BOOK EIGHTEEN
AUM, I bow down to Narayana, the most exalted Nara and to the Devi Saraswathi and say Jaya!
ONE
Among kings of yore who enriched the earth with their noble lives, Duryodhana sits in Indra’s sabha on a jeweled throne. The Kaurava is as majestic as any of the other kshatriyas.
Yudhishtira cannot contain himself. “How is Duryodhana here in your court of dharma? He caused the deaths of millions. He destroyed kshatriya kind with his greed. This man had Draupadi dragged into the Kuru sabha by her hair and tried to strip her naked. There is no sinner like him in heaven or earth. I cannot bear to be in the same place as him, not for a moment!”
Narada is in the Sudharma and he says to Yudhishtira, “Ah, don’t say that! This is swarga. Before you enter here, you must forget your old enmities. Listen to me, Pandava, all these kings of men love your cousin. He died like a kshatriya, offering his body as libation in the fire of war and they love him for that. He died bravely, in agony and his death purified him. Moreover, he was a just king when he ruled. He was fearless and generous. Pandava, the laws of heaven differ from the laws of the earth.
Don’t judge Duryodhana anymore. He was forgiven everything when he died and he died in a most holy place. Balarama said he would find Devaloka and his mother Gandhari was a bhakta. You must leave your anger behind you, Yudhishtira, there is no place for enmity here.”
Yudhishtira stands trembling. “I know nothing of the laws of Devaloka, but I wonder why I don’t see my brothers here. If Duryodhana deserves to be here, what about them? They were all great men, who never strayed from the path of truth. Where are they now? Where is my noblest brother Karna?
Where are Satyaki and Dhrishtadyumna? Where are all the kshatriyas who laid down their lives for me? Where is my child Abhimanyu? Where is Krishna? Where is my mother Kunti? Where are Shikhandi, Virata and Drupada, where is my queen Draupadi? I beg you, my lords, take me to my brothers. I want to live in the place where they are, wherever it is. I don’t understand the dharma of heaven, I want to be with my brothers!”
Yudhishtira’s voice has risen in despair. Indra sighs, “Very well, then, let Yudhishtira be taken to where his brothers are.”
The king of the Devas summons an attendant and Yudhishtira follows that bright servitor out of the Sudharma. They hardly walk a short way, when suddenly they tread a sinister trail. This path snakes on, interminably and Indra’s servant walks briskly along it. A glowing blackness engulfs them. The air is still, breathless; a fetid smell hangs heavily. On both sides, they hear groans and screams of souls in torment. In the gloom, Yudhishtira dimly sees the monstrous forms of demons: some entwine horribly; others are dismembered or headless and some have mouths like needles. Corpses are strewn everywhere, hideously dismemboweled, entrails hanging out, smeared with fat and blood, their stink intolerable. A thousand human hands reach out to them, in agony.
Everywhere they hear sobbing and the gnashing of teeth. Weird howls ring out, now and again and at times serpents slither across the narrow path. Sulfurous pools bubble beside the eerie trail and there are living creatures in them: burning slowly, never dying, suffering endlessly. With every step they take, the sights, smells and sounds grow worse and the heat becomes unbearable.
Soon, Yudhishtira cries, “This is an infernal place! Which God rules this part of Devaloka? Ah, where are my brothers?”
Indra’s servant replies, “This path leads to your brothers; but we will turn back, if you cannot bear it.”
The stench is intolerable. Yudhishtira gags. The sights around them are so vile he cannot look at them and he wants to shut his ears for the dreadful sounds that fill the darkness. The heat begins to steam the skin away from his arms and face. Steadfast as he is, the Pandava cannot go any further into that hell.
He stops and says, “Friend, I cannot stand this place any more. Let us turn back. How far did Lord Indra tell you to bring me?”
The man smiles, “Only as far as you could go.”
Then, many voices wail dismally out of the darkness. “Yudhishtira, don’t leave us!”
“Don’t go, Yudhishtira!”
“Take pity on us, stay a while!”
“Your presence soothes us like a soft breeze of heaven; don’t leave!”
“Just a few moments, stay a few moments more!”
Yudhishtira’s hair stands on end: the voices are familiar! He cries, “Who calls out to me? Why are you in this naraka?”
All together, the voices reply.
“I am Karna.”
“I am Bheema.”
“Arjuna.”
“Nakula.”
“Sahadeva.”
