s of Draupadi, and the destruction of the
Pancalas and the Kurus. Thinking of Karna, I am burning with grief, like
a person thrown into a blazing fire. Nothing could have been unattainable
by us, not excepting things belonging to heaven. Alas, this terrible
carnage, so destructive of the Kurus, would not have occurred.' Copiously
indulging in lamentations like these, king Yudhishthira the just uttered
loud wails of woe. The puissant monarch then offered oblations of water
unto his deceased elder brother. Then all the ladies that crowded the
shores of the river suddenly sent up a loud wail of grief. The
intelligent king of the Kurus, Yudhishthira, caused the wives and members
of Karna's family to be brought before him. Of righteous soul, he
performed, with them, the water-rite in honour of his eldest brother.
Having finished the ceremony, the king with his senses exceedingly
agitated, rose from the waters of Ganga."

The end of Stri-parva.

The Mahabharata

of

Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

BOOK 12

SANTI PARVA

Translated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit Text

by

Kisari Mohan Ganguli

[1883-1896]

Scanned at sacred-texts.com, 2004. Proofed by John Bruno Hare, November
2004.

THE MAHABHARATA

SANTI PARVA

SECTION I

(Rajadharmanusasana Parva)

Om! Having bowed down to Narayana, and Nara, the foremost of male beings,
and unto the goddess Saraswati, must the word Jaya be uttered.

"Vaisampayana said, 'Having offered oblations, of water unto all their
friends and kinsmen, the sons of Pandu, and Vidura, and Dhritarashtra,
and all the Bharata ladies, continued to dwell there (on the banks of the
sacred stream). The high-souled sons of Pandu desired to pass the period
of mourning,[1] which extended for a month, outside the Kuru city. After
king Yudhishthira the just had performed the water-rites, many
high-souled sages crowned with ascetic success and many foremost of
regenerate Rishis came there to see the monarch. Among them were the
Island-born (Vyasa), and Narada, and the great Rishi Devala, and
Devasthana, and Kanwa. They were all accompanied by best of their pupils.
Many other members of the regenerate order, possessed of wisdom and
accomplished in the Vedas, leading lives of domesticity or belonging to
the Snataka class, came to behold the Kuru king. Those high-souled ones,
as they came, were duly worshipped by Yudhishthira. The great Rishis then
took their seats