Vaishampayana said : When the night had passed away a large number of the people of the city came there to see the sons of Pandu.

Those men extinguished the fire and saw that the house was made of lac and that the counsellor Purochana had been burnt to death.

The Citizens said : Indeed this sinful act was contrived by the wicked Duryodhana to destroy the sons of Pandu.

There is on doubt that the son of Dhritarashtra (Duryodhana ) has burnt to death the heirs of Pandu, with the full knowledge of Dhritarashtra, else he would have been prevented (by his father).

Indeed, the son of Shantanu (Bhishma,) Drona. Vidura, Kripa and other Kurus have not followed the dictates of duty.

"Let us (now) send words to the wicked minded Dhritarashtra, (saying), "Your great desire is fulfilled; you have burnt to death the Pandavas."

Vaishampayana said: They then began to extinguish the fire to find out the Pandavas. They saw the Nishada woman burnt to death with her five sons.

The miner, while removing the ashes, covered with it the hole he had dug in such a way that it remained unnoticed by all who had gone there. to

The citizens then sent words Dhritarashtra to inform that the Pandavas along with counsellor Purochana had been burnt to death.

Hearing the great evil news of the death of the sons of Pandu, the king Dhritarashtra bewailed in great sorrow.

Dhritarashtra said: King Pandu, my illustrious brother, has (indeed) died to day, when those heroes (the Pandavas) with their mother have been burnt to death.

O man, go quickly to the city of Varanavata and perform the funeral rites of those heroes and of the daughter of the king of Kunti (Bhoja).

Let also the bones of the deceased be sanctified by the usual rites and let all the beneficial and great acts be performed. Let the friends and relatives of those that have been burnt to death also go there.

Let also all other beneficial acts that ought to be performed by us for the Pandavas and Kunti be accomplished by spending wealth. Having said this, the son of Ambika, Dhritarashtra, surrounded by his relatives, offered oblations of water to the manes of the sons of Pandu,

Being greatly afflicted with sorrow, he wept with all others! (saying,) Yudhisthira!" "O descendant of Kuru!" others cried, “O Bhima!"

Others again, “O Falguni!" some again, "O the twins!” “O mother Kunti!” They thus bewailed and gave oblations of water.

The other citizens also bewailed for the Pandavas. But Vidura did not bewail much, for he knew the truth.

Leaving the city of Varanavata, the greatly strong Pandavas, altogether six in number with their mother, reached the river Ganges.

Aided by the strength of arms of the boatmen and by the rapidity of the current and favourable wind, they then speedily reached the opposite bank.

They then left the boat and proceeded towards the south, fin ding their way in the dark by the light of the stars.

O king, afternoon much suffering, they at last reached a dense forest. The sons of Pandu became tired, thirsty and sleepy. Yudhisthira thus spoke to the greatly energetic Bhimasena, “What could be more painful then our being in a dense forest! We do not know the directions; we are incapable of proceeding further.

We do not know whether the sinful Purochana has or has not been burnt to death. How shall we escape from the dangers unobserved by others!

"O descendant of Bharata, take us on you again and proceed as before. You alone amongst us are strong and (you are) as swift as wind."

Having been thus addressed by the king of virtue (Yudhisthira), the greatly strong Bhimasena took his brothers and Kunti (on his body) and walked on.