THE MAHABHARATA: A Modern Rendering, Vol 2 (92 page)

Bheema turns to Yudhishtira in anguish, “My lord, she was sinless all her life. Why has she died like this?”

Yudhishtira appears unmoved. Calmly, he says, “Though we were all her husbands, in her heart, she always loved Arjuna more than any of us
¹
. Except for that, she was pure: which is why she could climb this far. That was her only sin, but it took her down.”

They climb on and then Sahadeva loses his footing and falls to his death. Again, Bheema asks Yudhishtira why he fell, when he was always so selfless. Yudhishtira says grimly, “He was proud of his intelligence, that was his sin.”

On they climb and a blizzard howls across the icy precipices. It blows Nakula away. Yudhishtira says, “He thought he was the most handsome man on earth and so he died.”

After a while, Arjuna lies down on the very path and breathes no more. Bheema cries, “Arjuna never told a lie, not even in jest! How has he died?”

“He boasted that he would kill all his enemies in a day, but did not keep his word. He was proud of his archery and his pride killed him.”

Just they two climb on. Then Bheema feels his head spin viciously. He cries, “What have I done, my brother?”

Yudhishtira answers, “You ate too much and you bragged about your strength, my Bheema. That will cost you your life.”

Bheema falls to his death. Now it is only Yudhishtira and the sure-footed, cheerful brown dog who climb on. Yudhishtira walks blindly, for he can hardly see anything around him any more. This is no longer the mountain of the earth; he is sure he has climbed into heaven. He comes into a place full of unearthly brightness. He sees a supernal chariot fly down before him. A radiant Deva rides in that vimana. Indra says, “Yudhishtira, I have come to take you to swarga.”

“My lord, my brothers and my wife have fallen by the way. I do not want to go to swarga without them.”

“They have abandoned their mortal bodies and are already in heaven. But you, O king of dharma, shall enter the realm of the immortals in your human body!”

Yudhishtira says, “If you assure me I will meet them there, I will go with you.” He pauses shyly, then, “But this dog has followed me all the way from Hastinapura. I beg you, let me bring him with me.

Indra, lord of light, laughs. “Do you know what you are saying, Pandava? You are being offered immortality. You will be equal to the Gods and you want to bring a dog with you! You are the most fortunate man that ever lived in the world. Don’t ruin your fortune with this foolishness. There is no place in swarga for a dog. Leave the beast and come with me. Come, Yudhishtira, no blame will attach to you.”

“The dog has shared my journey, he shared my grief. He loves me and is loyal to me. I cannot abandon him now.”

Indra says angrily, “You are still full of attachment. You have arrived at heaven’s threshold and you are being stubborn. Leave the dog, I cannot have him in my vimana.”

Yudhishtira says, “All my punya will perish if I abandon this dog now. He is dependent on me, I cannot leave him. It would be a worse sin than killing a brahmana.”

“You left your brothers and your queen. Does the dog mean more to you than they did?”

“My brothers and my wife were dead when I left them. I could do nothing for them any more. The dog is alive and he is helpless. I cannot abandon him. I will not come to swarga, unless he comes with me.”

There is the strangest smile on Indra’s face now, as he gazes past Yudhishtira. The Pandava turns his head and cries out. The furry brown dog has vanished: Yudhishtira’s father, Dharma Deva, stands in its place. The astonished Pandava folds his hands to his sire. “My lord!” he breathes.

Dharma says, “There is no other king like you on earth or in heaven, my son, none as compassionate. I tried you once in the Dwaitavana and you asked for Nakula’s life to be restored. Now I have tested you again and you have earned heaven for yourself with your mercy.”

Numberless presences have gathered above that mountain, great spirits come to see the first mortal man who ever gained Devaloka in his human body.

Yudhishtira climbs into Indra’s vimana and they flash away from the world, quickly as light. The sky parts like a blue sea and they break through its veil to the realms on the other side: wonder everywhere, light everywhere, grandeur and beauty past describing.

Indra says, “Look, Yudhishtira, every star you saw from the earth is a separate mandala of the Devas.”

