BOOK SEVENTEEN
AUM, I bow down to Narayana, the most exalted Nara and to the Devi Saraswathi and say Jaya!
ONE
They revive Arjuna with scented water. Haltingly, often breaking down, he tells his brothers everything that had happened. He tells them about the carnage at Prabhasa: how Satyaki, Balarama and Krishna had died and how he had lit Krishna’s pyre. He tells them about the women and the bandits and finally Yudhishtira whispers, “It is Gandhari’s curse come true, in every detail.”
Arjuna tells them how he had dreamt of Krishna and the strange things his cousin said to him in the dream. The Pandavas are too shocked to even cry; it is as if their own lives died within them when they heard Krishna was dead. Yudhishtira, Bheema and the twins have already made plans while Arjuna was away.
Yudhishtira says, “There is no reason for us to live any longer. We always belonged to Krishna: we learnt how deeply during the war. We have decided we will crown Parikshita king in Hastinapura and leave this world.”
Arjuna murmurs, “I agree. Finally, time is the only victor.”
Arrangements have already been made; within days, Parikshita is crowned king of the Kurus in the palace in Hastinapura. Yuyutsu is to be the new king’s guardian and advisor and Acharya Kripa, old as he is, will remain with his sishya, at least until the prince grows accustomed to the kingship. The Pandavas are ready to set out on their final journey, from which they will not return.
On the momentous day, Yudhishtira and his brothers appear on the palace steps wearing tree-bark and deerskin. Draupadi is with them and she has put away her silks and jewelry. She is also clad in valkala and soft animal hide. The people fill the streets in sorrow at the news and a cry goes up when the Pandavas emerge. But when the crowd sees the luster upon Pandu’s sons and their queen, it falls silent. Powerful grace enfolds the brothers and their Panchali.
The people part, in a wave, to let them through. Blessing them, asking them to be loyal to Parikshita, the Pandavas and Draupadi walk away from the city of their fathers for the last time. As they leave the city-gates, an unusual companion attaches himself to them. A little brown dog appears out of nowhere and follows at Yudhishtira’s heels, making them a party of seven. When they talk to him, wondering to whom he belongs, he turns soulful eyes up at them and wags his tail. Draupadi says, “Oh, he is so friendly. Let him come with us if he wants.”
They travel south first and arrive at the place where, just a few days ago, magical Dwaraka thrust its crystal towers at the sky from the waves. Now, a calm sea stretches away to the horizon on every side and no trace remains of the marine city. But subtle visions reach out to the sons of Pandu from the jade and plumbless depths. Memories inundate them, particularly memories of a dark face and its inscrutable, always smiling, black eyes. They hear his voice woven into the surf and the mourning wind, which cries out his name endlessly.
As they stand there, a blazing Deva appears before them. Agni says to Arjuna, “You have no need any more of the Gandiva and the quivers I gave you. Give them back to the Lord of the ocean.”
Agni vanishes as abruptly as he came. Full of grief, for he is parting from friends with whom he had passed through the valley of death, Arjuna sets his weapons down on the white sand. His hands folded, he walks solemnly around them in pradakshina. He strokes them with his fingers, kisses them and casts his bow and quivers out into the smoky sea. There is a flash of light when they strike the waves; then they are gone. Varuna receives them again, as Arjuna stands forlorn, the wind blowing tears from his eyes.
It is told Varuna comes to them in an illustrious form and takes the sons of Pandu below his waves, to the city of Dwaraka on his ocean bed. Vivid schools of fish now swim in her streets, where she waits for the ages to turn slowly round and for the Dark One to be born into the world again. So she can rise once more to be his home on earth. After they pay homage to Krishna’s palace, Varuna brings them ashore and now they turn north.
With the brown dog always at their heels, Draupadi and her husbands cross the plains of Bharatavarsha and arrive at the Himalaya. They mean literally to climb into heaven! Climbing for months on feet light as air, their punya their strength, they cross a northern desert of sand beyond the Himalaya and arrive on the white slopes of majestic Meru, mountain at the heart of the earth, from which the continents unfurl like petals from a calyx. With fervent prayers, they climb higher and higher, through breathless passes, along paths hardly as wide as their feet and the mountain falling sheerly away below them. Clinging to smooth rock faces, they climb on, with Panchali between them.
Suddenly, Draupadi slips and, before any of her husbands can catch her, she falls off the slender trail they are on, plunges to her death thousands of feet below. The cries of the others echo off glacial gorges.
Bheema turns to Yudhishtira in anguish, “My lord, she was sinless all her life. Why has she died like this?”
Yudhishtira appears unmoved. Calmly, he says, “Though we were all her husbands, in her heart, she always loved Arjuna more than any of us1. Except for that, she was pure: which is why she could climb this far. That was her only sin, but it took her down.”
