(Swayamvara Parva continued)
" said, 'When the Kuru princes ( and ) were wending towards the abode of the potter, , the Panchala prince followed them. And sending away all his attendants, he concealed himself in some part of the potter's house, unknown to the Pandavas. Then , that grinder of all foes, and , and the illustrious twins, on returning from their eleemosynary round in the evening, cheerfully gave everything unto to . Then the kind-hearted addressing the said, 'O amiable one, take thou you first a portion from this and devote it to the gods and give it away to Brahmanas, and feed those that desire to eat and give unto to those who have become our guests. Divide the rest into two halves. Give one of these unto to , O amiable one, for this strong youth of fair complexion--equal unto to a king of elephants--this hero always eateth eats much. And divide the other half into six parts, four for these youths, one for myself, and one for thee you.' Then the princess hearing those instructive words of her mother-in-law cheerfully did all that she had been directed to do. And those heroes then all ate of the food prepared by . Then , the son of , endued with great activity, spread on the ground a bed of kusa grass. Then those heroes, each spreading thereon his deer-skin, laid themselves down to sleep. And those foremost of the Kuru princes lay down with heads towards the south. And laid herself down along the line of their heads, and along that of their feet. And though she lay with the sons of on that bed of kusa grass along the line of their feet as if she were their nether pillow, grieved not in her heart nor thought disrespectfully of those bulls amongst the Kurus. Then those heroes began to converse with one another. And the conversations of those princes, each worthy to lead an army, was exceedingly interesting they being upon celestial cars and weapons and elephants, and swords and arrows, and battle-axes. And the son of the Panchala king listened (from his place of concealment) unto to all they said. And all those who were with him beheld in that state.
"When morning came, the prince set out from his place of concealment with great haste in order to report to in detail all that had happened at the potter's abode and all that he had heard those heroes speak amongst themselves during the night. The had been sad because he knew not the Pandavas as those who had taken away his daughter. And the illustrious monarch asked on his return, 'Oh, where hath has gone? Who hath has taken her away? Hath has any Sudra or anybody of mean descent, or hath has a tribute-paying Vaisya by taking my daughter away, placed his dirty foot on my head? O son, hath has that wreath of flowers been thrown away on a grave-yard? Hath has any Kshatriya of high birth, or any one of the superior order (Brahmana) obtained my daughter? Hath has any one of mean descent, by having won , placed his left foot on my head? I would not, O son, grieve but feel greatly happy, if my daughter hath has been united with that foremost of men! O thou you exalted one, tell me truly who hath has won my daughter today? O, are the sons of that foremost of Kurus, 's son alive? Was it () that took up the bow and shot the mark?'"
(Vaivahika Parva)
" said, 'Thus addressed , that foremost of the Lunar princes, cheerfully said unto to his father all that had happened and by whom had been won. And the prince said, 'With large, red eyes, attired in deer-skin, and resembling a celestial in beauty, the youth who strung that foremost of bows and brought down to the ground the mark set on high, was soon surrounded by the foremost of Brahmanas who also offered him their homage for the feat he had achieved. Incapable of bearing the sight of a foe and endued with great activity, he began to exert his prowess. And surrounded by the Brahmanas he resembled the thunder-wielding standing in the midst of the celestials, and the Rishis. And like a she-elephant following the leader of a herd, cheerfully followed that youth catching hold of his deer-skin. Then when the assembled monarchs incapable of bearing that sight lose up in wrath and advanced for fight, there rose up another hero who tearing up a large tree rushed at that concourse of kings, felling them right and left like himself smiting down creatures endued with life. Then, O monarch, the assembled kings stood motionless and looked at that couple of heroes, while they, resembling the Sun and the Moon, taking with them, left the amphitheatre and went into the abode of a potter in the suburbs of the town, and there at the potter's abode sat a lady like unto to a flame of fire who, I think, is their mother. And around her also sat three other foremost of men each of whom was like unto to fire. And the couple of heroes having approached her paid homage unto to her feet, and they said unto to also to do the same. And keeping with her, those foremost of men all went the round of eleemosynary visits. Some time after when they returned, taking from them what they had obtained as alms, devoted a portion thereof of it to the gods, and gave another portion away (in gift) to Brahmanas. And of what remained after this, she gave a portion to that venerable lady, and distributed the rest amongst those five foremost of men. And she took a little for herself and ate it last of all. Then, O monarch, they all laid themselves down for sleep, lying along the line of their feet as their nether pillow. And the bed on which they lay was made of kusa grass upon which was spread their deer-skins. And before going to sleep they talked on diverse subjects in voices deep as of black clouds. The talk of those heroes indicated them to be neither Vaisyas nor Sudras, nor Brahmanas. Without doubt, O monarch, they are bulls amongst Kshatriyas, their discourse having been on military subjects. It seems, O father, that our hope hath has been fructified, for we have heard that the sons of all escaped from the conflagration of the house of lac. From the way in which the mark was shot down by that youth, and the strength with which the bow was strung by him, and the manner in which I have heard them talk with one another proves conclusively, O monarch, that they are the sons of wandering in disguise.'
