Why Duryodhana Felt Insulted 149

Krsna, Arjuna and the queens were thus engaged in these jubilant activities,
persons who were not clean in heart became agitated by lustful desires. In
other words, such behavior between pure males and females is enjoyable,
but persons who are materially contaminated become lustful.

King Yudhisthira, in a gorgeous chariot yoked by excellent horses, was
present with his queens, including Draupadi and others. The festivities of
the sacrifice were so beautiful that it appeared as if Rajastiya was standing
there in person with the functions of the sacrifice.

Following the Rajasiiya sacrifice, there was the Vedic ritualistic duty
known as patnisarmyaja. This sacrifice was performed along with one’s
wife, and it was also duly performed by the priests of King Yudhisthira.
When Queen Draupadi and King Yudhisthira were taking their avabhrtha
bath, the citizens of Hastinapura as well as the demigods began to beat on
drums and blow trumpets out of feelings of happiness, and there was a
shower of flowers from the sky. When the King and the Queen finished
their bath in the Ganges, all the other citizens, consisting of all the varnas
or castes—the brahmanas, the ksatriyas, the vaigyas, and the siidras—took
their baths in the Ganges. Bathing in the Ganges is recommended in the
Vedic literatures because by such bathing one becomes freed from all
sinful reactions. This is still current in India, especially at particularly
auspicious moments. At such times, millions of people bathe in the Ganges.

After taking his bath, King Yudhisthira dressed in a new silken cloth
and wrapper and decorated himself with valuable jewelry. The King not
only dressed himself and decorated himself, but he also gave clothing and
ornaments to all the priests and to the others who had participated in the
yajnas. In this way, they were all worshiped by King Yudhisthira. He
constantly worshiped his friends, his family members, his relatives, his
well-wishers and everyone present, and because he was a great devotee of
Lord Narayana, or because he was a Vaisnava, he therefore knew how to
treat everyone well. The Mayavadi philosophers’ endeavor to see everyone
as God is an artificial way towards oneness, but a Vaisnava or a devotee of
Lord Narayana sees every living entity as part and parcel of the Supreme
Lord. Therefore, a Vaisnava’s treatment of other living entities is on the
absolute platform. Since one cannot treat one part of his body differently
from another part because they all belong to the same body, so a Vaisnava
does not see a human being as distinct from an animal because in both of
them he sees the soul and the Supersoul seated simultaneously.

When everyone was refreshed after bathing and was dressed in silken
clothing with jeweled earrings, flower garlands, turbans, long wrappers and
pearl necklaces, they looked, altogether, like the demigods from heaven.
