BOOK FOUR
AUM, I bow down to Narayana, the most exalted Nara and to the Devi Saraswathi and say
Jaya!
ONE
Yudhishtira gathered Dhaumya and his brahmanas together in the asrama on the banks of the lake at Dwaitavana. He said, "Our twelve years in the jungle are over. Holy ones, but for the solace of your company we would have found these years an intolerable burden. Now the hardest part of our exile begins. For this last, thirteenth, year we must live among men again, in disguise. And the price of being discovered will be another twelve years in the wilderness."
His voice choked, "I have no words to tell you how beholden we are to you, none to say how much we love you and how much we shall miss you. But our ways must part now, for this final year; the time has come to say farewell. We must disguise ourselves and no one must know where we are, lest our whereabouts are inadvertently betrayed. At the end of this year I will have my kingdom back: in peace, if the Gods will, or with war if fate so decides. And we shall meet again."
Now he sobbed like a boy. Dhaumya put an arm around him and said, "This thirteenth year is the last yaama of the night, before dawn breaks. When it ends, you will shine over the earth again like the sun. You must be brave until then."
Bheema was visibly upset to see his brother crying. He took Yudhishtira's hand and began to speak flippantly to him, as one would to distract a child. Touched by this, Yudhishtira smiled and wiped his eyes.
Most of them in tears, the brahmanas blessed the Pandavas and went back to Hastinapura and Indraprastha, to the homes they had left twelve years ago. Some of them remained in the forest. The Pandavas went to bid farewell to the other rishis of the vana. Again, Yudhishtira was in tears, for those hermits had become like kin to him.
When all the other brhamanas had gone, the Pandavas, Draupadi and Dhaumya sat beside the lake in Dwaitavana. Yudhishtira said somberly, "We have to choose a kingdom in which to spend the next year and we must choose wisely. Arjuna, you have ranged these lands as none of us has. Tell us where to find a home for a year."
Arjuna said, "Seven kingdoms surround the Kuru country: Panchala, Matsya, Salva, Videha, Dwaraka, Kalinga and Magadha. For myself I have heard that Virata in the Matsya kingdom is a fine city; and we must live in a city, where people abound and we can pass unnoticed. But you must decide, Yudhishtira."
Yudhishtira agreed at once. "We shall go to Virata. I would have gladly chosen Dwaraka or Panchala; but those are where Duryodhana's spies will first look for us. As for the other kingdoms you named, I know little about their kings. Virata I know about. He is a man of dharma. He is powerful, charitable and our wellwisher, as I have heard. Moreover, he is not a young man, or a fickle one. Let us decide on the Matsya kingdom and the city of Virata."
Bheema said, "Shall we go as ourselves?"
"We must go in disguise and never be recognized."
Arjuna asked, "Yudhishtira, how will you go to Virata?" His voice tremulous, he said, "Oh, my brother, how can we think of you in another king's sabha? Even these twelve years in the jungle you have been our lord. King of the earth, how can I bear to see you serving another man?"
Arjuna's eyes filled at the thought. Yudhishtira wiped his brother's tears; gently he said, "I will be no king's courtier, Arjuna. Listen to what I propose for myself. I will go as a brahmana, calling myself Kanka. I shall wear tulasi and rudraksha and I do know something of the Vedas and the Vedanta. I will also show the king that I am a master of dice."
Bheema stiffened. Yudhishtira glanced at him and both of them laughed. Yudhishtira said, "You must not forget, Bheema, that the Muni Brihadaswa taught me the akshahridaya. I think the Matsya king will take me for a companion, especially when he realizes that I want no wealth or favors from him."
A sense of adventure was rising in place of the anxiety they had first felt at the prospect of leaving the jungle. Arjuna was mollified. "The Matsya king is sure to treat you with honor. I am content."
"And being an old man, he may have some use for such small wisdom as I have gleaned in the forest from the rishis. But my disguise is the least of our worries. Bheema, how will you contain your strength and your temper for twelve months? For a few flowers Draupadi wanted, you slaughtered a hundred of Kubera's people." Yudhishtira took his brother's hand fondly, "The slightest provocation, little one and your eyes blaze. How will you last a year, obeying someone's orders?"
Bheema said, "Nothing will induce me to lose my temper. After these twelve years, no provocation will make me risk another exile."
Arjuna asked, "How do you intend to appear in the Matsya king's court?"
Bheema grinned. "You know that I love cooking almost as much as eating. I have spent a lot of time in kitchens, both in Hastinapura and Indraprastha and there is little I don't know about them.
I will go to Virata as Ballava, a great cook and ask him to let me have charge of his palace kitchen. I will tell him I am a wrestler, as well and offer to train the young men of his city. I am sure he will employ me."
Yudhishtira said, "Suppose he asks where you worked before?"
