15.028
The grief of the Pāṇḍavas.
Vaiśampāyana said.
When the king of the Kauravas went to the forest, the Pāṇḍavas, O king, became deeply afflicted by grief and sorrow for their mother. (15-28-1)
Thus, all the citizens, lamenting, remain focused on the king. And there, the brāhmaṇas recount stories concerning the king. (15-28-2)
How does the aged king live in the lonely forest? And how are Gāndhārī, the most fortunate, and Kuntī, Pṛthā? (15-28-3)
He, the royal sage worthy of happiness, indeed did not find happiness in that great forest. In what condition, having arrived there, was the wise seer whose son had been slain? (15-28-4)
Kuntī, having accomplished a very difficult act and not seeing her sons, renounced the splendor of the kingdom and chose a life in the forest. (15-28-5)
What was the condition of Vidura, the steadfast servant of his brother? And also Sañjaya, the wise son of Gāvalgaṇa who maintained his master's sustenance? (15-28-6)
Afflicted by worry and grief, those citizens, from childhood onward, approached one another and engaged in conversations here and there. (15-28-7)
The Pāṇḍavas, all of them, overwhelmed by intense grief, remained grieving for their elderly mother, but did not stay very long in the city. (15-28-8)
In the same way, the aged father, king whose son was slain, Gāndhārī the greatly blessed, and Vidura the very wise (were also addressed). (15-28-9)
At that time, there was no satisfaction for those thinking men, neither in the kingdom, nor in women, nor even in the study of the Vedas. (15-28-10)
Thinking of the king and repeatedly recalling that terrible slaughter of their kinsmen, they fell into deep dispassion. (15-28-11)
The destruction of Abhimanyu, the boy, occurred at the height of battle; and Karṇa, the mighty-armed one, never fled in battles. (15-28-12)
Similarly, when they remembered the slaughter of the sons of Draupadī and of their other friends, those warriors were not very happy in mind. (15-28-13)
O Bhārata, always thinking of the earth bereft of heroes and treasures, they could not obtain sleep. (15-28-14)
Draupadi, having lost her son, and Subhadra the radiant, both queens, not greatly pleased, then remained joyless. (15-28-15)
But your earlier forefathers sustained their lives in the past when they saw the son born to the queen of Virāṭa, your father Parikṣit. (15-28-16)
