s_
and _Siddhas_, desirous of beholding the monarch devoted to truth, came
towards him. And the dwellers of that forest stood surrounding that lion
among kings possessed of great intelligence. And saluting all the
_Siddhas_, and saluted by them in return as a king or a god should be,
that foremost of virtuous men entered the forest with joined hands
accompanied by all those foremost of regenerate ones. And the
illustrious and virtuous king, saluted in return by those virtuous
ascetics that had approached him, sat down in their midst at the foot of
a mighty tree decked with flowers, like his father (Pandu) in days
before. And those chiefs of the Bharata race _viz_., Bhima and
Dhananjaya and the twins and Krishna and their followers, all fatigued,
leaving their vehicles, sat themselves down around that best of kings.
And that mighty tree bent down with the weight of creepers, with those
five illustrious bowmen who had come there for rest sitting under it,
looked like a mountain with (five) huge elephants resting on its side."

SECTION XXV

Vaisampayana said, "Having fallen into distress, those princes thus
obtained at last a pleasant habitation in that forest. And there in
those woods abounding with _Sala_ trees and washed by the Saraswati,
they who were like so many Indras, began to sport themselves. And the
illustrious king, that bull of the Kuru race, set himself to please all
the _Yatis_ and _Munis_ and the principal Brahmanas in that forest, by
offerings of excellent fruits and roots. And their priest, Dhaumya
endued with great energy, like unto a father to those princes, began to
perform the sacrificial rites of _Ishti_ and _Paitreya_ for the Pandavas
residing in that great forest. And there came, as a guest, unto the
abode of the accomplished Pandavas living in the wood after loss of
their kingdom, the old Rishi Markandeya, possessed of intense and
abundant energy. And that bull of the Kuru race, the high-souled
Yudhishthira, possessed of unrivalled strength and prowess, paid his
homage unto that great _Muni_, reverenced by celestials and Rishis of
men, and possessed of the splendour of blazing fire. And that
illustrious and all-knowing _Muni_, of unrivalled energy, beholding
Draupadi and Yudhishthira and Bhima and Arjuna, in the midst of the
ascetics, smiled, recollecting Rama in his mind. And Yudhishthira the
just, apparently grieved at this, asked him, saying, 'All these ascetics
are sorry for seeing me here