ies with regulated vows and fixed mind and observing the vow of
perfect silence, was, he heard, like the blazing god of justice himself
in his embodied form. And, O king, (Yudhishthira) the son of Pandu
hearing that his dear brother Jaya, the son of Kunti, was engaged in
such asceticism in the great forest, began to grieve for him. And with a
heart burning in grief, the eldest son of Pandu, seeking consolation in
that mighty forest held converse with the Brahmanas possessed of various
knowledge who were living with him there."

SECTION LXXX

(Tirtha-yatra Parva)

Janamejaya said, "O holy one, after my great-grandfather Partha had gone
away from the woods of Kamyaka, what did the sons of Pandu do in the
absence of that hero capable of drawing the bow with his left hand? It
seemeth to me that mighty bowman and vanquisher of armies was their
refuge, as Vishnu of the celestials. How did my heroic grandsires pass
their time in the forest, deprived of the company of that hero, who
resembled Indra himself in prowess and never turned his back in battle?"

Vaisampayana said, "After Arjuna of unbaffled prowess had gone away from
Kamyaka, the sons of Pandu, O son, were filled with sorrow and grief.
And the Pandavas with cheerless hearts very much resembled pearls
unstrung from a wreath, or birds shorn of their wings. And without that
hero of white steeds that forest looked like the _Chaitraratha_ woods
when deprived of the presence of Kuvera. And, O Janamejaya, those tigers
among men--the sons of Pandu--deprived of the company of Arjuna,
continued to live in Kamyaka in perfect cheerlessness. And, O chief of
the Bharata race, those mighty warriors endowed with great prowess slew
with pure arrows various kinds of sacrificial animals for the Brahmanas.
And those tigers among men and repressers of foes, daily slaying those
wild animals and sanctifying them properly, offered them unto the
Brahmanas. And it was thus, O king, that those bulls among men afflicted
with sorrow lived there with cheerless hearts after Dhananjaya's
departure. The princess of Panchala in particular, remembering her third
lord, addressed the anxious Yudhishthira and said, 'That Arjuna who with
two hands rivals the thousand-armed Arjuna (of old), alas, without that
foremost of the sons of Pandu, this forest doth not seem at all
beautiful in my eyes. Without him, whenever I cast my eyes, this earth
seems to be forlorn. Even this forest with its blossoming tre