They climb on and then Sahadeva loses his footing and falls to his death. Again, Bheema asks Yudhishtira why he fell, when he was always so selfless. Yudhishtira says grimly, “He was proud of his intelligence, that was his sin.”
On they climb and a blizzard howls across the icy precipices. It blows Nakula away. Yudhishtira says, “He thought he was the most handsome man on earth and so he died.”
After a while, Arjuna lies down on the very path and breathes no more. Bheema cries, “Arjuna never told a lie, not even in jest! How has he died?”
“He boasted that he would kill all his enemies in a day, but did not keep his word. He was proud of his archery and his pride killed him.”
Just they two climb on. Then Bheema feels his head spin viciously. He cries, “What have I done, my brother?”
Yudhishtira answers, “You ate too much and you bragged about your strength, my Bheema. That will cost you your life.”
Bheema falls to his death. Now it is only Yudhishtira and the sure-footed, cheerful brown dog who climb on. Yudhishtira walks blindly, for he can hardly see anything around him any more. This is no longer the mountain of the earth; he is sure he has climbed into heaven. He comes into a place full of unearthly brightness. He sees a supernal chariot fly down before him. A radiant Deva rides in that vimana. Indra says, “Yudhishtira, I have come to take you to swarga.”
“My lord, my brothers and my wife have fallen by the way. I do not want to go to swarga without them.”
“They have abandoned their mortal bodies and are already in heaven. But you, O king of dharma, shall enter the realm of the immortals in your human body!”
Yudhishtira says, “If you assure me I will meet them there, I will go with you.” He pauses shyly, then, “But this dog has followed me all the way from Hastinapura. I beg you, let me bring him with me.
Indra, lord of light, laughs. “Do you know what you are saying, Pandava? You are being offered immortality. You will be equal to the Gods and you want to bring a dog with you! You are the most fortunate man that ever lived in the world. Don’t ruin your fortune with this foolishness. There is no place in swarga for a dog. Leave the beast and come with me. Come, Yudhishtira, no blame will attach to you.”
“The dog has shared my journey, he shared my grief. He loves me and is loyal to me. I cannot abandon him now.”
Indra says angrily, “You are still full of attachment. You have arrived at heaven’s threshold and you are being stubborn. Leave the dog, I cannot have him in my vimana.”
Yudhishtira says, “All my punya will perish if I abandon this dog now. He is dependent on me, I cannot leave him. It would be a worse sin than killing a brahmana.”
“You left your brothers and your queen. Does the dog mean more to you than they did?”
“My brothers and my wife were dead when I left them. I could do nothing for them any more. The dog is alive and he is helpless. I cannot abandon him. I will not come to swarga, unless he comes with me.”
There is the strangest smile on Indra’s face now, as he gazes past Yudhishtira. The Pandava turns his head and cries out. The furry brown dog has vanished: Yudhishtira’s father, Dharma Deva, stands in its place. The astonished Pandava folds his hands to his sire. “My lord!” he breathes.
Dharma says, “There is no other king like you on earth or in heaven, my son, none as compassionate. I tried you once in the Dwaitavana and you asked for Nakula’s life to be restored. Now I have tested you again and you have earned heaven for yourself with your mercy.”
Numberless presences have gathered above that mountain, great spirits come to see the first mortal man who ever gained Devaloka in his human body.
Yudhishtira climbs into Indra’s vimana and they flash away from the world, quickly as light. The sky parts like a blue sea and they break through its veil to the realms on the other side: wonder everywhere, light everywhere, grandeur and beauty past describing.
Indra says, “Look, Yudhishtira, every star you saw from the earth is a separate mandala of the Devas.”
At the heart of ineffable legend, they arrive in fabled Amravati, the deathless city. The Lord of the Devas brings Yudhishtira into the Sudharma, his incomparable sabha. The great kings of the ages all have thrones in that court.
Indra says, “Your ancestors are all here, Yudhishtira, kings who made time fragrant with their dharma. You are one of them now, your fame is eternal.”
Yudhishtira looks around him. “I don’t see my brothers here, my lord. I don’t see my queen. I beg you, take me to them. I have no use for all this glory, if Panchali and my brothers are not with me.”
Indra says, “Stay here with us. You have earned your place in heaven with your dharma. This is not the earth any more; you must leave your worldly attachments behind you. Forget about your wife and your brothers, that life is past. They cannot hope to gain these heights, Yudhishtira, every man is given only what he deserves. You will be happy with us here, forget the past.”
Yudhishtira hardly hears him. His eyes seek his brothers everywhere in the sabha. He does not see them and the Pandava says, “I realize what an honor you bestow on me. But I cannot stay here, without my Bheema, my Arjuna, my Nakula and Sahadeva and my dark Panchali. Where are my sons, Lord, whom Aswatthama killed? I beg you, take me to those whom I love!”
Then, Yudhishtira grows very still. Seated before him on a lofty throne, with a smile on his face, he sees Duryodhana.