have seen many sacred
waters, and the sacred stream Ganga also, O king."

"'Yudhishthira said, "People dwelling on the banks of Ganga report that
the high-souled Dhritarashtra is practising the austerest of penances.
Hast thou seen him there? Is that perpetuator of Kuru's race in peace?
Are Gandhari and Pritha, and the Suta's son Sanjaya also, in peace? How,
indeed, is it faring with that royal sire of mine? I desire to hear this,
O holy one, if thou hast seen the king (and knowest of his condition)."

"'Narada said, "Listen, O king, with calmness to me as I tell thee what I
have heard and seen in that ascetic retreat. After thy return from
Kurukshetra, O delighter of the Kurus, thy sire, O king, proceeded
towards Gangadwara. That intelligent monarch took with him his (sacred)
fire, Gandhari and his daughter-in-law Kunti, as also Sanjaya of the Suta
caste, and all the Yajakas. Possessed of wealth of penances, thy sire set
himself to the practice of severe austerities. He held pebbles of stone
in his mouth and had air alone for his subsistence, and abstained
altogether from speech. Engaged in severe penances, he was worshipped by
all the ascetics in the woods. In six months the king was reduced only to
a skeleton. Gandhari subsisted on water alone, while Kunti took a little
every sixth day. The sacred fire, O monarch, (belonging to the Kuru king)
was duly worshipped by the sacrificing assistants that were with him,
with libations of clarified butter poured on it. They did this whether
the king saw the rite or not. The king had no fixed habitation. He became
a wanderer through those woods. The two queens, as also Sanjaya, followed
him. Sanjaya acted as the guide on even and uneven land. The faultless
Pritha, O king, became the eye of Gandhari. One day, that best of kings
proceeded to a spot on the margin of Ganga. He then bathed in the sacred
stream and finishing his ablutions turned his face towards his retreat.
The wind rose high. A fierce forest-conflagration set in. It began to
burn that forest all around. When the herds of animals were being burnt
all around, as also the snakes that inhabited that region, herds of wild
boars began to take themselves to the nearest marshes and waters. When
that forest was thus afflicted on all sides and such distress came upon
all the living creatures residing there, the king, who had taken no food,
was incapable of moving or exerting himself at all. Thy two mothers also,
exceedingly