Return of Heroes Slain in Battle, Kurukshetra War of Mahabharata, Aftermath

Identifier: indianmythlegend00inmack
Title: Indian myth and legend
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Mackenzie, Donald Alexander, 1873-1936
Subjects: Hindu mythology
Publisher: London, Gresham
Contributing Library: Indiana University
Digitizing Sponsor: Indiana University



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l sat waiting on the river bank untilevening came on. Slowly passed the day; it seemed tobe as long as a year. At length the sun went down, and they chantedmantras and went into the Ganges. Vyasa bathed besidethe old Maharajah Dhritarashtra and Yudhishthira. . . .Then all came out and stood on the bank. Suddenly the waters began to heave and foam, andVyasa muttered holy words and called out the names ofthe dead one by one. . . . Soon all the heroes who hadbeen slain arose one by one. In chariots they came, andon horseback and riding upon lordly elephants. Theyall uttered triumphant cries; drums were sounded andtrumpets were blown; and it seemed as if the armies ofthe Pandavas and Kauravas were once again assembledfor battle, for they swept over the river like a mightytempest. Many of the onlookers trembled with fear, until theybeheld Bhishma and Drona, clad in armour, standing aloftin their chariots in splendour and in pride; then cameArjunas son, the noble Abhimanyu, and Bhimas Asura
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5 t,-> w ^^ O ^ tq ■^ -IH -Jh !V1 tH O z DHwPi M Xh ATONEMENT AND THE ASCENT 321 son. Soon Gandhari beheld Duryodhana and all hisbrethren, while Pritha looked with glad eyes upon Kama,and Draupadi welcomed her brother Dhrishta-dyumnaand her five children who had all been slain by vengefulAswatthaman. All the warriors who had fallen in battlereturned again on that night of wonder. With the host came minstrels who sang of the deedsof the heroes, and beautiful girls who danced before them.All strife had ended between kinsmen and old-time rivals;in death there was peace and sweet companionship. The ghostly warriors crossed the Ganges and werewelcomed by those who waited on the bank aroundVyasa. It was a night of supreme and heart-stirringgladness. Fathers and mothers found their sons, widowsclung to their husbands, sisters embraced their brothers,and all wept tears of joy. The elders who were livingconversed with those who were dead; the burdens ofgrief and d