The Celebrations For The Victory
There were moments of great joy when the Pandavas with Dhristadyumna, Satyaki, Shikandi, the five sons of Draupadi and the other survivors of the great massacre, returned to the camp. And after all had changed their clothes, washed and rested, they mounted their respective mounts and entered the enemy camps undisturbed, as was the custom at that time for the victors.
Arriving in front of Duryodhana’s tent, Krishna looked at His friend and said to him:
“Arjuna, the victory is ours. The enemies have all been defeated, but the dangers are not over yet. Please get off the chariot and take Gandiva and the arrows with you.”
Without asking for an explanation for the strange request and the particular tone in which it had been addressed to him, Arjuna did as he was told.
As soon as he came down Krishna followed him and at that moment the great Hanuman, who had been on the Pandava flag until then, jumped into the sky and disappeared. Those who had found themselves witnessing this miracle were still commenting on it when the chariot that Agni had entrusted to Arjuna was suddenly enveloped in voracious tongues of fire. In a few moments only a pile of ash remained.
Arjuna was amazed.
“What happened? Why was my chariot caught in the flames like that? What caused it?”
“Have you ever wondered why the powerful weapons of Bhishma, Drona and others didn’t destroy you?” the divine Vasudeva answered. “Don’t you know that even the celestial beings themselves would not have been able to withstand the strength of the warriors you faced? You are still alive because My presence protected you. You had a task to perform and that made you invulnerable. But as soon as the purpose had been achieved and I abandoned it, those weapons, which were waiting to be effective, destroyed the chariot. And if you had stayed on them, you would have met the same end.”
In a flash everyone understood how crucial the presence of Krishna driving Arjuna’s chariot had been.
The festivities began: horns, shells and others, accompanied by different types of percussion instruments, played without interruption for hours. The atmosphere was so full of happiness that everyone started playing and joking with each other. Krishna was not at all opposed to that feast, on the contrary he was glad because he wanted the unpleasant incident of Samanta-panchaka and the rude words of Balarama to be forgotten. However, something still worried him, but no one paid any attention to it.
Late at night the party ended and everyone wanted to go back to their own tent. It had been terrible days, they needed a lot of sleep.
“Yudhisthira,” Krishna said, however, “Let others come back to rest. We will stay here, together with your brothers and Satyaki.”
Pandu’s son did not understand exactly why, but since he was used to following his friend’s advice, he accepted the proposal. The troops, savoring a rest without forced wake-up, walked towards the camp.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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