“This is I, Draupadi.”
“I am Dhrishtadyumna.”
“I am Satyaki.”
All the others he loved, who had fought and died for him, call out to him.
Yudhishtira cries, “My sinless brothers, my Panchali and my friends are all in hell, while Duryodhana sits on a crystal throne in the Sudharma! Am I dreaming? Surely, this is a nightmare from which I will awaken.”
Again, the piteous voices call out, begging him to stay with them just a little longer, ah, his presence soothed their torment. Tears in his eyes, Yudhishtira turns to the divine servitor who brought him here, “Friend, go back to Indra and tell him I will remain with my brothers. They say that my presence soothes their anguish.”
The man bows and leaves Yudhishtira alone. The darkness, the purulence, the heat and the terror of that hell are all magnified, when he is alone. The voices cry out more plaintively. Yudhishtira sits on the path, sweating, wondering how long he can endure it. He has been there for an hour, when there is a flash of light, then another, another and more. Indra stands before Yudhishtira, the king of heaven come with his host. In a moment, the darkness, the pestilential vapors, the scathing heat, the sulfur pits, the demons, all vanish. No more groans and screams bruise the air. Instead, it is sweet and pure and that place is full of light and living silence. A fragrant breeze blows, plucking at Yudhishtira’s face. He stands blinking in the soft lambency of Devaloka.
Indra says to him, “Now you have earned swarga for yourself. The law of heaven is that every king must pass through hell to purify himself. You experienced naraka briefly, to atone for your one sin on earth. Yudhishtira, you deceived your guru Drona on Kurukshetra. It was your lie that made him put down his weapons and then Dhrishtadyumna killed him. You have paid for that sin now. Forget what you saw, it was an illusion. Come with us.”
Yudhishtira stands, hands folded before the effulgent Gods. He murmurs, “My brothers?”
“Your brothers are already in swarga! With them, are all the kings who fought for you. They, too, served a brief time in hell for their sins and were purified. You say you do not understand the law of Devaloka. Let me tell you what it is. If a man’s sins outweigh his punya, then he comes straight into heaven when he dies. When his punya is exhausted, he sinks into hell to suffer for his sins. But if a soul’s virtue exceeds his sins, then he pays first for his crimes and then comes into swarga forever.
Your brothers are not here, Yudhishtira. Come with me, I will show you where they are.”
Yudhishtira’s father, the Lord Dharma, appears before him again. Blessing his son, he says, “This was the third trial, the last one. Nothing could induce you to leave the path of truth; nothing could quell your love for your brothers. Come to those whom you love so much.”
The Devas bring Yudhishtira to the banks of the Ganga, flowing through heaven in her celestial form. The Pandava bathes in her waters of light and she takes his mortal body from him, like a worn set of clothes. He rises in glory, a king of Devaloka. With Indra and the others, Yudhishtira comes back to Amravati, to its incomparable sabha. First of all, he sees Krishna on the loftiest throne, with Arjuna beside him and all the Yadavas around them. They rise to receive Yudhishtira.
Yudhishtira sees his brother Karna sitting among the twelve Adityas, all sons of Surya. He sees his brother Bheema, his body a swirling air; he sits amidst the Maruts, who are Vayu’s magnificent people. Nakula and Sahadeva are with their fathers, the brilliant Aswin twins. Then, sweeping the sabha, Yudhishtira’s gaze finds Draupadi. She wears a garland of undying lotuses and she is a great flame in that court; all her sons surround her. Her brother Dhrishtadyumna sits not far from her, with rutilant Agni, the Fire God: their father. Yudhishtira sees Abhimanyu, seated beside the glowing Moon, luminous Soma Deva. The Pandava sees Bheeshma among the Vasus and Drona at Brihaspati’s side. He sees his uncle Vidura, now a lord of heaven beside Dharma Deva. In joy, he sees his father Pandu and Kunti and Madri1.
His brothers rise and come to welcome Yudhishtira. Karna also rises; and with them comes another familiar figure, his body luculent, kindness and grace in his eyes and his face wreathed in a smile. It is Duryodhana, who is also a king in Devaloka. Now Yudhishtira feels no twinge of resentment and embraces his cousin just as he does his brothers.
Indra, Lord of the Devas, presents Yudhishtira, the Pandava, in his sabha in Devaloka: Yudhishtira who is Dharma’s son and the very soul of truth.