Mahabharata – 222
by
Sankar Mukherjee
&
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Aadivamsa Avatarana Parva

The necessary arrangements for the tourney

Commanded by the king Dhritharastra to arrange a tourney where the skills of the princes in the art of war could be tested in public Vidura, with the permission of the king went out to do what he was to do. And Drona endowed with great wisdom, then measured out a piece of land that was void of trees. And upon the spot of land so measured out,the tourney was scheduled. Drona, that first of eloquent men, selected an auspicious day when the star and the ascendant was auspicious. He offered sacrifice to the gods in the presence of the citizens assembled by announcement to witness the same. Then the skilled mechanics of Dronacharya built there a large and elegant stage according to the rules laid down in the scriptures, and it was furnished with all kinds of weapons. They also built another elegant hall for the lady-spectators. And for the citizens the artisans constructed galleries and platforms.  And many elegant carriages were made to bring the lady spectators. When the day fixed for the Tournament came,the king accompanied by his ministers, with Bhishma and Kripa, walking ahead, came to that auditorium of almost celestial beauty constructed of pure gold and decked with strings of pearls and stones of yellow sapphire and emerald. And Gandhari blessed with good fortune and Kunti,and the other ladies of the royal household, in gorgeous dress and accompanied by their attending women, joyfully ascended the platforms ,like celestial ladies ascending the Sumeru mountain . And the four orders of the society including the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, desirous of seeing the princes skill in arms, left the city in a hurry and came to the auditorium. And also from the other towns the vast crowd assembled there. And with the sounds of trumpets and drums and the noise of many voices, that vast lobby appeared like an agitated ocean. At last, Drona accompanied by his son, dressed in white with a white sacred thread,white locks, white beard, white garlands, and white sandal-paste entered in the auditorium. It seemed that as if the Moon himself accompanied by the planet Mars appeared in an unclouded sky. On entering the pavilion the son of Bharadwaja performed timely rituals and worshipped. The Brahmanas well versed in mantras performed the rituals to inaugurate the tourney.