Setting down there his brothers and mother, O bull
of Bharata's race, he said unto them, 'Rest you here, while I go in quest
of water. I hear the sweet cries of aquatic fowls. I think there must be a
large pool here.' Commanded, O Bharata, by his elder brother who said unto
him, 'Go', Bhima proceeded in the direction whence the cries of those
aquatic fowls were coming. And, O bull of Bharata's race, he soon came
upon a lake and bathed and slaked his thirst. And affectionate unto his
brothers, he brought for them, O Bharata, water by soaking his upper
garments. Hastily retracing his way over those four miles he came unto
where his mother was and beholding her he was afflicted with sorrow and
began to sigh like a snake. Distressed with grief at seeing his mother and
brothers asleep on the bare ground, Vrikodara began to weep, 'Oh, wretch
that I am, who behold my brothers asleep on the bare ground, what can
befall me more painful than this? Alas, they who formerly at Varanavata
could not sleep on the softest and costliest beds are now asleep on the
bare ground! Oh, what more painful sight shall I ever behold than that of
Kunti--the sister of Vasudeva, that grinder of hostile hosts--the daughter
of Kuntiraja,--herself decked with every auspicious mark, the daughter-in-
law of Vichitravirya,--the wife of the illustrious Pandu,--the mother of
us (five brothers),--resplendent as the filaments of the lotus and
delicate and tender and fit to sleep on the costliest bed--thus asleep, as
she should never be, on the bare ground! Oh, she who hath brought forth
these sons by Dharma and Indra and Maruta--she who hath ever slept within
palaces--now sleepeth, fatigued, on the bare ground! What more painful
sight shall ever be beheld by me than that of these tigers among men (my
brothers) asleep on the ground! Oh, the virtuous Yudhishthira, who
deserveth the sovereignty of the three worlds, sleepeth, fatigued, like an
ordinary man, on the bare ground! This Arjuna of the darkish hue of blue
clouds, and unequalled amongst men sleepeth on the ground like an ordinary
person! Oh, what can be more painful than this? Oh the twins, who in
beauty are like the twin Aswins amongst the celestials, are asleep like
ordinary mortals on the bare ground! He who hath no jealous evil-minded
relatives, liveth in happiness in this world like a single tree in a
village.
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