Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists

Mythsof the Hindus & BuddhistsWith these words Drona released Drupada, and bestowedon him the sovereignty of half his own kingdom, beingthose territories that lay south of the Ganges. AndDrupada, with many compliments, assured him of hisprofound admiration and regard. But in his own mindthe lesson that the mortified king laid to heart was thatof his old friend s superior resources, and from thistime forth he in his turn wandered in alldirections, evenas Drona had wandered to Hastinapura, in the hope ofdiscovering some charm or other means, by devotion orotherwise, to obtain a son who might work out his revengeon the man who had humiliated him. And it came topass that this enmity to Drona grewin time to be one ofthe main motives in the life of Drupada, king of thePanchalas.IV.THE HOUSE OF LACIt was about a year after the invasion of Drupada s citythat Dhritarashtra, moved by a sense of what was due, andhaving regard also to the welfare of his subjects, decidedto crown Yudhishthira in public as heir-apparent of theempire. For Pandu, the father of Yudhishthira and hisbrothers, had been the monarch of the realm, and notDhritarashtra, whose blindness had been considered torender him incompetent. It was now incumbent upon theblind king, therefore, to nominate Yudhishthira and hisbrothers as his successors, instead of any of his ownchildren. And this, after the exhibition of knightlyprowess that had introduced them to the world, he couldno longer refuse to do.But the Pandava princes took their new position morehad foreseen. Never contentedseriously than anyonewith mere enjoyment, they went out in all directions for136