Krishna leelai - Mahabharat

Krishna leelai - Mahabharat with Naani Sahasra and 49 others

October 31 at 6:40pm · 

>>>Dhritarashtra Retires:<<<

¤After kurushetra war of fifteen years passed away,
Dhritarashtra desired to retire from the kingdom.

*He had been hurt by some words of Bhima, of which no one knew,
and so he sought Yudhisthira's permission to retire into the forest.

*Then, as Vyasa also pressed Yudhisthira to let the old king depart,
he agreed;

*and Dhritarashtra, followed by Gandhari, Vidura, and Sanjaya, made preparations to leave for the forest.

*Then, as Kunti also had resolved to accompany them,
and could not be persuaded to stay,
she too made ready to leave.

¤Kunti's Advice:

*Dhritarashtra blessed Yudhisthira and his brothers, and Kunti advised him never to neglect Sahadeva;

*and then they, clad in deerskins and barks, departed for the forest.

¤The Hermitage of Vyasa:

*They stayed for a time or the banks of the Ganges and from there proceeded to Kurukshetra.

*Then, at the hermitage of Vyasa,
the king received his initiation into the forest mode of life.

¤The Pandavas' Visit:

*Upon the retirement of Dhritarashtra, the Pandavas became dispirited, and resolved to see him once more.

*So they came to Kurukshetra, where he lived with Gandhari, Kunti, Vidura and Sanjaya in the company of Rishis and sages.

*He welcomed them and offered gifts of water, roots and fruits to Yudhisthira;
and so they lived together for some time.

¤The Death of Vidura:

*Then, as Yudhisthira greeted Vidura, he found him engaged in Yoga meditation.

*Vidura looked steadily at the king (Yudhisthira) and (by his power) entered his body, limb by limb, and then passed away to the other world.

¤A Vision of the Dead:

*Then the great ascetic Vyasa asked them all to repair to the banks of the Bhagirathi (Ganges),

*and he summoned all the warriors who had been slain on the battlefield,

*and they all rose from the waters of the Ganga.

*Then Vyasa blessed Dhritarashtra with celestial vision,
and he and Gandhari beheld all their children and all those who had been slain.

*Then the living met the dead once more and felt happy,
and Dhritarashtra, who had never seen his sons before,
saw that they were very like his own self.

*Seeing his sons, he renewed his grief and returned to the hermitage.

*He then bade Yudhisthira and his brothers return to their kingdom, and engaged himself in penance.

¤The Death of Dhritarashtra and Others:

*After two years had passed from the date of the return of the Pandavas (three after the departure of Dhritarashtra to the forest),

*Narada came to Yudhisthira, and informed him that Dhritarashtra had caused a sacrificial fire to be lighted, from the remnants of which the forest caught fire,

*and he, Gandhari, and Kunti were all reduced to ashes.

**Sanjaya alone escaped.
Hearing this, the Pandavas were filled with grief.

*Then, headed by Yuyutsu, they went to the river side and offered oblations of water to the great king and to Gandhari and Prtha.