Vyāsa's Counsel and the Plan for the Horse-Sacrifice

Classical

The war is won and Yudhiṣṭhira is crowned, but he lies on the bank of the Gaṅgā weeping, and Bhīma has to lift him. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who has lost a hundred sons, tells him it is the old couple who should mourn and not him, and admits that he ignored Vidura's warnings. Kṛṣṇa urges the king to take up duty, to sacrifice and to give. Yudhiṣṭhira replies that he wants only to go to the forest.

Vyāsa answers that Yudhiṣṭhira's mind is not yet calm. Sins fall away through austerity, sacrifice and gifts, and he recommends the Aśvamedha, as practised by Rāma, by Bharata and by earlier kings. Yudhiṣṭhira agrees in principle but says that he has no wealth to give, and that he cannot ask for tribute from kings whose sons have died on his account. The treasury is empty and the Earth is stripped.

Vyāsa tells him about the wealth waiting in the north. King Marutta, grandson of Karandhama and son of Avikṣit, once performed a sacrifice on a golden mountain in the Himalaya, where thousands of golden vessels were made. The story of how he got his priest, Saṃvarta, who had abandoned his brother Bṛhaspati and the world and who is said to have lived naked, is told at length, and how Indra could not stop it.

After the sacrifice Marutta's gold was left behind on the mountain. Yudhiṣṭhira asks how the gold can be got. The brahmins' answer is that he should first worship Śiva and the spirits of his train, and Dhaumya performs the offerings, with a thousand cows given away, before the expedition sets out. Kṛṣṇa, meanwhile, comforts the king with the story of Indra and Vṛtra, and with a talk on how mental illness is a battle fought alone.

The plan takes shape. The sacrifice will begin on the full moon of Caitra. The vessels, even the ladles and sword, will be of gold. A horse will be chosen and loosed to wander, and Arjuna will follow it to deal with any king who stops it, with the order to seek friendship and not war. Bhīma and Nakula keep the city, and Sahadeva looks after the guests. The expedition for Marutta's gold follows, and the Pāṇḍavas come home with a vast treasure.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Yudhiṣṭhira, Vyāsa, Kṛṣṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Marutta, Bṛhaspati, Saṃvarta, Arjuna

Bound to

Yudhiṣṭhira's Grief and Coronation origin

Parikṣit Born Dead and Revived by Kṛṣṇa origin

Anugita: the Gita retold after the war origin

Places: Gaṅgā bank, Himālaya (Marutta's golden mountain), Hastināpura

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (text as scanned on archive.org; mahabharataonline.com section pages could not be opened from the working environment) Ashvamedhika Parva, Sections I-V, XI-XIII, LXXI-LXXIII

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