"Listen, O Maharaja," Vyasa continued, "your grandfathers, exiled into the jungle, were able to spend their days happily there, with their fame for hospitality unimpaired, through the grace of Lord Krishna. They felt that the jungle was more filled with joy than Hasthinapura from where they were exiled. The hearts of the great will be so full of divine content and equanimity that they will not be affected by the ups and downs of fortune. A fragrant flower will please one with its captivating scent, whether it is held in the left hand or in the right; so too, whether in the sky or in the forest, village or city, on the heights or in the valley, the great will be equally happy. They know no change, as your grandfathers demonstrated in their lives."
"When the good are happy and living in peace, the bad cannot tolerate it; they develop intense headache. The bad have to contemplate the loss and hardships that the good undergo, in order to be happy! The loss suffered by the good is the gain of evil minds. The sweetness of the cuckoo is bitter to the ear of the crow; similarly, the unmolested happy life of the Pandavas gave misery and pain to the Kauravas in the capital."
"But, what more could they do? They had heaped on them as much grief as they could; they had cast on them all the abuses they could. Finally, they drove them out of the kingdom itself. They sent them into the forests on empty stomachs."
"Empty stomachs! Yes. That is what they imagined. But, the truth was different, For, their frames were saturated and filled with Lord Krishna. To fight against such God-filled bodies is only to engage in a hopeless fray. That is why the Kauravas took from them their material possessions and sent the bodies safe from the kingdom. After the game of dice, all properties and possessions were taken away. The Kauravas tried their worst to create dissensions among the brothers and spread heinous scandals, affecting one or the other. But, the brothers respected truth and stuck to truth and so, nothing could separate them. The fact that nothing could make a dent on the happiness of the Pandavas consumed the Kauravas like forest fire."
"At the moment of despair, Durvasa, who was the very incarnation of rage came into Hasthinapura, with ten thousand disciples, determined to spend the four-months retreat in the royal city. The Kauravas knew very well the ascetic powers of Durvasa, as well as his weaknesses and vagaries. So, they invited him to the palace and lavished their hospitality on him and his followers, during the four months of his stay. They planned to utilise that sage for their wicked stratagem and so, they showed extraordinary enthusiasm to provide for every want of his and of every one of his huge entourage. They ensured that Durvasa had no cause to be disappointed or dejected or discontented. For four months, they served him with fanatic zeal. When the sage flew into fits of rage, they hung their heads and, with folded hands, put up with all the fire poured on them. Thus, the holy visitor was mollified and won over."
