70 Religious Books, The Ramayana, And The Mahabharata
(10) Sauptika-parva:
The word 'Supta' means sleeping. In this parva Ashatthama killed the
sleeping soldiers of the Pandavas. This is why the parva is named
Sauptika-parva.
Ashatthama vowed to kill the Pandavas. The night had far advanced.
Everybody fell asleep. Ashatthama entered the camp of the Panadvas
stealthily with a sword in hand. First he killed Dhristodumno, the
killer of his father. Then he killed many great warriors and soldiers.
He also killed the five sons of Draupadi. Panchapandavas were not
there in the camp that night.
As it was dark Ashatthama took the five sons of the Pandavas for
Panchapandavas. Then he took the five heads of the five sons of
Draupadi and Panchapandavas to Duryodhana. Duryodhana became
very happy to see the heads. But later he realized that these were not
the heads of the Panchapandavas but of their sons. Duryodhana
became very sad because these five sons were the last descendants of
Kuru dynasty. Duryodhana died in grief. On the other hand Draupadi
was wailing for her sons. The camp of the Pandavas was full of grief
and mourning.
(11) Stri-parva:
The war of Kurukshetra came to an end after eighteen days. None of
the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra was alive. Many others were
killed. Inmates were wailing in grief in every house of Hastinapura.
Vyasa consoled Dhritarashtra. Gradually they could endure the loss
of their near and dear ones. Everybody came to the battle field along
with the wives of the Kauravas. They saw the dead bodies of their
relatives. They broke into tears. But they must not continue
mourning. They were to make necessary arrangements for the
cremation of the dead bodies.