[283] Behar.
[284] A daughter of Drupada who exchanged her sex with a Yaksha. She was a reincarnation of the Princess Amba of Kasi, who, with her two sisters, was captured by Bhishma at the swayamvara. Her sisters were the mothers of Pandu and Dhritarashtra.
[CHAPTER XIX
Atonement and the Ascent to Heaven]
Draupadi's Sorrow—The Vengeful Maharajah—Bhima is Forgiven—Dead Burned on Battlefield—Atonement for Sin—The Horse Sacrifice—Arjuna's Wanderings—A Woman turned to Stone—The Amazons—Father and Son Conflict—The Wonderful Serpent Jewel—Return of the Horse—The Sacrifice Performed—Maharajah Retires to the Forest—Meeting of Mournful Relatives—The Vision of the Dead—Widows Drown Themselves—A Forest Tragedy—Dwaraka Horrors—End of Krishna and Balarama—City Destroyed by the Sea—Farewell of the Pandavas—The Journey to Heaven—Yudhishthira Tested by Deities—Vision of Hell—The Holy Life.
When it was told to the Pandava brethren that their camp had been raided in darkness by the bloodthirsty Aswatthaman, Yudhishthira exclaimed: “Alas! sorrow upon sorrow crowds upon us, and now the greatest sorrow of all hath fallen. Draupadi mourns the death of her brother and her five sons, and I fear she will perish with grief.”
Draupadi came before her husbands and, weeping bitterly, said: “For thirteen cruel years you have endured shame and exile so that your children might prosper. But now that they are all slain, can you desire to have power and kingdom?”
Said Krishna: “O daughter of a rajah, is thy grief so great as is Pritha's and Gandhari's, and as great as those who lament the loss or their husbands on the battlefield? Thou hast less cause than others to wail now.”
Draupadi was soothed somewhat, but she turned to Bhima and said: “If thou wilt not bring to me the head of Aswatthaman, I will never again look upon thy face.”