Ashramavasika Parva

After that grand conclusion of the Ashvamedha sacrifice, several years passed, and under Yudhishthira's righteous rule, the entire Hastinapur empire continued to advance gradually toward peace, prosperity, and reconstruction.

Dhritarashtra, during this long period, continued to live in the royal palace with exceeding honor and affection, and Yudhishthira, always holding an attitude of exceeding humility and reverence toward his uncle, continued to honor his every wish.

But in Dhritarashtra's heart, the memory of that terrible loss of all his hundred sons, and this feeling of continually living in the palace under the shelter of the Pandavas, gradually began taking the form of a profound, unbearable inner anguish.

Vidura and Sanjaya, understanding well this profound inner suffering of Dhritarashtra's, began from time to time counseling him that now, in this final stage of his life, he should give up worldly attachment and this environment of the royal palace, and go to the forest to set his mind on spiritual practice.

Dhritarashtra, reflecting on this profound counsel, gradually began to experience that this final stage of his life should now be devoted only to the forest-dwelling stage and to penance, and not spent amid the material comforts of this royal palace.

Dhritarashtra, deliberating with his wife Gandhari and with Kunti, finally made the firm resolve that the three of them would now give up the royal palace, go to the forest, and spend a forest-dwelling life, devoting the rest of their lives to penance and devotion to God.

Kunti, seeing this prosperous, secure kingdom of her sons — the Pandavas — and feeling that her presence in the palace was no longer as necessary, resolved to go to the forest along with Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, this being also for the service of her elderly brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas, hearing this decision, sank into exceedingly profound grief and astonishment, and made every possible effort to dissuade these three elders, who were like parents to them, from this decision, saying that they should remain in the palace and spend the rest of their lives with complete honor.

But Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti remained steadfast in this firm resolve of theirs, making clear that in this final stage of life, the peace and penance of the forest alone could open the path to true peace and liberation for them.

Finally, Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas, with exceedingly heavy hearts, were compelled to accept this decision, and began preparing a farewell, with complete honor and the necessary arrangements, for these three elders' departure to the forest.

On the day of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti's departure to the forest, the entire city of Hastinapur sank into exceedingly profound grief and emotion; countless subjects gathered along the road to give these elderly members of the royal family a final farewell.

Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas, along with Draupadi, went to see off these elders, who were like parents to them, to the city's border, with exceedingly heavy hearts, and, bowing to them repeatedly, received their final blessing.

Vidura and Sanjaya too resolved to go along with these three elders of their own free will, to serve and assist them in the forest, knowing that their service would prove exceedingly necessary even in this final stage.

Yudhishthira had proper arrangements made in the forest for the comfort of these elders of his, and he gave his word that he would keep coming regularly to the forest to visit them and to learn of their well-being.

Thus Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti, in an exceedingly calm, firm state of mind, set out toward the forest, toward this new, final chapter of their lives, where, near Maharishi Vyasa's hermitage, they began their penance.

Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti began spending an exceedingly simple, ascetic life in the forest near Maharishi Vyasa's hermitage, and they gradually gave up completely all the material comforts of the royal palace.

Dhritarashtra, in this forest life of his, kept regularly practicing penance, meditation, and fasting, and gradually began attaining inner peace from that long-accumulated grief and self-reproach within him.

Gandhari and Kunti too, cherishing in their hearts the memories of their respective husbands and sons, began spending their lives in this ascetic life, offering each other comfort and support, with exceeding patience and devotion.

Maharishi Vyasa kept coming regularly to serve and guide these three elders, and kept giving them discourse on the profound principles of dharma, self-knowledge, and liberation, by which their lives gradually grew full of peace and contentment.

Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas too, from time to time, came to this forest to meet these elders of theirs and to learn of their well-being, and experienced profound satisfaction seeing that these loved ones of theirs were now spending a peaceful life.

Some time after this forest life had begun, on one occasion, when Yudhishthira arrived at this hermitage to meet his uncle and aunt, he learned that Vidura, absorbed in exceedingly profound penance and meditation, was living in solitude in a secluded part of the forest.

Yudhishthira went to that secluded place to meet Vidura, where he saw Vidura, with an exceedingly emaciated body worn down by penance, fixed in a state of profound meditation — this sight was exceedingly poignant and extraordinary.

As soon as Yudhishthira drew exceedingly near to Vidura, a wondrous, divine event occurred — that subtle, spiritual energy of Vidura's, emerging from his body, entered directly into Yudhishthira's body, and Vidura's physical body became peacefully lifeless right there.

This was an exceedingly extraordinary, yogic event, in which Vidura, who was himself considered to be a portion of Dharmaraja, giving up this worldly body of his, transferred his entire spiritual power and knowledge to Yudhishthira, who was himself the son of Dharmaraja.

Yudhishthira, deeply overwhelmed by this extraordinary, divine experience, experiencing profound gratitude and reverence for this final, wondrous gift of his uncle Vidura's, had his final rites performed in the proper manner.

Some time later, Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas, along with Draupadi, set out once again on a special journey toward this forest hermitage, to meet these elders of theirs and to learn of their well-being; this time Krishna was with them too.

During this journey, Maharishi Vyasa and many other sages too were present at this hermitage, and the entire Pandava family, along with Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti, all together, began experiencing an exceedingly emotional, affectionate reunion.

On this occasion, Gandhari and Kunti, sinking once again into profound grief at that long-standing memory of their respective sons and husbands, requested of Maharishi Vyasa whether, by some means, they could obtain one more darshan of these loved ones of theirs.

