SECTION LXV

"'The Brahmanas said, 'Let offerings be made unto the high-souled Mahadeva of three eyes. Having duly dedicated those offerings, O king, we shall then strive to gain our object.' Hearing these words of those Brahmanas, Yudhishthira caused offerings to be duly made unto that deity who loved to lie down on mountain-breasts. Gratifying the (sacrificial) fire with (libations of) sanctified butter according to the ordinance, the priest (Dhaumya) cooked Charu with the aid of Mantras and performed the necessary rites. He took up many flowers and sanctified them with Mantras, O king. With Modakas and frumenty and meat, he made offerings to the deity. With diverse kinds of flowers and with fried paddy, of very superior kind, Dhaumya, well-versed in the Vedas, performed the remaining rites. He next presented offerings according to the ordinance unto those ghostly beings who formed Mahadeva's train. And offerings were next made to Kuvera, the chief of the Yakshas, and unto Manibhadra also. Unto the other Yakshas also and unto them that were the foremost ones among the ghostly companions of Mahadeva, the priest offered due worship, having filled many jugs with food, with Krisaras and meat and Nivapas mixed with sesame seeds. The king gave away unto the Brahmanas thousands of kine. He then directed the presentation, according to due rites, of offerings unto those night-wandering beings (who live with Mahadeva). Surcharged, as it were, with the scent of Dhupas, and filled with the fragrance of flowers, that region, sacred to the deity of deities, O king, became exceedingly delightful. Having performed the worship of Rudra and of all the Ganas, the king, placing Vyasa ahead, proceeded towards the place where the treasure was buried. Once more worshipping the Lord of treasures, and bowing unto him with reverence and saluting him properly, with diverse kinds of flowers and cakes and Krisara, having worshipped those foremost of gems, viz., Sankha and Nidhi, and those Yakshas who are the lords of gems, and having worshipped many foremost of Brahmanas and caused them to utter blessings, the king endued with great puissance, strengthened by the energy and the

p. 116

auspicious benedictions of those Brahmanas, caused that spot to be excavated. Then numerous vessels of diverse and delightful forms, and Bhringaras and Katahas and Kalasas and Bardhamanakas, and innumerable Bhajanas of beautiful forms, were dug out by king Yudhishthira the just. The wealth thus dug out was placed in large 'Karaputas' for protection. 1 A portion of the wealth was caused to be borne upon the shoulders of men in stout balances of wood with baskets slung like scales at both ends. Indeed, O king, there were other methods of conveyance there for bearing away that wealth of the son of Pandu. 2 There were sixty thousands of camels and a hundred and twenty thousand horses, and of elephants, O monarch, there were one hundred thousand. Of cars there were as many, and of carts, too as many, and of she-elephants as many. Of mules and men the number was untold. That wealth which Yudhishthira caused to be dugout was even so much. Sixteen thousand coins were placed on the back of each camel; eight thousand on each car; four and twenty thousand on each elephant; (while proportionate loads were placed on horses and mules and on the backs, shoulder and heads of men). Having loaded these vehicles with that wealth and once more worshipping the great deity Siva, the son of Pandu set out for the city called after the elephant, with the permission of the Island-born Rishi, and placing his priest Dhaumya in the van. That foremost of men, viz., the royal son of Pandu, made short marches everyday, measured by a Goyuta (4 miles). That mighty host, O king, afflicted with the weight they bore, returned, bearing that wealth, towards the capital, gladdening the hearts of all those perpetuators of the Kuru race.'"

Footnotes

116:1 Karaputa is made up of two wooden chests united with each other by chains or cords and intended to be borne by camels and bullocks.

116:2 The first line of 17 is exceedingly terse. Literally rendered, it runs,--'Each vessel was united with another, and became half the (total) weight slung on balance.'