Ādiparva : Sandhi 05 : Part 2 of 2 : Kunti and Pāṇḍava-s return to Hastināpura

Kunti hears Mādri’s wailing and goes to the forest to see what happened. There she sees Pāṇḍu lying on Mādrī’s lap. She realizes what transpired. The five Pāṇḍava-s too come there and see their father lying dead. They all lament at the death of Pāṇḍu. The Ṛṣi-s of the forest console them. Mādrī decides to give up her life to follow Pāṇḍu in the other world leaving behind her sons Nakula and Sahadeva in Kunti’s care. The Ṛṣi-s perform the funeral rites of both Pāṇḍu and Mādrī. Realizing that it is no long appropriate to have Kunti and the five Pāṇḍava-s staying in the forest after Pāṇdu’s death, the Ṛṣi-s take them to Hastināpura , where Bhīṣma and others welcome them with open arms.

Having described the births of the five Pāṇḍava-s, the valour of Pāṇḍu, the manner of his death, the sahagamana of Mādrī, the Ṛṣi-s return to their abode. Dhṛtarāṣṭra and other relatives perform the funeral rites of Pāṇḍu once again.

Vedavyāsa arrives to console Bhīṣma and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He advices his mother Satyavati that it would be better for her to leave the palace and take up Vānaprasta in the forest since she would no longer be able to withstand the destruction that is sure to come in the future due to the enemity between Dhṛtarāṣtṛa’s sons Kaurava-s and Pāṇḍava-s. Thus Satyavati along with her daughters-in-law Ambika and Ambālika leave for the forest. In Hastināpura, Bhīṣma takes care of the needs of Kaurava-s and Pāṇḍava-s.

Audio Link: https://archive.org/download/kumaravyasa-bharata-recitation/Parva-01-Adiparva-005-Sandhi-Part-02-of-02.mp3