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106.YUDHISHTHIRA'S FINAL TRIAL
"Alas wretched souls! Who are ye that
lament like this? Why are you here?"
"Lord, I am Karna," said a voice.
"I am Bhima," said another.
"I am Arjuna," cried a third voice.
"Draupadi," cried another voice in piteous
tone.
"I am Nakula," "I am Sahadeva," "We are
Draupadi' s sons," and so on, came
mournful voices from all around, till the
accumulated pain was more that
Yudhishthira could bear.
"What sin indeed have these been guilty
of?" cried he. "Dhritarashtra's son
Duryodhana, what good deeds did he do
to sit like Mahendra in heaven, while
these are in hell? Am I dreaming or am I
awake? Is my mind deranged? Have I
gone crazy?"
Overwhelmed by anger, Yudhishthira
cursed the gods and denounced dharma.
He turned to the angel attendant and said
sharply: "Go back to your masters. I shall
stay here where my dear brothers, for no
other sin than devotion to me, are
consigned to the tortures of hell. Let me
be with them."
The messenger went back and conveyed
to Indra what Yudhishthira had said.
Thus passed the thirteenth part of a day.
Then Indra and Yama appeared before
Yudhishthira where he stood in anguish.
When they came, the darkness rolled
away and the horrid sights disappeared.
The sinners and their suffering were no
more to be seen. A fragrant breeze blew as
Yama, the god of dharma, smiled on his
son Yudhishthira.
"Wisest of men, this is the third time I
have tested you. You chose to remain in
hell for the sake of your brothers. It is
inevitable that kings and rulers must go
through hell if only for a while. So it was
that for the thirtieth part of a day you too
were doomed to suffer the pangs of hell.
Neither the illustrious Savyasachi
(Arjuna) nor your beloved brother Bhima
is really in hell. Nor Karna the just, nor
anyone else who you thought had been
consigned to suffering. It was an illusion
designed to test you. This is not hell, but
swarga. Do you not see there Narada
whose travels cover the three worlds?
Cease grieving."
Thus said Yama to Dharmaputra, who,
thereupon, was transfigured. The mortal
frame was gone and he was a god. With
the disappearance of the human body, also
disappeared all trace of anger and hatred.
Then Yudhishthira saw their Karna and all
his brothers and the sons of Dhritarashtra
also, serene and free from anger, all
having attained the state of the gods. In
this reunion, Yudhishthira at last found
peace and real happiness.
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