"Hearing these words of his son, king became exceedingly glad, and he sent unto to them his priest directing him to ascertain who they were and whether they were the sons of the illustrious . Thus directed, the king's priest went unto to them and applauding them all, delivered the king's message duly, saying, 'Ye you who are worthy of preference in everything, the boon-giving king of the earth----is desirous of ascertaining who ye you are. Beholding this one who hath has shot down the mark, his joy knoweth knows no bounds. Giving us all particulars of your family and tribe, place ye you your feet on the heads of your foes and gladden the hearts of the mid his men and mine also. King was the dear friend of and was regarded by him as his counterself. And had all along cherished the desire of bestowing this daughter of his upon as his daughter-in-law. Ye you heroes of features perfectly faultless, king hath has all along cherished this desire in his heart that of strong and long arms might wed this daughter of his according to the ordinance. If that hath has become possible, nothing could be better; nothing more beneficial; nothing more conducive to fame and virtue, so far as is concerned.'
"Having said this, the priest remained silent and humbly waited for an answer. Beholding him sitting thus, the king commanded who sat near, saying, 'Let water to wash his feet with and the Arghya be offered unto to this Brahmana. He is king 's priest and, therefore, worthy of great respect. We should worship him with more than ordinary reverence.' Then, O monarch, did as directed. Accepting the worship thus offered unto to him, the Brahmana with a joyous heart sat at his ease. Then addressed him and said, 'The king of the Panchalas hath has, by fixing a special kind of dower, given away his daughter according to the practice of his order and not freely. This hero hath has, by satisfying that demand, won the princess. King , therefore, hath has nothing now to say in regard to the race, tribe, family and disposition of him who hath has performed that feat. Indeed, all his queries have been answered by the stringing of the bow and the shooting down of the mark. It is by doing what he had directed that this illustrious hero hath has brought away from among the assembled monarchs. In these circumstances, the king of the Lunar race should not indulge in any regrets which can only make him unhappy without mending matters in the least. The desire that king hath has all along cherished will be accomplished for his handsome princess who beareth bears, I think, every auspicious mark. None that is weak in strength could string that bow, and none of mean birth and unaccomplished in arms could have shot down the mark. It behoveth behooves not, therefore, the king of the Panchalas to grieve for his daughter today. Nor can anybody in the world undo that act of shooting down the mark. Therefore the king should not grieve for what must take its course.'
"While was saying all this, another messenger from the king of the Panchalas, coming thither there in haste, said, 'The (nuptial), feast is ready.'"
(Vaivahika Parva continued)
" continued, 'The messenger said, 'King hath has, in view of his daughter's nuptials prepared a good feast for the bride-groom's party. Come ye you thither there after finishing your daily rites. 's wedding will take place there. Delay ye you not. These cars adorned with golden lotuses drawn by excellent horses are worthy of kings. Riding on them, come ye you into the abode of the king of the Panchalas.'
" continued, 'Then those bulls among the Kurus, dismissing the priest and causing and to ride together on one of those cars, themselves ascended those splendid vehicles and proceeded towards 's place. Meanwhile, O Bharata, hearing from his priest the words that had said, king , in order to ascertain the order to which those heroes belonged, kept ready a large collection of articles (required by the ordinance for the wedding of each of the four orders). And he kept ready fruits, sanctified garlands, and coats of mail, and shields, and carpets, and kine, and seeds, and various other articles and implements of agriculture. And the king also collected, O monarch, every article appertaining to other arts, and various implements and apparatus of every kind of sport. And he also collected excellent coats of mail and shining shields, and swords and scimitars, of fine temper, and beautiful chariots and horses, and first-class bows and well-adorned arrows, and various kinds of missiles ornamented with gold. And he also kept ready darts and rockets and battle-axes and various utensils of war. And there were in that collection beds and carpets and various fine things, and cloths of various sorts. When the party went to 's abode, taking with her the virtuous entered the inner apartments of the king. The ladies of the king's household with joyous hearts worshipped the queen of the Kurus. Beholding, O monarch, those foremost of men, each possessing the sportive gait of the lion, with deer-skins for their upper garments, eyes like unto to those of mighty bulls, broad shoulders, and long-hanging arms like unto to the bodies of mighty snakes, the king, and the king's ministers, and the king's son, and the king's friends and attendants, all became exceedingly glad. Those heroes sat on excellent seats, furnished with footstools without any awkwardness and hesitation. And those foremost of men sat with perfect fearlessness on those costly seats one after another according to the order of their ages. After those heroes were seated, well-dressed servants male and female, and skilful cooks brought excellent and costly viands worthy of kings on gold and silver plates. Then those foremost of men dined on those dishes and became well-pleased. And after the dinner was over, those heroes among men, passing over all other articles, began to observe with interest the various utensils of war. Beholding this, 's son and himself, along with all his chief ministers of state, understanding the sons of to be all of royal blood became exceedingly glad.'"