THREE
One morning, the itinerant Narada arrived in The Pandavas' city. The people in the streets saw a spectral pathway in the sky. It flashed down into Yudhishtira's palace where the king sat with his brothers.
Hearing the outcry in the streets, they came out on to a terrace and saw the dazzle in the sky. Next moment, Narada stood smiling before them. Once it had delivered its slender traveler, the ethereal path dissolved.
Yudhishtira knelt before Narada and the Devarishi placed a lean brown hand on his head. He blessed the others, one by one and Narada said in his lively way, "I have heard Mayaa has built you a sabha in Indraprastha. I have come to see your sabha, Yudhishtira."
Yudhishtira was happy as a boy. The sage's feet were washed and he was offered madhurparka. Yudhishtira took Narada to Mayaa's sabha and showed the muni around. Narada was full of praise, even whistling softly at this or that marvel. He was obviously something of a connoisseur, since he noticed every nuance in that edifice without having them pointed out to him. When they returned to the palace, Narada said, "Mayaa has excelled himself. His own sabha in Tripura was hardly so wonderful."
Yudhishtira said, "Swami, you range through all the realms. You must have seen other sabhas like ours."
Narada laughed. "I have been in the halls of Yama in the darkness and Varuna's below the waves, Indra's in Devaloka and those of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, which are past describing. Would you hear about Indra's sabha in Amravati?"
"Yes, we would!"
"The Sudharma is made of light and crystal, in equal parts and those who come and sit in Indra's sabha are all illustrious ones. Indra's throne is carved out of a single ruby, a jewel of incalculable power. But a king of men shares Indra's throne and sits beside the Lord of the Devas."
"Who is he?" cried Bheema, hopefully.
"Harishchandra of the Suryavamsha," said Narada and saw disappointment on their faces.
Changing the subject, with another purpose in mind, Yudhishtira said, "Tell us about the other sabhas and the kings of the earth who sit in them today."
"The court of Yama is splendid, but swathed in the twilight of patala. The kings that live in Yama's halls are joyful; yet, their joy is tinged with sorrow. Yayati lives with Yama and Nahusha," said Narada the wanderer, thoughtfully.
"And who else?" asked Nakula, eagerly.
Narada named a hundred great sovereigns of old, now passed on from the earth, among them the Pandavas' distant ancestors. Inexorably, at the end of those hundred, he came to the later kings of the Kuru line. He named Shantanu and finally, said the name they had been desperate to hear: their father Pandu's. The princes' eyes were full; but in his blithe way, Narada passed on to some stunning descriptions of other unearthly sabhas.
Varuna's fabled court under the waves he told of and turned the Pandavas' minds away from their father. The muni recounted his adventures in the mountain kingdom of Kubera, for whose sake Siva came to live on Kailasa, which is next to Kubera's ice-city, Alaka, where he keeps the Nine Treasures and the pushpaka vimana. Brahma's many sabhas, Vishnu's court in Vaikunta and Rudra's in Sivaloka, Narada said were ineffable.
"But these are all sabhas in Devaloka, or upon the borders of heaven and earth. But, Yudhishtira, of the sabhas in this world of men there is none to rival yours, not remotely."
A silence fell and the Pandavas were lost among glowing visions of the courts Narada described, so eloquently and of the Gods that sat in them. But another matter, closer to home, nagged their hearts and at last Yudhishtira cried, "Muni, I had always thought the kings of the earth went to Devaloka when they died. From what you say, most of them are still with Yama. You said that Harishchandra shares Indra's throne in Amravati and surely, he was a devout kshatriya. But our father was no less valiant or pure. He never told a lie in all his years and was always willing to sacrifice his life for his brothers and his people. Yet, Pandu remains in Yama's halls, while Harishchandra sits beside Indra in the Sudharma. Why, O Narada?"
"Truly, there is nothing to choose in valor or purity between your father and Trishanku's son Harishchandra. Yet, there is another difference. Recently I was in Yama's realm and I met your father. Pandu said to me, 'Muni, you wander the earth in freedom. When you meet Yudhishtira, tell him that if he undertakes a Rajasuya yagna I shall also enter Indra's swarga, with Shantanu and his sons. Tell him he must perform the yagna that sets one king apart from the rest and makes him a king of kings.'
That, dear Yudhishtira, is the difference between your father and Harishchandra. Harishchandra performed the Rajasuya yagna; he was an emperor. But neither you nor your ancestors are, yet."
Yudhishtira avoided Narada's eyes, twinkling at him. The rishi knew how diffident the Pandava was and always more concerned with dharma than power or glory. He knew that, now, Indraprastha's master would anguish for days over the Rajasuya: could he possibly succeed at such an ambitious venture, should he embark upon it at all?
Gently, Narada said, "Yudhishtira, it is your father's fond wish that, with your mighty brothers beside you and Krishna's blessings upon you, you should subdue every kingdom of Bharatavarsha. All the rishis say if any king on earth can attempt a Rajasuya yagna in this yuga, he is Yudhishtira."
"But Muni…" a hundred doubts reared their heads in Yudhishtira's mind.
Narada cut him short. "This is your father's wish, Yudhishtira. I am only Pandu's messenger."
Yudhishtira's thoughts turned back to his boyhood and he saw his father's face before him: Pandu, who had loved them so much, though they were not his natural sons. Yudhishtira was back in the asrama in Satasringa and for the first time, he realized his father had died a frustrated man. If any man had been born to be a king it had been Pandu; but fate had never made him more than his brother's General. Yudhishtira knew beyond any doubt that Pandu wanted to fulfil himself through his sons; and only the fulfilled went to Indra's realm of light.
There was no escape from it and Yudhishtira saw his brothers' faces shine at the very thought of the imperial yagna. The Rajasuya would be the natural culmination of their years of tutelage under Kripa and Drona, a crowning trial of their worth as kshatriyas. On Bheema's face, on Arjuna's, on Sahadeva's and Nakula's Yudhishtira saw no trace of the doubt that tormented his own heart. They were superbly confident.
But he knew it was a momentous decision to make and did not commit himself.