Canto Ten - Chapter 75

The king said: O brāhmaṇa, when they saw the magnificent Rājasūya sacrifice of Ajātaśatru, all the kings who had assembled rejoiced.

We have heard, revered sage, that the kings, sages, and gods all rejoiced except Duryodhana. Please tell us the reason for this.

The sage said: At the Rājasūya sacrifice of your great-hearted grandfather, his relatives, bound to him by affection, took charge of serving him.

Bhīma supervised the kitchen, while Suyodhana oversaw the treasury. Sahadeva attended to the worship, and Nakula procured the required materials.

Arjuna served the elders, Kṛṣṇa washed the guests' feet, Draupadī served the food, and the magnanimous Karṇa distributed gifts.

Yuyudhāna, Vikarṇa, Hārdikya, Vidura and others, the sons of Bāhlīka headed by Bhūri, and Santardana and the rest also took part.

Assigned to various duties at that great sacrifice, they carried them out, O foremost of kings, desiring to please the king.

After the priests, assembly members, learned brāhmaṇas, intimate friends, relatives, and well-wishers had been duly satisfied with gracious speech, proper honors, and gifts, and after the Cedi king had entered the feet of the Lord of the Sātvatas, they performed the concluding avabhṛtha bath in the celestial river.

Mṛdaṅgas, conches, paṇavas, dhundhuris, ānakas, and gomukhas, a splendid variety of instruments, resounded during the avabhṛtha celebration.

Joyful dancing women danced, and groups of singers sang. The sound of their vīṇās, flutes, and cymbals reached the heavens.

Kings wearing golden garlands proceeded with lordly elephants, chariots, and horses adorned with colorful flags and banners, accompanied by richly arrayed soldiers.

The Yadus, Sṛñjayas, Kāmbojas, Kurus, Kekayas, and Kośalas advanced behind Yudhiṣṭhira, their armies making the earth tremble.

The assembly members, officiating priests, and foremost brāhmaṇas raised a mighty sound of Vedic recitation, while the gods, divine sages, ancestors, and Gandharvas offered praise and showered flowers.

Men and women, beautifully adorned with fragrances, garlands, ornaments, and garments, sported in many ways, smearing and sprinkling one another.

Courtesans, smeared by the men with oil, milk products, scented water, turmeric, and thick kuṅkuma, playfully smeared the men in return.

Guarded by men, the queens came out to see the festival, like goddesses arriving in splendid celestial aircraft. As their maternal cousins and friends sprinkled them, their faces blossomed with bashful laughter and they shone beautifully.

The ladies sprayed their brothers-in-law and friends with water syringes. Their drenched garments revealed their bodies, breasts, thighs, and waists; their hair loosened in excitement and their garlands slipped. Through these charming pastimes they agitated the minds of those whose thoughts were impure.

The emperor mounted a chariot drawn by fine horses and decorated with golden garlands. Surrounded by his wives, he shone like the king of sacrifices attended by its sacred rites.

After the priests had him perform the rites involving the wife, including the concluding bath, they had the purified king bathe in the Gaṅgā together with Kṛṣṇā, Draupadī.

Celestial kettledrums resounded together with those of men, while gods, sages, ancestors, and human beings released showers of flowers.

Then all the people belonging to the orders of varṇa and āśrama bathed there, for at that place even a great sinner is immediately freed from sin.

The king then put on fresh linen garments and adorned himself. He honored the officiating priests, assembly members, brāhmaṇas, and others with ornaments and clothing.

Devoted wholly to Nārāyaṇa, the king repeatedly honored in every way his relatives, kinsmen, fellow kings, friends, well-wishers, and all the others.

All the men shone like gods, wearing jeweled earrings, garlands, turbans, jackets, silks, and costly necklaces. The women's beautiful faces were framed by pairs of earrings and clusters of curls, and they shone with golden waist belts.

Then there were the noble officiating priests, the assembly members and expounders of the Absolute, the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras, and all the kings who had assembled.

The divine sages, ancestors, living beings, and guardians of the worlds with their attendants, all duly honored, took leave of the king and departed for their own abodes.

They could not be satisfied, though they continually praised the glorious Rājasūya of the royal sage who served Hari, just as a mortal drinking nectar can never have enough.

King Yudhiṣṭhira affectionately detained his friends, relations, and kinsmen, and also Kṛṣṇa, for he could not bear to part from Him.

The Lord also remained there, dear king, to please him, after sending the Yadu heroes, Sāmba and the others, back to Kuśasthalī.

Thus King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, crossed the great ocean of his aspirations, so difficult to cross, through Kṛṣṇa's grace, and became free from anxiety.

One day Duryodhana saw the opulence of the king's inner palace and the grandeur of the Rājasūya performed by one whose very soul was Acyuta, and he burned with envy.

Within that palace shone the many kinds of royal, demonic, and celestial opulence fashioned by the creator of the universe. With all these riches the daughter of King Drupada served her husbands, and the Kuru king, whose heart was attached to her, suffered intensely.

There also were the thousand queens of Madhupati, their graceful anklets softly jingling beneath the weight of their hips, their exquisitely slender waists bearing splendid necklaces reddened by the kuṅkuma of their breasts, and their radiant faces adorned by swaying earrings and curling locks.

In one part of the assembly hall built by Maya, Dharma's son sat as emperor, surrounded by his attendants and relatives, with Kṛṣṇa present as his very eye.

Seated upon a golden throne like Indra himself, he possessed the splendor of supreme sovereignty while bards sang his praises.

Proud Duryodhana then entered, O King, surrounded by his brothers, wearing a crown and garland, sword in hand, and angrily rebuking the attendants.

Mistaking a solid floor for water, he gathered up the hem of his garment; elsewhere, mistaking water for solid ground, he fell in. Thus he was bewildered by Maya's magic.

Seeing him, Bhīma laughed, as did the women and the other kings. Though the king tried to restrain them, dear Parīkṣit, Kṛṣṇa signaled His approval.

Humiliated, his face cast down and his heart blazing with anger, Duryodhana silently left for Hastināpura. A great cry of 'Alas! Alas!' arose among the virtuous, and Ajātaśatru became deeply troubled. The Supreme Lord remained silent, for He desired to remove the earth's burden, and it was by His glance that Duryodhana had been bewildered.

Thus, O King, I have answered your question concerning Suyodhana's wickedness at the great Rājasūya sacrifice.