Vaisampayana said, “King Yudhishthira then caused his troops to encamp on a part of the field that was level, cool, and abounding with grass and fuel. Avoiding cemeteries, temples and compounds consecrated to the deities, asylums of sages, shrines, and other sacred plots. Kunti’s high-souled son, Yudhishthira, pitched his camp on a delightful, fertile, open and sacred part of the plain. And rising up, again, after his animals had been given sufficient rest, the king set out joyously surrounded by hundreds and thousands of monarchs. And Kesava accompanied by Partha began to move about, scattering numerous soldiers of Dhritarashtra (kept as outposts). And Dhrishtadyumna of Prishata’s race and that mighty car-warrior of great energy, viz., Yuyudhana, otherwise called Satyaki, measured the ground for the encampment. And arrived, O Bharata, at the holy Hiranwati which flows through Kurukshetra, which was filled with sacred water, and whose bed was divested of pointed pebbles and mire, and which was regarded as an excellent tirtha, Kesava caused a moat to be excavated there, and for its protection stationed a sufficient number of troops with proper instructions. And the rules that were observed in respect of the tents of the high-souled Pandavas, were followed by Kesava in the matter of the tents he caused to be set up for the kings (that came as their allies). And, O monarch, costly tents, incapable of being attacked, apart from one another, were, by hundreds and thousands, set up for those kings on the surface of the earth, that looked like palatial residences and abounded with fuels and edibles and drinks. And there were assembled hundreds upon hundreds of skilled mechanics, in receipt of regular wages and surgeons and physicians, well-versed in their own science, and furnished with every ingredient they might need.Mbh 5.153.1a · Mahabharata · UDYOGA PARVA
Mbh 5.153.1a
Mahabharata · translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
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