the well-known king Shishupala was slain by me, at your Rajasuya sacrifice, because that wicked one could not from anger bear to see the first worship offered to me! Hearing that he had been slain, Salva, burning with fierce anger, came to Dvaraka, while, it was empty, myself being away, residing with you here. Having arrived there on a car made of precious metals and hence called the Soubha, he had an encounter with the youthful princes of the Vrishni race and fought with them mercilessly. Slaughtering many youthful Vrishnis of heroic valour, the wicked one devastated all the gardens of the city. He said, ‘Where is that wretch of the Vrishni race, Krishna, the evil-souled son of Vasudeva? I will humble in battle the pride of that person so eager for fight! Tell me truly, O Anarttas! I will go there where he is. After killing that Krishna, will I return! By my weapon I swear that I will not return with out slaying him!’ Exclaiming repeatedly ‘Where is he? Where is he?’ the lord of Saubha rushed to this place and that, desirous of encountering me in battle. Salva also said, ‘Impelled by wrath for the destruction of Shishupala, I shall today send to the mansion of Yama that treacherous miscreant of mean mind?’ He further said, ‘That Krishna shall I slay, who, wretch that he is, has killed my brother who was but a boy of tender years, and who was slain not on the field of battle, unprepared as he was!’  Having wailed thus, and having abused me thus, he rose into the sky on his car of precious metals capable of going anywhere at will!

“On returning I heard what the evil-minded and wicked Salva had said regarding myself! I was agitated with wrath, and, having reflected upon everything, I set my heart upon slaying him! Learning of his oppression of the Anarttas, of his abuse of myself, and of his excessive arrogance, I resolved upon the destruction of that wretch! I accordingly set out for slaying the Saubha. Searching him here and there, I found him in an island in the midst of the ocean! Then blowing my conch called the Panchajanya obtained from the sea, and challenging Salva to combat, I stood for the fight! At that instant, I had an encounter with numerous Danavas, all of whom, however, I subdued and prostrated on the ground. It was owing to this affair that I could not then come! As soon as I heard of the unfair game of dice at Hastinapur, I have come here desirous of seeing you who have been plunged in distress.”

Having addressed the Kaurava thus, Krishna, saluting the Pandavas, prepared for departure. He reverentially saluted Yudhishthira, and the king in return and Bhima also smelt the crown of his head. He was embraced by Arjuna, and the twins saluted him with reverence. He was duly honoured by Dhaumya, and worshipped with tears by Draupadi. Causing Subhadra and Abhimanyu to ascend his golden car, Krishna, mounted it himself, worshipped by the Pandavas. Consoling Yudhishthira, Krishna set out for Dvaraka on his car resplendent as the sun and unto which were yoked the horses Shaibya and Sugriva. After he had departed, Dhristadyumna also set out for his own city, taking with him the sons of Draupadi. The king of Chedi, Dhrishtaketu also, taking his sister with him, set out for his beautiful city of Suktimati, after bidding farewell to the Pandavas. The Kaikeyas also, with the permission of Yudhishthira, having reverentially saluted all the Pandavas, went away. But Brahmanas, the Vaishyas and the dwellers of Yudhishthira's kingdom though repeatedly requested to go, did not leave the Pandavas. The multitude that surrounded the Pandavas in the forest of Kamyaka looked extraordinary. Yudhishthira, honouring those high-minded Brahmanas, in due time ordered his men, saying “Make ready the car.”