e deer, which remained like seed
after the rest had been destroyed trembling and afflicted with fear,
Yudhishthira the just was greatly affected with grief. And the king,
intent on the welfare of all creatures, said unto them, 'So be it. I
shall act as ye have said.' Awaking after such a vision, that excellent
king, moved by pity towards the deer, thus spake unto his brothers
assembled there, 'Those deer that are alive after them that have been
slaughtered, accosted me at night, after I had awakened, saying, 'We
remain like the cues of our lines. Blest be thou! Do thou have compassion
on us.' And they have spoken truly. We ought to feel pity for the
dwellers of the forest. We have been feeding on them for a year together
and eight months. Let us, therefore, again (repair) to the romantic
Kamyakas, that best of forests abounding in wild animals, situated at the
head of the desert, near lake Trinavindu. And there let us pleasantly
pass the rest of our time.' Then, O king, the Pandavas versed in
morality, swiftly departed (thence), accompanied by the Brahmanas and all
those that lived with them, and followed by Indrasena and other
retainers. And proceeding along the roads walked (by travellers),
furnished with excellent corn and clear water, they at length beheld the
sacred asylum of Kamyaka endued with ascetic merit. And as pious men
enter the celestial regions, those foremost of the Bharata race, the
Kauravas, surrounded by those bulls among Brahmanas entered that forest."

SECTION CCLVII

Vaisampayana continued, "Dwelling in the woods, O bull of the Bharata
race, the high-souled Pandavas spent one and ten years in a miserable
plight. And although deserving of happiness, those foremost of men,
brooding over their circumstances, passed their days miserably, living on
fruits and roots. And that royal sage, the mighty-armed Yudhishthira,
reflecting that the extremity of misery that had befallen his brothers,
was owing to his own fault, and remembering those sufferings that had
arisen from his act of gambling, could not sleep peacefully. And he felt
as if his heart had been pierced with a lance. And remembering the harsh
words of the Suta's son, the Pandava, repressing the venom of his wrath,
passed his time in humble guise, sighing heavily. And Arjuna and both the
twins and the illustrious Draupadi, and the mighty Bhima--he that was
strongest of all men--experienced the most poignant pain in casting their
eyes on Yudhi