| YouTube Channel

पाण्डवप्रवेशपर्वन् (pANDavapravezaparvan)

 
Mahabharata
English
Pāṇḍavapraveśaparvan (“the section relating to the entrance of the Pāṇḍavas”). § 549: Questioned by Janamejaya, Vaiśampāyana related: Having obtained boons from Dharma, Yudhishṭhira returned to the hermitage and restored to the brahman his araṇī and mantha. Then he asked Arjuna to select some spot where they might dwell undiscovered. Arjuna mentioned some countries surrounding the kingdom of the Kurus (). Yudhishṭhira chose the city of king Virāṭa, who was attached to the Pāṇḍavas. Yudhishṭhira would introduce himself as a brahman named Kaṅka, who was skilled in dice and had been the friend of Yudhishṭhira (IV,
1). Bhīmasena as a cook and wrestler named Vallava, who had served Yudhishṭhira
Arjuna (b-e) as a hermaphrodite, Bṛhannalā by name, who had served Kṛshṇā as a waiting-maid (IV, 2). Nakula as a keeper of horses, named Granthika, who had formerly been employed by Yudhishṭhira
Sahadeva as a cowherd, named Tantripāla
Kṛshṇā would serve Sudeshṇā (the queen of Virāṭa) as a sairindhrī, skilled in dressing hair, who had waited upon Kṛshṇa (IV, 3). Yudhishṭhira said: “Let our priest, with our charioteers and cooks, repair to the abode of Drupaḍa and there maintain our agnihotra fires, and Indrasena, etc., with the empty chariots proceed to Dvāravatī, and the maidservants go to the Pāñcālas, together with the charioteers and the cooks. Let all of them say that the Pāṇḍavas had left them at the Dvaitavana lake.” Dhaumya advised the Pāṇḍavas as to how they should behave at court and performed the rites ordained in respect of departure, and then set out for the Pāñcālas, taking with him their sacred fires
Indrasena, etc., proceeded to the Yādavas (IV, 4). The Pāṇḍavas then proceeded in the direction of the southern bank of the river Kālindī and passed through the countries of the Yakṛllomas and the Śūrasenas, leaving behind on the right the country of the Pāñcālas and on the left that of the Daśārṇas. Arjuna carried Kṛshṇā. When they had reached the capital of Virāṭa, Arjuna, as Gāṇḍīva was known to all men, caused them to stow away their weapons in a śamī-tree near a cemetery. Nakula ascended the tree and tied the weapons fast. In the tree they hung up a corpse and said to the inquirers: “This is our mother, aged 180 years.” They kept for themselves the names Jaya, jayanta, Vijaya, Jayatsena, Jayadbala (IV, 5). Yudhishṭhira praised Durgā (f), who then showed herself to him and promised him victory, etc. (IV, 6). They then entered the city and were successively received by Virāṭa. Yudhishṭhira (naming himself Kaṅka Vaiyāghrapadya) was accepted as a courtier (IV, 7). Bhīmasena (naming himself Vallava) was accepted as a cook and a wrestler (IV, 8). Kṛshṇā was seen by the queen Sudeshṇā Kaikeyī and accepted as a sairindhrī
she said: “My five husbands, who are Gandharvas and sons of a Gandharva king, always protect me” (IV, 9). Sahadeva came clad in a cowherd's dress and speaking the dialect of cowherds, and said that he was a vaiśya named Arishṭanemi. He was accepted as the king's head cowherd (IV, 10). Then Arjuna appeared dressed as an eunuch and naming himself Bṛhannalā, and was accepted as a dancing master (IV, 11). Nakula, who named himself Granthika, likewise was accepted as the king's head horsekeeper (IV, 12).