(Jatugriha Parva continued)
" continued, 'A friend of 's, well-skilled in mining, coming unto to the Pandavas, addressed them in secret, saying, 'I have been sent by and am a skilful miner. I am to serve the Pandavas. Tell me what I am to do for ye you. From the trust he reposeth reposes in me hath has said unto to me, 'Go thou you unto to the Pandavas and accomplish thou you their good. What shall I do for you? will set fire to the door of thy your house on the fourteenth night of this dark fortnight. To burn to death those tigers among men, the Pandavas, with their mother, is the design of that wicked wretch, the son of . O son of , also told thee you something in the Mlechchha tongue to which thou you also didst did reply in same language. I state these particulars as my credentials.' Hearing these words, , the truthful son of replied, 'O amiable one, I now know thee you as a dear and trusted friend of , true and ever devoted to him. There is nothing that the learned doth does not know. As his, so ours art thou you. Make no difference between him and us. We are as much thine yours as his. O, protect us as the learned ever protecteth protects us. I know that this house, so inflammable, hath has been contrived for me by at the command of 's son. That wicked wretch commanding wealth and allies pursueth pursues us without intermission. O, save us with a little exertion from the impending conflagration. If we are burnt to death here, 's most cherished desire will be satisfied. Here is that wretch's well-furnished arsenal. This large mansion hath has been built abutting the high ramparts of the arsenal without any outlet. But this unholy contrivance of was known to from the first, and he it was who enlightened us beforehand. The danger of which had foreknowledge is now at our door. Save us from it without 's knowledge thereof of it.' On hearing these words, the miner said, 'So be it,' and carefully beginning his work of excavation, made a large subterranean passage. And the mouth of that passage was in the centre of that house, and it was on a level with the floor and closed up with planks. The mouth was so covered from fear of , that wicked wretch who kept a constant watch at the door of the house. The Pandavas used to sleep within their chambers with arms ready for use, while, during the day, they went a-hunting from forest to forest. Thus, O king, they lived (in that mansion) very guardedly, deceiving by a show of trustfulness and contentment while in reality they were trustless and discontented. Nor did the citizens of Varanavata know anything about these plans of the Pandavas. In fact, none else knew of them except 's friend, that good miner.'"
(Jatugriha Parva continued)
" said, 'Seeing the Pandavas living there cheerfully and without suspicion for a full year, became exceedingly glad. And beholding so very glad, , the virtuous son of , addressing and and the twins ( and ) said, 'The cruel-hearted wretch hath has been well-deceived. I think the time is come for our escape. Setting fire to the arsenal and burning to death and letting his body lie here, let us, six persons, fly hence unobserved by all!'
" continued, 'Then on the occasion of an almsgiving, O king, fed on a certain night a large number of Brahmanas. There came also a number of ladies who while eating and drinking, enjoyed there as they pleased, and with 's leave returned to their respective homes. Desirous of obtaining food, there came, as though impelled by fate, to that feast, in course of her wanderings, a Nishada woman, the mother of five children, accompanied by all her sons. O king, she, and her children, intoxicated with the wine they drank, became incapable. Deprived of consciousness and more dead than alive, she with all her sons lay down in that mansion to sleep. Then when all the inmates of the house lay down to sleep, there began to blow a violent wind in the night. then set fire to the house just where was sleeping. Then the son of set fire to the door of that house of lac. Then he set fire to the mansion in several parts all around. Then when the sons of were satisfied that the house had caught fire in several parts those chastisers of foes with their mother, entered the subterranean passage without losing any time. Then the heat and the roar of the fire became intense and awakened the townspeople. Beholding the house in flames, the citizens with sorrowful faces began to say, 'The wretch () of wicked soul had under the instruction of built his house for the destruction of his employer's relatives. He indeed hath has set fire to it. O, fie on 's heart which is so partial. He hath has burnt to death, as if he were their foe, the sinless heirs of ! O, the sinful and wicked-souled () who hath has burnt those best of men, the innocent and unsuspicious princes, hath has himself been burnt to death as fate would have it.'
" continued, 'The citizens of Varanavata thus bewailed (the fate of the Pandavas), and waited there for the whole night surrounding that house. The Pandavas, however, accompanied by their mother coming out of the subterranean passage, fled in haste unnoticed. But those chastisers of foes, for sleepiness and fear, could not with their mother proceed in haste. But, O monarch, , endued with terrible prowess and swiftness of motion took upon his body all his brothers and mother and began to push through the darkness. Placing his mother on his shoulder, the twins on his sides, and and on both his arms, of great energy and strength and endued with the speed of the wind, commenced his march, breaking the trees with his breast and pressing deep the earth with his stamp.'"
