03.047
Pancharatra: How Yudhisthira sustained themselves along with thousands of Brahmanas in the forest.
Janamejaya said.
O sage, all this lamentation by King Dhritarashtra, having exiled the heroic Pāṇḍavas, is truly meaningless. (3-47-1)
How could a king possibly neglect his own son, even if he is of little intelligence? By doing so to Duryodhana, he would provoke the mighty sons of Pandu, who are great chariot-warriors. (3-47-2)
What food did the sons of Pāṇḍu have in the forest? Please tell me. Was it wild or cultivated? Please explain this to me. (3-47-3)
Vaiśampāyana said.
The heroes, having offered the best portion of the forest-game and deer, which had been felled by pure arrows, to the brāhmaṇas, ate (the remainder). (3-47-4)
O king, Brāhmaṇas, both those with fire and those without, followed those heroic great bowmen as they dwelt in the forest. (3-47-5)
Yudhiṣṭhira supports thousands of Brāhmaṇas who are initiated and great-souled, and likewise ten who are knowers of liberation. (3-47-6)
He killed antelopes, black-buck deer, and other forest-dwelling animals fit for sacrifice with arrows, and duly offered them to the Brāhmaṇas. (3-47-7)
There, no man of bad complexion, diseased, emaciated, weak, distressed, or afraid was seen. (3-47-8)
Yudhishthira, the king of dharma and the foremost among the Kauravas, cared for his dear kinsmen as if they were his own sons, and for his brothers as if they were born of the same mother. (3-47-9)
Draupadī, the illustrious one, first served food to her husbands and all the twice-born, just like a mother would, and then she herself ate what was left. (3-47-10)
The king went east, Bhimasena to the south; the twins Nakula and Sahadeva to the west, and sometimes also to the north. The archers, always approaching, caused the destruction of the deer for the sake of flesh. (3-47-11)
Thus, while they dwelt in Kāmyaka, deprived of Arjuna and longing for him, five years passed for those who studied, recited, and offered oblations. (3-47-12)