At the heart of ineffable legend, they arrive in fabled Amravati, the deathless city. The Lord of the Devas brings Yudhishtira into the Sudharma, his incomparable sabha. The great kings of the ages all have thrones in that court.

Indra says, “Your ancestors are all here, Yudhishtira, kings who made time fragrant with their dharma. You are one of them now, your fame is eternal.”

Yudhishtira looks around him. “I don’t see my brothers here, my lord. I don’t see my queen. I beg you, take me to them. I have no use for all this glory, if Panchali and my brothers are not with me.”

Indra says, “Stay here with us. You have earned your place in heaven with your dharma. This is not the earth any more; you must leave your worldly attachments behind you. Forget about your wife and your brothers, that life is past. They cannot hope to gain these heights, Yudhishtira, every man is given only what he deserves. You will be happy with us here, forget the past.”

Yudhishtira hardly hears him. His eyes seek his brothers everywhere in the sabha. He does not see them and the Pandava says, “I realize what an honor you bestow on me. But I cannot stay here, without my Bheema, my Arjuna, my Nakula and Sahadeva and my dark Panchali. Where are my sons, Lord, whom Aswatthama killed? I beg you, take me to those whom I love!”

Then, Yudhishtira grows very still. Seated before him on a lofty throne, with a smile on his face, he sees Duryodhana.

BOOK EIGHTEEN
SWARGAROHANIKA PARVA 

AUM, I bow down to Narayana, the most exalted Nara and to the Devi Saraswathi and say
Jaya!

ONE
THE LAW OF HEAVEN 

Among kings of yore who enriched the earth with their noble lives, Duryodhana sits in Indra’s sabha on a jeweled throne. The Kaurava is as majestic as any of the other kshatriyas.

Yudhishtira cannot contain himself. “How is Duryodhana here in your court of dharma? He caused the deaths of millions. He destroyed kshatriya kind with his greed. This man had Draupadi dragged into the Kuru sabha by her hair and tried to strip her naked. There is no sinner like him in heaven or earth. I cannot bear to be in the same place as him, not for a moment!”

Narada is in the Sudharma and he says to Yudhishtira, “Ah, don’t say that! This is swarga. Before you enter here, you must forget your old enmities. Listen to me, Pandava, all these kings of men love your cousin. He died like a kshatriya, offering his body as libation in the fire of war and they love him for that. He died bravely, in agony and his death purified him. Moreover, he was a just king when he ruled. He was fearless and generous. Pandava, the laws of heaven differ from the laws of the earth.

Don’t judge Duryodhana anymore. He was forgiven everything when he died and he died in a most holy place. Balarama said he would find Devaloka and his mother Gandhari was a bhakta. You must leave your anger behind you, Yudhishtira, there is no place for enmity here.”

Yudhishtira stands trembling. “I know nothing of the laws of Devaloka, but I wonder why I don’t see my brothers here. If Duryodhana deserves to be here, what about them? They were all great men, who never strayed from the path of truth. Where are they now? Where is my noblest brother Karna?

Where are Satyaki and Dhrishtadyumna? Where are all the kshatriyas who laid down their lives for me? Where is my child Abhimanyu? Where is Krishna? Where is my mother Kunti? Where are Shikhandi, Virata and Drupada, where is my queen Draupadi? I beg you, my lords, take me to my brothers. I want to live in the place where they are, wherever it is. I don’t understand the dharma of heaven, I want to be with my brothers!”

Yudhishtira’s voice has risen in despair. Indra sighs, “Very well, then, let Yudhishtira be taken to where his brothers are.”

The king of the Devas summons an attendant and Yudhishtira follows that bright servitor out of the Sudharma. They hardly walk a short way, when suddenly they tread a sinister trail. This path snakes on, interminably and Indra’s servant walks briskly along it. A glowing blackness engulfs them. The air is still, breathless; a fetid smell hangs heavily. On both sides, they hear groans and screams of souls in torment. In the gloom, Yudhishtira dimly sees the monstrous forms of demons: some entwine horribly; others are dismembered or headless and some have mouths like needles. Corpses are strewn everywhere, hideously dismemboweled, entrails hanging out, smeared with fat and blood, their stink intolerable. A thousand human hands reach out to them, in agony.

