And the birds of the air and the beasts of the
field were touched by the lamentations of Kunti. And Bhishma, the son of
Santanu, and the wise Vidura, and the others also that were there, became
disconsolate.
"Thus weeping, Bhishma, Vidura, Dhritarashtra, the Pandavas and the Kuru
ladies, all performed the watery ceremony of the king. And when all this
was over, the people, themselves filled with sorrow, began to console the
bereaved sons of Pandu. And the Pandavas with their friends began to sleep
on the ground. Seeing this the Brahmanas and the other citizens also
renounced their beds. Young and old, all the citizens grieved on account
of the sons of king Pandu, and passed twelve days in mourning with the
weeping Pandavas.'"
SECTION CXXVIII
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then Bhishma and Kunti with their friends celebrated
the Sraddha of the deceased monarch, and offered the Pinda. And they
feasted the Kauravas and thousands of Brahmanas unto whom they also gave
gems and lands. Then the citizens returned to Hastinapura with the sons of
Pandu, now that they had been cleansed from the impurity incident to the
demise of their father. All then fell to weeping for the departed king. It
seemed as if they had lost one of their own kin.
"When the Sraddha had been celebrated in the manner mentioned above, the
venerable Vyasa, seeing all the subjects sunk in grief, said one day to
his mother Satyavati, 'Mother, our days of happiness have gone by and days
of calamity have succeeded.
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