SECTION 167
(Chaitraratha Parva)
After this citizens returned to their respective houses and the
Pandavas continued to dwell at Ekachakra as before.
"Janamejaya said, 'O Brahmana, what did the Pandavas do after
they had slain the Rakshasa Baka?'
"Vaisampayana said, 'The Pandavas, O king, after slaying the
Rakshasa Baka, continued to dwell in the abode of that Brahmana, employed in
the study of the Vedas. Within a few days there came a Brahmana of rigid vows unto
the abode of their host to take up his quarters there. Their host, that Brahmana,
ever hospitable unto all guests, worshipping the newly-arrived Brahmana with
due ceremonies, gave him quarters in his own abode. The Pandavas, with their
mother Kunti, solicited the new lodger to narrate to them his interesting experiences.
The Brahmana spake to them of various countries and shrines and (holy) rivers,
of kings and many wonderful provinces and cities. And after this narration was
over, that Brahmana, O Janamejaya, also spoke of
the wonderful self-choice of Yajnasena's daughter, the princes of Panchala,
and of the births of Dhrishtadyumna and Sikhandi, and of the birth, without the
intervention of a woman, of Krishna (Draupadi) at the great sacrifice of
Drupada.
"The Pandavas, hearing of these extraordinary facts regarding
that illustrious monarch (Drupada), and desiring to know the details thereof,
asked the Brahmana, after his narration was concluded, to satisfy their
curiosity. The Pandavas said, 'How, O Brahmana, did the birth of Dhrishtadyumna
the son of Drupada, take place from the (sacrificial) fire? How also did the
extraordinary birth of Krishna take place from the centre of the sacrificial
platform? How also did Drupada's son learn all weapons from the great bowman
Drona? And, O Brahmana, how and for whom and for what reason was the friendship
between Drona and Drupada broken off?'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus questioned, O monarch, by them,
the Brahmana narrated all the particulars about the birth of Draupadi.'"
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