Everywhere they hear sobbing and the gnashing of teeth. Weird howls ring out, now and again and at times serpents slither across the narrow path. Sulfurous pools bubble beside the eerie trail and there are living creatures in them: burning slowly, never dying, suffering endlessly. With every step they take, the sights, smells and sounds grow worse and the heat becomes unbearable.

Soon, Yudhishtira cries, “This is an infernal place! Which God rules this part of Devaloka? Ah, where are my brothers?”

Indra’s servant replies, “This path leads to your brothers; but we will turn back, if you cannot bear it.”

The stench is intolerable. Yudhishtira gags. The sights around them are so vile he cannot look at them and he wants to shut his ears for the dreadful sounds that fill the darkness. The heat begins to steam the skin away from his arms and face. Steadfast as he is, the Pandava cannot go any further into that hell.

He stops and says, “Friend, I cannot stand this place any more. Let us turn back. How far did Lord Indra tell you to bring me?”

The man smiles, “Only as far as you could go.”

Then, many voices wail dismally out of the darkness. “Yudhishtira, don’t leave us!”

“Don’t go, Yudhishtira!”

“Take pity on us, stay a while!”

“Your presence soothes us like a soft breeze of heaven; don’t leave!”

“Just a few moments, stay a few moments more!”

Yudhishtira’s hair stands on end: the voices are familiar! He cries, “Who calls out to me? Why are you in this naraka?”

All together, the voices reply.

“I am Karna.”

“I am Bheema.”

“Arjuna.”

“Nakula.”

“Sahadeva.”

“This is I, Draupadi.”

“I am Dhrishtadyumna.”

“I am Satyaki.”

All the others he loved, who had fought and died for him, call out to him.

Yudhishtira cries, “My sinless brothers, my Panchali and my friends are all in hell, while Duryodhana sits on a crystal throne in the Sudharma! Am I dreaming? Surely, this is a nightmare from which I will awaken.”

Again, the piteous voices call out, begging him to stay with them just a little longer, ah, his presence soothed their torment. Tears in his eyes, Yudhishtira turns to the divine servitor who brought him here, “Friend, go back to Indra and tell him I will remain with my brothers. They say that my presence soothes their anguish.”

The man bows and leaves Yudhishtira alone. The darkness, the purulence, the heat and the terror of that hell are all magnified, when he is alone. The voices cry out more plaintively. Yudhishtira sits on the path, sweating, wondering how long he can endure it. He has been there for an hour, when there is a flash of light, then another, another and more. Indra stands before Yudhishtira, the king of heaven come with his host. In a moment, the darkness, the pestilential vapors, the scathing heat, the sulfur pits, the demons, all vanish. No more groans and screams bruise the air. Instead, it is sweet and pure and that place is full of light and living silence. A fragrant breeze blows, plucking at Yudhishtira’s face. He stands blinking in the soft lambency of Devaloka.

Indra says to him, “Now you have earned swarga for yourself. The law of heaven is that every king must pass through hell to purify himself. You experienced naraka briefly, to atone for your one sin on earth. Yudhishtira, you deceived your guru Drona on Kurukshetra. It was your lie that made him put down his weapons and then Dhrishtadyumna killed him. You have paid for that sin now. Forget what you saw, it was an illusion. Come with us.”

Yudhishtira stands, hands folded before the effulgent Gods. He murmurs, “My brothers?”

“Your brothers are already in swarga! With them, are all the kings who fought for you. They, too, served a brief time in hell for their sins and were purified. You say you do not understand the law of Devaloka. Let me tell you what it is. If a man’s sins outweigh his punya, then he comes straight into heaven when he dies. When his punya is exhausted, he sinks into hell to suffer for his sins. But if a soul’s virtue exceeds his sins, then he pays first for his crimes and then comes into swarga forever.

Your brothers are not here, Yudhishtira. Come with me, I will show you where they are.”

Yudhishtira’s father, the Lord Dharma, appears before him again. Blessing his son, he says, “This was the third trial, the last one. Nothing could induce you to leave the path of truth; nothing could quell your love for your brothers. Come to those whom you love so much.”