Yudhishthira and the other Pandavas too began expressing a profound wish to see once more their elders — Bhishma, Dronacharya — and their beloved kinsmen who had attained a hero's death, such as Abhimanyu, knowing that this was an impossible, otherworldly wish.

Maharishi Vyasa, seeing this collective, profound grief and wish, was filled with exceeding compassion, and, employing his extraordinary yogic power, made a wondrous, divine resolve to fulfill this impossible wish.

Maharishi Vyasa commanded the entire assembled crowd to bathe and gather that night on the banks of the river Ganga, declaring that he would, by his divine power, cause all the warriors who had attained a hero's death in the war to reappear for one night.

When night fell, on that sacred bank of the Ganga, Maharishi Vyasa, with exceedingly profound penance and the chanting of mantras, invoked the waters of the Ganga, and a wondrous, divine sight occurred — one by one, from the waters of the Ganga, all those heroic warriors who had attained a hero's death in this terrible war began appearing in their divine, radiant bodies.

Bhishma, Dronacharya, Karna, Abhimanyu, Duryodhana and his brothers, and countless other heroic warriors, in this divine sight, completely freed from their worldly anger, enmity, and rancor, appeared from the waters of the Ganga in an exceedingly calm, radiant form.

Gandhari, Kunti, and countless other women, seeing their respective sons, husbands, and brothers once again in this divine, otherworldly form, were overwhelmed with immense joy and emotion, and in this one night, shared years of accumulated grief and anguish with these loved ones of theirs.

Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas too began experiencing profound peace and satisfaction at this divine darshan of their elders and loved ones, seeing that all these souls had now completely given up their worldly hatred and enmity.

After this divine, wondrous night, as soon as morning came, it was declared that whichever widowed women wished to depart this world forever along with their husbands who had attained a hero's death, could enter this sacred water of the Ganga.

Many widowed women, who, after this terrible loss of their husbands, could see no meaning in their worldly lives, and who held a profound wish to rejoin their husbands through this one night's divine reunion, entered that water of the Ganga in an exceedingly calm state of mind.

This was an exceedingly poignant, yet peaceful sight, in which these women, giving up their worldly grief and loneliness, resolved to depart toward a higher, divine realm along with their loved ones, and the waters of the Ganga absorbed them within itself exceedingly peacefully.

Gandhari and Kunti, though they themselves could not enter the Ganga on this occasion, since they still had some duties remaining toward their living sons and grandsons, nonetheless began experiencing profound spiritual peace and satisfaction from this divine event.

Thus this extraordinary, divine boon of Maharishi Vyasa's granted not only the living relatives a final, heart-touching reunion with their loved ones, but also opened the path to a peaceful, divine reunion for those grief-stricken widows with their husbands.

About two years after this divine event, Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti became absorbed even more deeply in their penance, and devoted the rest of their lives entirely to meditation and self-reflection.

One day, when these three elders were fixed in a state of profound meditation in a secluded part of the forest, suddenly, in the dry forest around them, a terrible forest fire flared up, which began spreading in all directions with exceeding speed.

Narada Muni, who happened to be present in that area at that time, immediately saw this terrible outbreak of fire, and going to Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti, urged them to move away from this danger at once and protect their lives.

But Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti, through their long-sustained penance and spiritual practice, had now become completely free of the fear of death, and, in an exceedingly calm, firm state of mind, resolved to accept this very fire as the divine means of giving up their bodies.

Narada Muni, seeing this extraordinary spiritual firmness and peace of these three, was himself overwhelmed with profound reverence, and, without obstructing them in this final decision of theirs, agreed to stand at some distance from there and bear witness to this divine event.

Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti remained fixed amid that terrible forest fire in an exceedingly calm, meditative state, and offered up their lives to this fire with complete spiritual acceptance and peace.

This was an exceedingly extraordinary, dignified end, in which these three elders accepted this final moment of their lives not with grief or fear, but with a divine feeling of complete spiritual peace and liberation.

Narada Muni, immediately after this event, arrived at Hastinapur, and gave Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas the news of this peaceful, divine end of these elders of theirs, hearing which the entire Pandava family sank into profound grief.

Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas set out at once toward that forest, and arriving there, performed the proper water-offerings and other necessary final rites for these loved ones of theirs, though their physical bodies had already been dissolved in that very fire.

The entire Pandava family, even amid this profound grief, could find some measure of comfort in the fact that these loved ones of theirs had departed this world in an exceedingly peaceful, dignified manner, and by their own spiritual wish.

After this extraordinary, peaceful end of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti's, Yudhishthira and the rest of the Pandavas returned to Hastinapur, and had many religious rites and charitable works performed in memory of these elders of theirs.

Yudhishthira, remembering this final, dignified message of these elders who were like parents to him, began absorbing these very values of dharma, sacrifice, and spiritual practice even more deeply throughout his reign.

With this end of Kunti's, that chapter of the Pandavas' lives also came to a close, in which their mother had remained unbreakably connected with them for years, through their every difficult hour of struggle, exile, and war.

The entire Hastinapur empire, now gradually moving beyond that terrible memory of the war, began advancing, under Yudhishthira's righteous, stable rule, toward a new, prosperous age, though one more challenge still remained ahead.

Thus the Ashramavasika Parva reaches its conclusion with that departure of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti's to the forest-dwelling stage, that wondrous yogic end of Vidura's, that divine boon of Vyasa's, and finally that peaceful offering up of themselves to the fire by those three. In the next parva, the Mausala Parva, the story of the fulfillment of Gandhari's curse will be told.