Bheema laughed. "I was the emperor Yudhishtira's cook in Indraprastha! I can furnish him with convincing details. I will say that since my lord Yudhishtira went into exile, I have been seeking another master as noble as him. And I heard the king of the Matsyas is such a man."
His brothers and Draupadi laughed at his ingenuity. Yudhishtira turned to Arjuna, "And how will you, tameless Kshatriya, live as a servant yourself, when you were so anxious at the thought of seeing me as one?1"
Arjuna turned his eyes down. He spoke in a strange new voice. "Yudhishtira, twelve years of our exile have ended. But I did not realize this because Dharma Deva said so."
He was silent again and it seemed to the others that the lines of his face had softened. Puzzled, Yudhishtira asked, "How did you know twelve years had passed?"
Arjuna flushed. "The curse of Urvashi is taking effect. My body has changed, I am not a man any more."
His brothers stared at him. Yudhishtira said, "What do you mean to do, Arjuna?"
"I will also enter the Matsya king's employ. What better disguise for me than a beardless face and a eunuch's body? I will wear my hair in a plait and offer my services in the king's harem. Chitrasena taught me to sing, dance and to play on the vina. I will teach the king's women these. Besides, after the usual inspection, the king will have no anxiety about letting me into his harem, as a member of the third sex."
The others were so taken aback they said nothing. A small moan came from Draupadi and Bheema's eyes bulged. Yudhishtira turned to Nakula, "And you, little brother? How will you hide your beauty? And you are so sensitive, how will you tolerate a year of servitude?"
Nakula was also prepared. "I shall be Damagranthi, the man who has power over horses: which, as you know, I do, for I can speak to them. When he sees me with his horses, the king will not refuse to give me charge of his stables. I can remain at a remove from the court," he blushed, "and its women, too."
1. In Ganguli's translation, Yudhishtira says that Arjuna is 'the tenth Rudra, the thirteenth Aditya, the ninth Vasu and the tenth Graha'.
"Well done!" said Yudhishtira. His eyes still worried, he turned to Sahadeva. "My child, what have you planned? You are the wisest of us, as knowing as Brihaspati. When we left her, all our mother could think of was, would her Sahadeva be looked after? How can I let you serve another king, when you are such a child still?"
Sahadeva laughed disarmingly. "I am not a child any more, Yudhishtira! I also have a plan for myself. I am as good with cows as Nakula is with horses. When the Matsya king sees me cajole his cows into yielding more milk than ever before, he will give me charge of his herd. Moreover, his cattle are his main wealth and he will be happy to have me look after them. I shall be Tantripala, the gifted cowherd. Best of all, I do love being with the gentle ones."
Then, the most anxious, most miserable part: Yudhishtira turned to Draupadi. "You must endure another twelve months, Panchali. Have you thought how you will go to Virata, delicate queen?"
Draupadi smiled bravely. "When you, emperor of the earth, can enter the service of another king; when Bheema, who has never obeyed another soul except you, can become a cook; when Arjuna can go as a eunuch in a harem; when the beautiful Nakula can be a groom and the brilliant Sahadeva a cowherd, what does it matter what Panchali does? You five are my life, my soul. My burden will be as nothing these remaining twelve months."
"But what have you decided to disguise yourself as?" asked Bheema anxiously.
"I will dress myself as a sairandhri and be the Matsya queen's sakhi. I know how to do a woman's hair in a hundred ways; to string fine garlands with flowers of every kind; and to distil perfumes for a queen that will make her husband mad with desire. The queen of the Matsyas will not refuse to have me as her companion."
Yudhishtira said quietly, "We are ready for the last year of our exile."
The Pandavas left Dwaitavana and went back to the Kamyaka. They walked on from there to the southern bank of the Yamuna. On they went, through the lovely wild places, tangled with exotic plants and fruit trees. At last, they reached the frontiers of the Matsya kingdom.
Now Yudhishtira embraced Dhaumya and said, "Go to Drupada's court and keep our fire of agnihotra lit there. Take Draupadi's sakhis with you. If anyone, even Drupada himself, asks where the Pandavas have gone, say we left you in the Dwaitavana and walked away without telling you where we went."
Solemnly, Dhaumya performed some sacred rites for the safety and wellbeing of the Pandavas. Then, blessing them, embracing them all, the brahmana turned toward the Panchala country.
The sons of Pandu and Draupadi were alone and, with a prayer in their hearts, they set out for the city of Virata and the final year of their exile. When they had gone some way, Draupadi sat on a tree-root and said, "I am tired and Virata is nowhere to be seen. Let us sleep here tonight and go on tomorrow."
Nakula and Sahadeva were tired, as well, but Bheema had wandered some way ahead. It fell to Arjuna to carry Draupadi. How well they looked together, like a dark cloud bearing a streak of lightning through the jungle.