01.153
Core:Setting for Draupadi's svayamvara.
Janamejaya said:
They, the tigers among men, having killed the demon Baka, what did the Pandavas do thereafter, O Brahman?
Vaiśampāyana said:
There itself, O king, having killed the demon Baka, they dwelt, studying the supreme Brahman in the abode of the Brahmin.
Then, a Brahmin of firm vows, after a few days, indeed came to that house of the Brahmin for shelter.
He, the wise one, the best among the Brahmins, having properly worshipped him, then gave shelter to him, always devoted to all guests.
Then all the Pāṇḍavas, along with Kuntī, the bulls among men, performed worship to the sage who was narrating stories.
He narrated the regions, various holy places, and the various wonders of kings, and the various ancient tales.
He, the sage, said there at the end of the story, O Janamejaya, about the wonderful form of Yajnaseni's self-choice ceremony among the Panchalas.
The birth of Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, the birth not from a womb of Kṛṣṇā, and of Drupada in the great sacrifice.
Having heard that most wonderful story of the great soul in the world, the best among men indeed asked about it in detail.
How was the birth of Drupada's son, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, from the fire, and Kṛṣṇā's birth from the middle of the altar, so wonderful?
How did they learn all weapons from Droṇa, the great archer? How were those two dear friends separated, and by whose act?
Thus urged by them, O king, the sage narrated all that about the origin of Draupadī then.
