Ashvamedhika Parva

Some time after that dignified giving up of Bhishma the grandsire's life, an exceedingly heart-rending piece of news reached Hastinapur — Abhimanyu's wife Uttara, from the residual effect of Ashwatthama's terrible Brahmastra, gave birth to a stillborn child.

The entire royal palace sank into deep grief at this exceedingly poignant news, since this child was Abhimanyu's only offspring and the last, sole hope of the Kuru dynasty, through whom the lineage of this vast royal house was to carry forward.

Uttara, after that terrible heroic end of her husband Abhimanyu's, now sank into a double grief at this stillbirth of her child, and the entire Pandava family was left stunned by this unexpected, devastating news.

Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas, immediately sending word of this crisis to Krishna, began pleading with him for immediate help, knowing that only the Lord himself could present any solution to this extraordinary crisis.

Krishna, upon hearing this news, without any delay, set out toward Hastinapur, knowing full well that he himself had given a divine promise to protect this child from Ashwatthama's Brahmastra.

Krishna, arriving at Hastinapur, immediately presented himself before that dead child, and the entire royal family and the sages present began looking toward him with exceeding hope and reverence, believing that if anyone could do this impossible deed, it was the Lord himself alone.

Krishna, in an exceedingly grave, divine voice, declared that if he had, throughout his entire life, always spoken only the truth, and if he had never fled from a battlefield, then by the power of this very truth, may this dead child come back to life.

With the utterance of this divine, truth-founded vow of Krishna's, a wondrous, miraculous sight occurred — that dead child, slowly stirring, began showing signs of life again, and soon, coming fully to life, began to cry.

A wave of immense joy and celebration swept through the entire royal palace at this extraordinary, miraculous revival, and Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas were overwhelmed with profound gratitude toward Krishna.

This child was named "Parikshit," since he had passed the "test" of the fire of that terrible Brahmastra even while in his mother's womb, and this very Parikshit was, in time, to carry forward the entire lineage of the Kuru dynasty.

Yudhishthira, for the rebuilding of this vast empire of his and as atonement for the sins of that terrible slaughter that had occurred in the war, on Maharishi Vyasa's counsel, resolved to hold a vast Ashvamedha (horse) sacrifice, considered as exceedingly dignified and important a rite as the Rajasuya.

Vyasa explained to Yudhishthira that this sacrifice would not only re-establish the universal sovereignty of his kingdom, but would also prove an exceedingly effective, religious means of atoning for the sins of that immense bloodshed that had occurred in the war.

To gather the immense wealth necessary for this vast sacrifice, the Pandavas, under Maharishi Vyasa's guidance, searched out those caves of the Himalayas where the vast, hoarded treasury of gold of the ancient king Marutta lay hidden.

After obtaining this immense golden wealth, Yudhishthira had the complete preparations for this vast Ashvamedha sacrifice begun, and, in accordance with the rules of the sacrifice, resolved to release a white horse bearing divine markings to wander freely.

Arjuna was appointed as the principal commander for the protection of this sacred horse and for the victory-journey across all of India with it, and he set out, along with his vast army, following behind this horse.

That divine horse, wandering freely across all of India, began entering the borders of many kingdoms, and Arjuna, with his vast army, protecting it, kept following behind it.

According to the rules of the sacrifice, whichever king let this horse pass through their kingdom without any resistance was considered to be accepting Yudhishthira's universal sovereignty, but whoever took this horse captive had to do battle with Arjuna.

Arjuna, during this long journey, encountered many kingdoms and kings, and in many places, he also had to face exceedingly terrible, difficult battles, each of which tested his valor and skill profoundly.

In Trigarta, Pragjyotisha, and many other kingdoms, Arjuna had to face exceedingly difficult resistance several times, but by the strength of his extraordinary valor and divine weapons, he achieved victory over every challenge.

Thus this victory-journey of Arjuna's continued to advance, gradually establishing Yudhishthira's universal sovereignty throughout all of India, though on this journey, an exceedingly unexpected, heart-touching challenge still remained for him to face.

