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Maharaja Pariksit said: O brahmana, according to what I have heard from you, all the assembled
kings, sages and demigods were delighted to see the wonderful festivities of King Ajatasatru’s
Rajasuya sacrifice, with the sole exception of Duryodhana. Please tell me why this was
so, my lord. Sri Badarayani said: At the Rajasuya sacrifice
of your saintly grandfather, his family members, bound by their love for him, engaged themselves
in humble services on his behalf. Bhima supervised the kitchen, Duryodhana looked
after the treasury, while Sahadeva respectfully greeted the arriving guests. Nakula procured
needed items, Arjuna attended the respectable elders, and Krsna washed everyone’s feet,
while Draupadi served food, and generous Karna gave out the gifts. Many others, such as Yuyudhana;
Vikarna, Hardikya; Vidura; Bhurisrava and other sons of Bahlika; and Santardana, similarly
volunteered for various duties during the elaborate sacrifice. They did so because of
their eagerness to please Maharaja Yudhisthira, O best of kings.
After the priests, the prominent delegates, the greatly learned saints and the King’s
most intimate well-wishers had all been properly honored with pleasing words, auspicious offerings
and various gifts as remuneration, and after the King of Cedi had entered the lotus feet
of the Lord of the Satvatas, the avabhrtha bath was performed in the divine river Yamuna.
During the avabhrtha celebration, the music of many kinds of instruments resounded, including
mrdangas, conchshells, panavas, dhundhuris, kettledrums and gomukha horns.
Female dancers danced with great joy, and choruses sang, while the loud vibrations of
vinas, flutes and hand cymbals reached all the way to the heavenly regions.
All the kings, wearing gold necklaces, then set off for the Yamuna. They had flags and
banners of various colors and were accompanied by infantrymen and well-adorned soldiers riding
lordly elephants, chariots and horses. The massed armies of the Yadus, Srnjayas,
Kambojas, Kurus, Kekayas and Kosalas made the earth tremble as they followed Yudhisthira
Maharaja, the performer of the sacrifice, in procession.
The assembly officials, the priests and other excellent brahmanas resoundingly vibrated
Vedic mantras, while the demigods, divine sages, Pitas and Gandharvas sang praises and
rained down flowers. Men and women, all adorned with sandalwood
paste, flower garlands, jewelry and fine clothing, sported by smearing and sprinkling one another
with various liquids. The men smeared the courtesans with plentiful
oil, yogurt, perfumed water, turmeric and kunkuma powder, and the courtesans playfully
smeared the men with the same substances. Surrounded by guards, King Yudhisthira’s
queens came out on their chariots to see the fun, just as the demigods’ wives appeared
in the sky in celestial airplanes. As maternal cousins and intimate friends sprinkled the
queens with liquids, the ladies’ faces bloomed with shy smiles, enhancing the queens’ splendid
beauty. As the queens squirted water from syringes
at their brothers-in-law and other male companions, their own garments became drenched, revealing
their arms, ***, thighs and waists. In their excitement, the flowers fell from their
loosened braids. By these charming pastimes they agitated those with contaminated consciousness.
The emperor, mounted upon his chariot drawn by excellent horses wearing golden collars,
appeared splendid in the company of his wives, just like the brilliant Rajasuya sacrifice
surrounded by its various rituals. The priests led the King through the execution
of the final rituals of patni-samyaja and avabhrthya. Then they had him and Queen Draupadi
sip water for purification and bathe in the Ganges.
The kettledrums of the gods resounded, along with those of human beings. Demigods, sages,
forefathers and humans all poured down showers of flowers.
All the citizens belonging to the various orders of varna and asrama then bathed in
that place, where even the most grievous sinner can immediately be freed from all sinful reactions.
Next the King put on new silken garments and adorned himself with fine jewelry. He then
honored the priests, assembly officials, learned brahmanas and other guests by presenting them
with ornaments and clothing. In various ways King Yudhisthira, who had
totally dedicated his life to Lord Narayana, continuously honored his relatives, his immediate
family, the other kings, his friends and well-wishers, and all others present as well.
All the men there shone like demigods. They were adorned with jeweled earrings, flower
garlands, turbans, waistcoats, silk dhotis and valuable pearl necklaces. The lovely faces
of the women were beautified by their matched earrings and locks of hair, and they all wore
golden belts. Then the highly cultured priests, the great
Vedic authorities who had served as sacrificial witnesses, the specially invited kings, the
brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, sudras, demigods, sages, forefathers and mystic spirits, and
the chief planetary rulers and their followers—all of them, having been worshiped by King Yudhisthira,
took his permission and departed, O King, each for his own abode.
As they all glorified the wonderful Rajasuya-yajna performed by that great saintly King and servant
of Lord Hari, they were not satiated, just as an ordinary man is never satiated when
drinking nectar. At that time Raja Yudhisthira stopped a number
of his friends, immediate family members and other relatives from departing, among them
Lord Krsna. Out of love Yudhisthira could not let them go, for he felt the pain of imminent
separation. My dear Pariksit, the Supreme Lord remained
there for some time to please the King, after first sending Samba and the other Yadu heroes
back to Dvaraka. Thus King Yudhisthira, the son of Dharma,
was at last relieved of his burning ambition, having by the grace of Lord Krsna successfully
crossed the vast and formidable ocean of his desires.
One day Duryodhana, while observing the riches of King Yudhisthira’s palace, felt greatly
disturbed by the magnificence of both the Rajasuya sacrifice and its performer, the
King, whose life and soul was Lord Acyuta. In that palace all the collected opulences
of the kings of men, demons and gods were brilliantly manifest, having been brought
there by the cosmic inventor, Maya Danava. With those riches Draupadi served her husbands,
and Duryodhana, the prince of the Kurus, lamented because he was very much attracted to her.
Lord Madhupati’s thousands of queens were also staying in the palace. Their feet moved
slowly, weighed down by their hips, and the bells on their feet tinkled charmingly. Their
waists were very slender, the kunkuma from their *** reddened their pearl necklaces,
and their swaying earrings and flowing locks of hair enhanced the exquisite beauty of their
faces. It so happened that Emperor Yudhisthira, the
son of Dharma, was sitting just like Indra on a golden throne in the assembly hall built
by Maya Danava. Present with him were his attendants and family members, and also Lord
Krsna, his special eye. Displaying the opulences of Brahma himself, King Yudhisthira was being
praised by the court poets. Proud Duryodhana, holding a sword in his hand
and wearing a crown and necklace, angrily went into the palace in the company of his
brothers, O King, insulting the doorkeepers as he entered.
Bewildered by the illusions created through Maya Danava’s magic, Duryodhana mistook
the solid floor for water and lifted the end of his garment. And elsewhere he fell into
the water, mistaking it for the solid floor. My dear Pariksit, Bhima laughed to see this,
and so did the women, kings and others. King Yudhisthira tried to stop them, but Lord Krsna
showed His approval. Humiliated and burning with anger, Duryodhana
turned his face down, left without uttering a word and went back to Hastinapura. The saintly
persons present loudly cried out, “Alas, alas !” and King Yudhisthira was somewhat
saddened. But the Supreme Lord, whose mere glance had bewildered Duryodhana, remained
silent, for His intention was to remove the burden of the earth.
I have now replied to your question, O King, concerning why Duryodhana was dissatisfied
on the occasion of the great Rajasuya sacrifice.