राजपुत्रस् तु कौरव्यः पाण्डुर् मूलफलाशनः ॥
जगाम सह भार्याभ्यां ततो नागसभं गिरिम् ॥
स चैत्ररथम् आसाद्य वारिषेणम् अतीत्य च ॥
हिमवन्तम् अतिक्रम्य प्रययौ गन्धमादनम् ॥
रक्ष्यमाणो महाभूतैः सिद्धैश् च परमर्षिभिः ॥
उवास स तदा राजा समेषु विषमेषु च ॥
इन्द्रद्युम्नसरः प्राप्य हंसकूटम् अतीत्य च ॥
शतशृङ्गे महाराज तापसः समपद्यत ॥
rājaputras tu kauravyaḥ pāṇḍur mūlaphalāśanaḥ ||
jagāma saha bhāryābhyāṃ tato nāgasabhaṃ girim ||
sa caitraratham āsādya vāriṣeṇam atītya ca ||
himavantam atikramya prayayau gandhamādanam ||
rakṣyamāṇo mahābhūtaiḥ siddhaiś ca paramarṣibhiḥ ||
uvāsa sa tadā rājā sameṣu viṣameṣu ca ||
indradyumnasaraḥ prāpya haṃsakūṭam atītya ca ||
śataśṛṅge mahārāja tāpasaḥ samapadyata ||
"The prince, the Kaurava Pāṇḍu, living on roots and fruits, went with his two wives to the mountain Nāgasabha. Having reached the forest Caitraratha and crossed the Vāriṣeṇa, and having crossed the Himavat, he made his way to Gandhamādana. Guarded by great beings, siddhas, and the highest sages, that king dwelt both in level places and in rugged ones. Having reached Lake Indradyumna and crossed the mountain Haṃsakūṭa, on Śataśṛṅga, O great king, he became an ascetic."
51d9e87d78b6 · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:27 PM UTC
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Here Pāṇḍu reaches the place of his austerity -- the sacred mountain Śataśṛṅga ("of a hundred peaks"). It is significant that on his wandering he is "guarded by great beings, siddhas, and the highest sages": the renounced king is received by a host of the holy, and the higher worlds watch over him. In this is the fruit of sincere renunciation: one who has left the world is kept by the higher world. Significant, too, is the ascent through holy places -- from Kubera's forest (Caitraratha) through the Himalayas to Gandhamādana and Śataśṛṅga: Pāṇḍu's journey is both a visible pilgrimage and an ascent of the spirit from the world toward solitude. Thus the scripture brings Pāṇḍu to the threshold of a new life -- the life of an ascetic; and it is here, on Śataśṛṅga, that by grace and austerity the wondrous birth of the Pāṇḍavas will come to pass, as the following chapters will tell. In the king's renunciation, providence prepares the advent of the five heroes of dharma.