The Pandavas Traverse Gandhamadana's Slopes

Truth was valour for Kounteya Yudhishthira. He proceeded on foot with his brothers, through a region infested with many kinds of animals. Sometimes they dwelt on the slopes of mountains, covered with many different kinds of trees. On the fourth day, the Pandavas reached Mount Shveta. It looked like a gigantic cloud, beautiful, with plenty of water. Its top was covered with jewels and gold and had many peaks. They followed the route Vrishaparva had indicated and saw many mountains in that region. They climbed higher, through extremely inaccessible caverns and impenetrable spots, without any discomfort. Dhoumya, Draupadi, and the great rishi Lomasha travelled together, and none of them faltered. The immensely valiant ones reached the great Mount Malyavan. It was full of the noise of many animals and birds, populated by many kinds of birds, extremely beautiful, frequented by masses of monkeys. There were sacred ponds full of lotuses, pools, and extensive groves. With their body hair standing up, they happily saw Mount Gandhamadana — the habitation of kimpurushas (mythical beings), frequented by vidyadharas (celestial beings) and lady kinnaras (half-human, half-bird beings), infested with elephants and lions and innumerable sharabhas (eight-legged mythical beasts). They reached a region that resounded with the sweet sounds of many animals. With all this, Gandhamadana resembled the pleasure garden of Nandana, the garden of the gods. In a happy frame of mind, Pandu's brave sons slowly entered this beautiful and sacred forest that brought delight to the mind and the heart. With Draupadi and the great-souled brahmanas, the brave ones heard the delightful, pleasant, melodious, and charming sounds emerging from the mouths of birds. They saw many trees bent down under the burden of their fruit — mangoes, blossoming hog-plums, coconuts, tindukas, ajatakas, jiras, pomegranates, citrus trees, jackfruit, breadfruit, plantains, dates, tamarinds, and many others. There were champakas, ashokas, ketakas, bakulas, pumnagas, saptaparnis, karnikaras, patalas, kutajas, coral trees, blue lotuses, parijatas, kovidaras, pine-trees, shalas, palms, tamalas, priyalas, silk cotton, kimshukas, shimshapas, and saralas. These were full of chakoras, woodpeckers, large bees, parrots, cuckoos, sparrows, pheasants, and many other kinds of birds, warbling notes pleasant to the ear. They saw beautiful ponds full of clear water, with white water lilies, white lotuses, red lotuses, and blue lotuses on all sides. There were geese, ruddy geese, ospreys, waterfowl, ducks, swans, cranes, cormorants, and many other aquatic birds everywhere. Excited bumblebees hummed there, intoxicated by the nectar of red lotuses that bloomed during the day. Red pollen fell into the lotus cups. They saw peacocks with their peahens, maddened by the drumming of the clouds, spreading out the coloured plumage of their tails and dancing. Other birds roamed happily with their beloved ones in the valleys covered with creepers and lantanas. They saw graceful sindhuvara trees on the peaks, looking like Manmatha's javelins covered with golden blossoms. They saw karnikaras blossoming like handsome earrings, and kurubakas flowering like a volley of Kama's arrows. Thus, one by one, the brave ones saw these sights everywhere on the slopes of Gandhamadana — frequented by masses of elephants, lions, and tigers, resounding with the roars of sharabhas, covered everywhere with fruit and flowers. The forests were yellow-tinged like the sun. There were no thorns anywhere, or trees without blossoms. On the peaks, they also saw lakes and rivers like clear crystal, populated by birds with white feathers, with the sounds of swans and cranes, with colourful lotuses and blue lotuses, with fragrant garlands and succulent fruit.