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26.DHRITARASHTRA'S ANXIETY
WHEN the Pandavas set out for the forest,
there arose a great clamor of lamentation
from people who thronged the streets and
climbed the roofs and towers and trees to
see them go.
The princes, who, of yore, rode in
jewelled chariots or on lordly elephants to
strains of auspicious music, now walked
away from their birthright on weary feet,
accompanied by weeping crowds. On all
sides cries arose of: "Fie and Alas! Does
not God see this from His heaven?"
The blind Dhritarashtra sent for Vidura
and asked him to describe the departure of
the Pandavas into exile. Vidura replied:
"Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, went with
his face covered with a cloth. Bhima went
behind with his eyes lowered on his arms.
Arjuna proceeded scattering sand on his
path. Nakula and Sahadeva besmeared
their bodies with dust and closely
followed Yudhishthira. Draupadi
accompanied Dharmaputra, her
dishevelled hair covering her face and her
eyes streaming with tears. Dhaumya, the
priest, went along with them singing the
Sama hymns, addressed to Yama, the
Lord of Death."
When he heard these words, Dhritarashtra
was filled with ever-greater fear and
anxiety than before. He asked: "What do
the citizens say?"
Vidura answered: "O great king, I shall
tell you in their own words what the
citizens of all castes and creeds say: 'Our
leaders have left us. Fie on the elders of
the Kuru race who have suffered such
things to happen! The covetous
Dhritarashtra and his sons have driven
away the sons of Pandu to the forest.'
While the citizens blame us thus, the
heavens are vexed with cloudless
lightning, and the distressed earth quakes,
and there are other evil portents."
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