d by
anxiety, king Yudhishthira indulged in such reflections for a long time.
The royal son of Dharma then gave way to great wrath. Indeed,
Yudhishthira then censured the gods, as also Dharma himself. Afflicted by
the very foul odour, he addressed the celestial messenger, saying, "Return
to the presence of those whose messenger thou art. Tell them that I shall
not go back to where they are, but shall stay even here, since, in
consequence of my companionship, these afflicted brothers of mine have
become comforted." Thus addressed by the intelligent son of Pandu, the
celestial messenger returned to the place where the chief of the deities
was, viz., he of a hundred sacrifices. He represented unto him the acts
of Yudhishthira. Indeed, O ruler of men, he informed Indra of all that
Dharma's son had said.'"

3

"Vaishampayana said, 'King Yudhishthira the just, the son of Pritha, had
not stayed there for more than a moment when, O thou of Kuru's race, all
the gods with Indra at their head came to that spot. The deity of
Righteousness in his embodied form also came to that place where the Kuru
king was, for seeing that monarch. Upon the advent of those deities of
resplendent bodies and sanctified and noble deeds, the darkness that had
overwhelmed that region immediately disappeared. The torments undergone
by beings of sinful deeds were no longer seen. The river Vaitarani, the
thorny Salmali, the iron jars, and the boulders of rock, so terrible to
behold, also vanished from sight. The diverse repulsive corpses also,
which the Kuru king had seen, disappeared at the same time. Then a
breeze, delicious and fraught with pleasant perfumes, perfectly pure and
delightfully cool, O Bharata, began to blow on that spot in consequence
of the presence of the gods. The Maruts, with Indra, the Vasus with the
twin Ashvinis, the Sadhyas, the Rudras, the Adityas, and the other
denizens of Heaven, as also the Siddhas and the great Rishis, all came
there where Dharma's royal son of great energy was.

"'Then Shakra, the lord of the deities, endued with blazing prosperity,
addressed Yudhishthira and comforting him, said, "O Yudhishthira of mighty
arms, come, come, O chief of men. These illusions have ended, O puissant
one. Success has been attained by thee, O mighty-armed one, and eternal
regions (of felicity) have become thine. Thou shouldst not yield to
wrath. Listen to these words of mine. Hell, O son, should without doubt
be beheld by eve