t adopted the path of righteousness (in
slaying them).'"

Vaishampayana continued, "Having said these words, Gandhari, filled with
wrath at the slaughter of all her sons and grandsons, enquired after
Yudhishthira, saying, 'Where is the king?' After she had said these words
king Yudhishthira, trembling and with joined hands, approached her and
said these soft words unto her, 'Here is Yudhishthira, O goddess, that
cruel slayer of thy sons! I deserve thy curses, for I am the cause of
this universal destruction. Oh, curse me! I have no longer any need for
life, for kingdom, for wealth! Having caused such friends to be slain, I
have proved myself to be a great fool and a hater of friends.' Unto
Yudhishthira who spoke such words, who was overcome with fear, and who
stood in her presence, Gandhari, drawing long sighs, said nothing.
Conversant with the rules of righteousness, the Kuru queen, possessed of
great foresight, directed her eyes, from within the folds of the cloth
that covered them, to the tip of Yudhishthira's toe, as the prince, with
body bent forwards, was about to fall down at her feet. At this, the
king, whose nails had before this been all very beautiful, came to have a
sore nail on his toe. Beholding this, Arjuna moved away to the rear of
Vasudeva, and the other sons of Pandu became restless and moved from one
spot to another. Gandhari then, having cast off her wrath, comforted the
Pandavas as a mother should. Obtaining her leave, those heroes of broad
chests then proceeded together to present themselves to their mother,
that parent of heroes. Having seen her sons after a long time, Kunti, who
had been filled with anxiety on their account, covered her face with her
cloth and began to weep. Having wept for some time with her children,
Pritha beheld the wounds and scars of many weapons on their bodies. She
then repeatedly embraced and patted each of her sons, and afflicted with
grief wept with Draupadi who had lost all her children and whom she saw
lying on the bare earth, indulging in piteous lamentations.

"Draupadi said, 'O venerable dame, where have all your grandsons, with
Abhimanyu among them, gone? Beholding thee in such distress, why are they
delaying in making their appearance before thee? Deprived as I am of my
children, what need have I of kingdom?' Raising the grief-stricken
princess of Pancala who was weeping thus, Pritha began to comfort that
lady of large eyes. Then Kunti, accompanied by the prince