A plot was laid to destroy the Pandavas, the Raja's conscience having been
quieted by the assurances of his Brahman counsellor that it was entirely
proper to slay one's foe, be he father, brother, or friend, openly or by
secret means. The Raja accordingly pretended to send his nephews on a
pleasure-trip to a distant province, where he had prepared for their
reception a "house of lac," rendered more combustible by soaking in
clarified butter, in which he had arranged to have them burned as if by
accident, as soon as possible after their arrival.
All Hastinapur mourned at the departure of the Pandavas, and the princes
themselves were sad, for they had been warned by a friend that
Dhrita-rashtra had plotted for their destruction. They took up their abode
in the house of lac, to which they prudently constructed a subterranean
outlet, and one evening, when a woman with five sons attended a feast of
their mother's, uninvited, and fell into a drunken sleep, they made fast
the doors, set fire to the house, and escaped to the forest. The bodies of
the five men and their mother were found next day, and the assurance was
borne to Hastinapur that the Pandavas and their mother Kunti had perished
by fire.
The five princes, with their mother, disguised as Brahmans, spent several
years wandering through the forests, having many strange adventures and
slaying many demons.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52