This divine horse, wandering on, finally entered the borders of the kingdom of Manipura, where Arjuna's own son — Babhruvahana — who had been born of Chitrangada's womb, and to whom Arjuna had given birth years before during his years of exile, was now ruling as king.

Babhruvahana, exceedingly joyful at this sudden arrival of his father Arjuna's, invited him into his kingdom with a heartfelt welcome, and with exceeding humility, touched his feet and bowed to him.

But Arjuna, dissatisfied with this exceedingly simple, humble welcome of Babhruvahana's, gave him this bitter reproach, that a true Kshatriya, instead of honoring his father so simply in this manner, should, according to the rules of the sacrifice, have stopped that horse and given him a challenge to battle.

Wounded by this unexpected reproach of Arjuna's, and by the secret instigation of the Naga-maiden Ulupi, who was another of Arjuna's wives and was secretly present there, Babhruvahana finally made the exceedingly difficult, heart-rending decision to give his own father a challenge to battle.

Thus, between father and son, the backdrop was set for such an exceedingly extraordinary, poignant battle, in which, on one side filial duty and on the other Kshatriya duty, both were caught up in a profound conflict with each other.

This duel that began between Arjuna and Babhruvahana proved exceedingly terrible and extraordinarily skillful; Babhruvahana, who had been trained in archery by his own father, began displaying valor just as extraordinary as Arjuna's own.

In this exceedingly astonishing, unexpected battle, Babhruvahana, displaying his extraordinary skill, with an exceedingly powerful arrow, rendered his own father Arjuna unconscious, felling him upon the battlefield, and Arjuna's life left his body.

Babhruvahana, seeing his own father thus dead at his own hands, broke down under deep grief and unbearable remorse, and began considering giving up his own life as well, believing that he had committed the terrible sin of killing his own father.

In this very exceedingly dire, heart-rending moment, the Naga-maiden Ulupi, who had been a silent witness to this entire course of events, finally appeared there, and told Babhruvahana the profound secret that this outcome of the battle had, in truth, been predestined solely as atonement for a particular sin committed by Arjuna in the past.

Ulupi also told Babhruvahana that Arjuna could be brought back to life through the use of a special, divine gem located in the Naga realm, and she herself, by her own divine power, obtained that gem and arranged to restore Arjuna's life.

Ulupi, employing the extraordinary power of that divine Naga-gem of hers, touched it to Arjuna's lifeless body, and exceedingly swiftly, Arjuna's life returned once again to his body, and he slowly began coming back into a conscious state.

Babhruvahana and Chitrangada, seeing this wondrous, miraculous revival of Arjuna's, were overwhelmed with immense joy and relief, and Babhruvahana, falling at his father's feet, repeatedly begged forgiveness for this unwitting deed of his.

Arjuna, understanding this extraordinary valor of his son's and this profound revelation of Ulupi's, embracing Babhruvahana affectionately, granted him complete forgiveness for this predestined course of events, and praised his extraordinary valor abundantly.

This event taught Arjuna the profound lesson that the fruit of every deed done in life, however much delayed it may be, is ultimately received in some form or other, and that escaping this law of destiny is impossible.

After this, Babhruvahana too, letting the sacrificial horse proceed onward with honor, accepted Yudhishthira's universal sovereignty, and Arjuna, continuing on with this extraordinary, poignant journey of his, set out toward other kingdoms.

Arjuna, continuing on with this long, eventful victory-journey of his, kept wandering with that divine horse through the rest of the many kingdoms of all of India, and most kings, hearing the fame of Arjuna's extraordinary valor, accepted Yudhishthira's sovereignty without any resistance at all.

During this long journey, Arjuna gained many new, interesting experiences, and also became acquainted with the rich culture and traditions of many kingdoms, by which his own vision grew even broader and more mature.

