In plain words
What a strange thing this was! How very strange! ‘To lose the mother revered as a goddess, and Kṛṣṇa, dear as life, and to hold a coronation in that hour of grief: what is this!’ So the people marvelled. But what has to happen cannot fail to happen. Once the Pāṇḍavas had gone to the Himālayas, Hastināpura had to have some protector, surely! Chanting Vedic mantras, the paṇḍits placed the crown on Parīkṣit's head. But Parīkṣit was not happy. ‘Is it right for all of you together to put this crown on my head! Who am I, after all! I am utterly insignificant. One of you could wear this crown and rule the kingdom, surely!’ he pleaded. Then Dharmaja: ‘My son! We will not stay here any longer. What has to happen must happen. You yourself must look after the welfare of the people. You cannot stop this,’ he said. With nothing more he could do, Parīkṣit followed the directions of those Brāhmins and was crowned. ‘Victory and blessing, ever auspicious blessing!’ So the elders blessed him.
Setting out on the Great Departure, the Pāṇḍavas drew the grieving Parīkṣit close: ‘My son! You must uphold our name. You must rule so as to delight the people, and win their regard. You must guard the people as the eyelid guards the eye,’ they counselled. Then Parīkṣit vowed, ‘I will look after the people as dear as my life and protect them.’ And just so, he cared for the people as his own children. Under his rule everyone lived in comfort and happiness.
The Pāṇḍavas took leave of the people and set out for the Himālayas straight from the very hall where the coronation had taken place. On the way they immersed their mother's remains in the Gaṅgā. That was all; how they went on after that, and what they did, nobody knows. Draupadī, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva fell on the way. In the end Dharmarāja went on with the journey alone. When they learnt that the Pāṇḍavas had given up their bodies on the Great Departure, Parīkṣit and the people grieved deeply. It seemed to them that at the end fate had treated the Pāṇḍavas very cruelly.