(Jatugriha Parva continued)
" said, 'About this time, the learned had sent into those woods a man of pure character and much trusted by him. This person going to where he had been directed, saw the Pandavas with their mother in the forest employed in a certain place in measuring the depth of a river. The design that the wicked had formed had been, through his spies, known to of great intelligence, and, therefore, he had sent that prudent person unto to the Pandavas. Sent by unto to them, he showed the Pandavas on the sacred banks of the a boat with engines and flags, constructed by trusted artificers and capable of withstanding wind and wave and endued with the speed of the tempest or of thought. He then addressed the Pandavas in these words to show that he had really been sent by , 'O , he said, "listen to these words the learned had said (unto to thee you) as a proof of the fact that I come from him. Neither the consumer of straw and the wood nor the drier of dew ever burneth burns the inmates of a hole in the forest. He escapeth escapes from death who protecteth protects himself knowing this, etc.' By these credentials know me to be the person who has been truly sent by and to be also his trusted agent. , conversant with everything, hath has again said, 'O son of , thou you shalt shall surely defeat in battle , and with his brothers, and .' This boat is ready on the waters, and it will glide pleasantly thereon, and shall certainly bear you all from these regions!'
"Then beholding those foremost of men with their mother pensive and sad he caused them to go into the boat that was on the , and accompanied them himself. Addressing them again, he said, ' having smelt your heads and embraced you (mentally), hath has said again that in commencing your auspicious journey and going alone you should never be careless.'
"Saying these words unto to those heroic princes, the person sent by took those bulls among men over to the other side of the in his boat. And having taken them over the water and seen them all safe on the opposite bank, he uttered the word 'Jaya' (victory) to their success and then left them and returned to the place whence from where he had come.
"The illustrious Pandavas also sending through that person some message to , began, after having crossed the , to proceed with haste and in great secrecy.'"
(Jatugriha Parva continued)
" said, 'Then, when the night had passed away, a large concourse of the townspeople came there in haste to see the sons of . After extinguishing the fire, they saw that the house just burnt down had been built of lac in materials and that ('s) counsellor had been burnt to death. And the people began to bewail aloud saying, 'Indeed, this had been contrived by the sinful for the destruction of the Pandavas. There is little doubt that hath has, with 's knowledge, burnt to death the heirs of , else the prince would have been prevented by his father. There is little doubt that even , the , and and and and other Kauravas have not, any of them, followed the dictates of duty. Let us now send to to say, 'Thy your great desire hath has been achieved! Thou you hast have burnt to death the Pandavas!'
"They then began to extinguish the members to obtain some trace of the Pandavas, and they saw the innocent Nishada woman with her five sons burnt to death. Then the miner sent by , while removing the ashes, covered the hole he had dug with those ashes in such a way that it remained unnoticed by all who had gone there.
"The citizens then sent to to inform him that the Pandavas along with ('s) counsellor had been burnt to death. King , on hearing the evil news of the death of the Pandavas, wept in great sorrow. And he said, 'King , my brother of great fame, hath has, indeed, died today when those heroic sons of his together with their mother have been burnt to death. Ye you men, repair quickly to Varanavata and cause the funeral rites to be performed of those heroes and of the daughter of Kuntiraj! Let also the bones of the deceased be sanctified with the usual rites, and let all the beneficial and great acts (usual on such occasions) be performed. Let the friends and relatives of those that have been burnt to death repair thither there. Let also all other beneficial acts that ought, under the circumstances, to be performed by us for the Pandavas and be accomplished by wealth.'
"Having said this, , the son of , surrounded by his relatives, offered oblations of water to the sons of . And all of them, afflicted with excessive sorrow, bewailed aloud, exclaiming, 'O ! Oh prince of the Kuru race!'--While others cried aloud, 'Oh, !--O !'--while some again,--'Oh, the twins!--Oh, !'--Thus did they sorrow for the Pandavas and offer oblations of water unto to them. The citizens also wept for the Pandavas but did not weep much, because he knew the truth.
"Meanwhile the Pandavas endued with great strength with their mother forming a company of six going out of the town of Varanavata arrived at the banks of the . They then speedily reached the opposite bank aided by the strength of the boatmen's arms, the rapidity of the river's current, and a favourable wind. Leaving the boat, they proceeded in the southern direction finding their way in the dark by the light of the stars. After much suffering they at last reached, O king, a dense forest. They were then tired and thirsty; sleep was closing their eyes every moment. Then , addressing endued with great energy, said, 'What can be more painful than this? We are now in the deep woods. We know not which side is which, nor can we proceed much further. We do not know whether that wretch hath has or hath has not been burnt to death. How shall we escape from these dangers unseen by others? O Bharata, taking us on thyself, proceed thou you as before. Thou you alone amongst us art strong and swift as the wind.'
"Thus addressed by the just, the mighty , taking up on his body and his brothers, began to proceed with great celerity.'"