Finally, this year-long journey coming to completion, that divine horse, after this extraordinary circuit of all of India, returned safely to Hastinapur, and Arjuna too, with the successful conclusion of this victory-journey of his, arrived at Hastinapur.

Yudhishthira and the entire city of Hastinapur, at the successful conclusion of this extraordinary, historic victory-journey of Arjuna's, began giving him a grand welcome with immense joy and celebration, and now the final, proper preparations for the Ashvamedha sacrifice began.

Many kings of all of India were invited toward Hastinapur to take part in this vast sacrifice, and the entire city, with exceeding enthusiasm, threw itself into the preparations for this grand, historic occasion.

At Hastinapur, that grand, historic Ashvamedha sacrifice finally began, in which many kings of all of India, sages and ascetics, and countless subjects took part with exceeding devotion and enthusiasm.

Yudhishthira and Draupadi, as the principal patrons of this vast sacrifice, kept conducting this sacrifice in the proper manner, and many learned sages, including Maharishi Vyasa, kept ensuring the complete performance of this sacrifice's proper, scripturally-prescribed method.

In this sacrifice, an immense quantity of gold, cloth, cows, and other precious things were given in charity to Brahmins and to the poor, and the entire city of Hastinapur grew exceedingly joyful and prosperous from this grand, generous occasion.

Krishna remained present with Yudhishthira and the Pandavas throughout this entire sacrifice, and on this occasion, he also gave some profound, poignant discourse on the importance of dharma and of sacrifice.

This Ashvamedha sacrifice proved to be a grand, final declaration, throughout all of India, of Yudhishthira's universal sovereignty and his righteous rule, which gradually began transforming that post-war unrest and grief into peace and prosperity.

On the final, concluding day of this grand sacrifice, an exceedingly strange, wondrous event occurred — a mongoose, half of whose body was of golden color, suddenly appeared at the sacrificial site, and it began rolling about upon that sacred ground of the sacrifice.

That mongoose, to the utter astonishment of the entire assembled crowd, declared that even this vast Ashvamedha sacrifice, endowed with such immense wealth, had not earned merit equal even to that small charity performed by an exceedingly poor Brahmin family, who, in a time of famine, had given up their own final grain.

That mongoose told the story of how an exceedingly poor Brahmin family, in a time of terrible famine, without concern for their own lives, gave their final, sole meal in charity to a hungry guest, and by the power of this extraordinary sacrifice, half of that mongoose's body had turned golden.

That mongoose also revealed that ever since then, it had been wandering throughout the entire world, searching for whether any other sacrifice or charity could earn merit equal to that selfless sacrifice of that poor family's, but that it had not yet found any such sacrifice.

Hearing this wondrous story, Yudhishthira and the entire assembled crowd sank into profound astonishment and self-reflection, and this event re-established the eternal truth that the worth of true sacrifice and selfless charity is far superior to any grand, vast occasion.

After this wondrous, poignant discourse of that golden mongoose's, the mongoose, leaving the entire assembled crowd stunned, vanished from there, and this event, at the conclusion of this grand sacrifice, was forever inscribed as an exceedingly profound, thought-provoking memory.

Yudhishthira, receiving from this entire course of events an exceedingly profound lesson in humility, began to experience that however grand and vast the sacrifices and charities performed may be, the root of true dharma always lies in the purity and selflessness of the heart.

With the successful conclusion of this Ashvamedha sacrifice, Yudhishthira's universal sovereignty was firmly established throughout all of India, and his kingdom gradually began advancing toward peace, prosperity, and reconstruction.

Parikshit, during this time, kept slowly growing up in his royal palace, as the future hope of the Kuru dynasty, and the entire Pandava family began seeing in this child a new, bright ray of their future.

Thus the Ashvamedhika Parva reaches its conclusion with that miraculous revival of Parikshit's, Arjuna's victory-journey and that poignant battle with Babhruvahana, and finally with that grand Ashvamedha sacrifice. In the next parva, the Ashramavasika Parva, the story of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti's departure to the forest-dwelling stage of life will be told.