At
length some beautiful robes, and white umbrellas and larger yak-tails,
were brought for the great ceremony. The priests clad in white walked in
the van of the procession pouring libations of clarified butter on the
sacred fire blazing in an ornamental vessel. And Brahmanas, and Kshatriyas,
and Vaisyas, and Sudras by thousands followed the deceased king, loudly
wailing in these accents, 'O prince, where dost thou go, leaving us behind,
and making us forlorn and wretched for ever?' And Bhishma, and Vidura, and
the Pandavas, also all wept aloud. At last they came to a romantic wood on
the banks of the Ganga. There they laid down the hearse on which the
truthful and lion-hearted prince and his spouse lay. Then they brought
water in many golden vessels, washed the prince's body besmeared before
with several kinds of fragrant paste, and again smeared it over with
sandal paste. They then dressed it in a white dress made of indigenous
fabrics. And with the new suit on, the king seemed as if he was living and
only sleeping on a costly bed.
"When the other funeral ceremonies also were finished in consonance with
the directions of the priests, the Kauravas set fire to the dead bodies of
the king and the queen, bringing lotuses, sandal-paste, and other fragrant
substances to the pyre.
"Then seeing the bodies aflame, Kausalya burst out, 'O my son, my son!'--
and fell down senseless on the ground. And seeing her down the citizens
and the inhabitants of the provinces began to wail from grief and
affection for their king.
Pages:
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518