The Pilgrimage

Sage Brihadaswa concluded the story of Nala telling Yudhishthira that the Nishadha king , in comparison to the Pandavas, suffered a much worse tragedy as a result of gambling. Yudhishthira was fortunate to have his wife and brothers with him all along. Several learned Brahmins kept him constant company, too. So saying, sage Brihadaswa took leave of the Pandavas. The chapter on “the story of Nala or Nalopakhyana Parvam” ends here. Vyasa starts the next one here, titled “the chapter of pilgrimage or Teertha yaatra Parvam”.

Arjuna Missed

Draupadi badly missed Arjuna in the beautiful Kamyaka forest and lamented about it to Yudhishthira. Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva all supported Draupadi’s sentiments and suggested that they leave the forest and go elsewhere. It was at that moment that the celestial sage Narada appeared before them. Yudhishthira wanted to hear from the sage about various pilgrimage centres and their importance. So, Narada started talking about the holy places sage Pulasthya visited . Pulasthya was one of the ancient sages, one of the seven most famous ones. The sage had narrated his travel experiences to the Kaurava sire, Bhishma, earlier.

Centres of pilgrimage

The next seven hundred odd stanzas elaborately describe various pilgrimage centres visited by Pulasthya. They included holy places near the banks of rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and famous lakes and ponds visited by pilgrims all over. Sage Narada took leave of the Pandavas after advising them to visit those places.

Yudhishthira, then approached their priest, Dhaumya, for further guidance on visiting holy places. The Brahmin started describing the places he had visited. Vyasa records those in about one hundred more stanzas.

Sage Lomasa arrives

While Dhaumya was talking to Yudhishthira, sage Lomasa, who was sent by Indra, arrived. Yushishthira received the sage with reverence. The sage happened to visit Indra during his wanderings. He met Arjuna seated next to Indra in the palace at that time. Lomasa brought the news that Arjuna had succeeded in winning the Pasupata from Lord Siva. He also learnt the secret of various other divine weapons from Lord Siva, Varuna and Indra. The Pandavas were excited hearing the good news about their brother.

Lomasa also advised the Pandavas that the right thing for them to do during the remaining years in exile was to go visiting holy places.

The Pandavas were all mentally set to start in the company of Dhaumya and Lomasa. But, there were several Brahmins who stayed with them all along in the forest. It would be difficult for a large group to move around easily. So, Yudhishthira requested the Brahmins to return to their respective places. A few expressed keen interest to visit holy places along with the Pandavas. The others agreed to return.

Veda Vyasa appeared at that instant along with several other sages. The Pandavas bowed before the holy visitors sages and took their permission for starting the pilgrimage. The sages instructed the Pandavas on the codes of conduct to be followed during such a journey. The Pandavas promised that they would do accordingly and proceeded eastwards in the company of Lomasa, Dhaumya and some other Brahmins.

They reached the Naimisha forest and took bath in the holy lakes there. Sage Samatha who happened to arrive, told them of the great sacrifice rituals performed by a king by name Gaya there.

Story of Agasthya

They left the Naimisha forest and reached the hermitage of sage Agasthya. Yudhishthira asked sage Lomasa about Agasthya. The sage then narrated some very interesting stories. (Refer www.kunjunny.blogspot.com)