ntations, O _Muni_, of Dhritarashtra were perfectly futile. Why did
the king permit his foolish son Duryodhana to thus incense those mighty
warriors, the sons of Pandu? Tell us now, O Brahmana, what was the food
of the sons of Pandu, while they lived in the woods? Was it of the
wilderness, or was it the produce of cultivation?"

Vaisampayana said, "Those bulls among men, collecting the produce of the
wilderness and killing the deer with pure arrows, first dedicated a
portion of the food to the Brahmanas, and themselves are the rest. For,
O king, while those heroes wielding large bows lived in the woods, they
were followed by Brahmanas of both classes, _viz_., those worshipping
with fire and those worshipping without it. And there were ten thousand
illustrious _Snataka_ Brahmanas, all conversant with the means of
salvation, whom Yudhishthira supported in the woods. And killing with
arrows _Rurus_ and the black deer and other kinds of clean animals of
the wilderness, he gave them unto those Brahmanas. And no one that lived
with Yudhishthira looked pale or ill, or was lean or weak, or was
melancholy or terrified. And the chief of the Kurus--the virtuous king
Yudhishthira--maintained his brothers as if they were his sons, and his
relatives as if they were his uterine brothers. And Draupadi of pure
fame fed her husbands and the Brahmanas, as if she was their mother; and
last of all took her food herself. And the king himself wending towards
the east, and Bhima, towards the south, and the twins, towards the west
and the north, daily killed with bow in hand the deer of the forest, for
the sake of meat. And it was that the Pandavas lived for five years in
the woods of _Kamyaka_, in anxiety at the absence of Arjuna, and engaged
all the while in study and prayers and sacrifices."

SECTION LI

Vaisampayana said, "That bull among men--Dhritarashtra--the son of
Amvika, having heard of this wonderful way of life--so above that of
men--of the sons of Pandu, was filled with anxiety and grief. And
overwhelmed with melancholy and sighing heavily and hot, that monarch,
addressing his charioteer Sanjaya, said, 'O charioteer, a moment's peace
I have not, either during the day or the night, thinking of the terrible
misbehaviour of my sons arising out of their past gambling, and thinking
also of the heroism, the patience, the high intelligence, the unbearable
prowess, and the extraordinary love unto one another of the sons of
Pandu. Among