The Grandfather in the Forest

When the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra tried to burn the Pāṇḍavas in a house of lac, and the five brothers escaped with their mother Kuntī and went from forest to forest, dressed as ascetics in bark and deerskin with matted hair, they met their grandfather Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana. They bowed to him and stood with folded hands, their mother with them.

I knew in my mind beforehand, he said, how the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra drove you out by wrongdoing. I have come knowing it, to do you good. Do not despair. All this is for your happiness. You and they are the same to me, but family love goes most to those who are suffering and to the young, and so I feel more love for you now. Live hidden in this pleasant town nearby, and wait for me to come. He brought them to the town of Ekacakrā and comforted Kuntī. The five Pāṇḍavas were Pāṇḍu's sons, but at Pāṇḍu's wish gods had fathered them: Kuntī had borne the elder three, the eldest, Yudhiṣṭhira, to Dharma, the god of right, and Pāṇḍu's second wife, Mādrī, the youngest two. Mother of living sons, Vyāsa said, your son Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, will rule all the kings of the earth by dharma, with the strength of Bhīma and Arjuna. Your sons and Mādrī's will be glad again in their own kingdom, and they will offer great sacrifices. He settled them in a brahmin's house and said, Wait for me here. I will come again. When the time and place are right you will know great joy. And he went on his way.