Vidura and Sanjaya and Dhaumya made all arrangements for the cremation of the heroes who were slain upon the battlefield, and as it was completed, Yudhisthira, accompanied by Dhritarastra and others, turned towards the banks of the river Ganges where they would offer funeral oblations to the dead.

 

Gandhari was there, as was Queen Kunti and Draupadi and the men bereft of their jewels and ornaments wore the simplest of clothes, their immense chests were covered by thin upper cloths as the dismal procession winded its way slowly towards the banks of the river Ganges.

 

Kunti's condition was pitiable, three days back Radheya was killed by her son, Arjuna, and there was great celebration within the Pandava camp and she had heard about it from Sanjaya as he continued to narrate the war to the blind king Dhritarastra.

 

 

Queen Kunti's heart was bleeding with grief but she could not tell anyone about this, she could not talk about the wound within her heart, she had to remain silent, but today she saw the dead body of her first born, the great warrior Radheya.

 

She was determined to not allow herself to faint and all the time Krsna was watching, as she looked at Radheya and saw his wife weeping over her husband and all the time her heart was breaking and yet the only thing she could express was silence as she stood upon the banks of the Ganga.

 

Ganga appeared the same as it did all those years ago when she carried away her son, the river flowed as placidly as it had upon that memorable day when she set the wooden box afloat upon the bosom of the river, it appeared as if it was just yesterday.

 

 

Queen Kunti stood there upon the banks of the river Ganga as she  watched while her sons and the brahman priests performed their final offerings for the departed souls, yet she could see that Radheya had no son to do it for him, they were all dead, all slain in battle.

 

Radheya was still an orphan as he was upon the day in which she had abandoned him and her heart was ready to burst with great sorrow, she was burning with self condemnation for the great injustice which she had inflicted upon her own child.

 

Queen Kunti prepared herself, she set her lips in a firm line, she knew what had to be done, she had to do it, at the very least this was what she owed to her son Radheya and so she walked with firm steps towards her eldest son, Yuddhisthira.

 

 

Yuddhisthira had just finished his offerings to the sons of Draupadi and all the others, Arjunas eyes were full of tears as he had just made the offerings to his beloved, Abhimanyu, and now Kunti would do something which would make all of this seem like nothing.

 

Kunti placed her hand upon Yudhisthiras back and said 'my son there is still another person left, you have to make an offering for him also'. Yuddhisthira and his brothers turned and moved closer to the Queen, their brows knit as they tried to guess who this other person could be.

 

Krsna was the one man who knew as she had kept the secret well, she had not announced it during the war, she was silent even after Radheya had died as it would have broken the heart of Yuddhisthira, he would have stopped fighting and left for the forest, what Kunti was doing was right as Krsna listened with great compassion.

 

 

Yuddhisthira was confused by his mothers words 'one more person' he replied 'i do not understand mother, i remember the dead only too well, why would i forget those who have died for me, please tell me of this person to whom an offering by me is due'.

 

'It is Radheya' replied Queen Kunti 'you must perform the offerings for him too'. Yuddhisthira was astounded 'why should i do it for Radheya ? a sutaputra, the funeral rites must be performed by his father since his sons are dead, i am a ksatriya why ask me to perform such a ceremony for a suta, for Radheya, our arch enemy ?'

 

Queen Kunti was numb with the agony pervading her heart, she had been through much tribulation and was tired and weary of it all, but she knew this had to be done and with tears in her eyes she told Yuddhisthira and everyone assembled 'Radheya was a ksatriya and not a sutaputra, you must perform the ceremony for him'.

 

 

'Not a sutaputra' they all exclaimed 'Radheya was not a sutaputra, he was a ksatriya' they all shouted at once, the cry was taken up by everyone there, 'Radheya was a ksatriya' 'Radheya was not a sutaputra' everyone was astonished to hear of this.

 

'But mother' spoke Yuddhisthira 'you knew not a thing about Radheya, how do you know he is a ksatriya, i am puzzled by your words, you must know who his father was, please mother, if you say that Radheya was a ksatriya, you must know the father of this great Radheya'.

 

'Radheya was the son of Surya' replied Kunti 'his mother was a young girl, Surya gave her the child, born with kavacha and kundalas, and as a maiden within her fathers house she was afraid of censure so she placed the child in a wooden box and set it afloat upon this same river Ganga where it was intercepted by Atiratha and his wife Radha, hence his name Radheya, yet his mother was a princess who did this injustice to her first born'.

 

 

Yuddhisthira along with his brothers and everyone who was present were astonished and as they listened to this recital, everything else was forgotten as their mother explained to them how Radheya was a great ksatriya and the son of a princess.

 

'Mother' inquired Yuddhisthira 'who was the mother of Radheya, who was that woman so heartless she could abandon her child in the river Ganga at the moment of his birth and ruin the life of that great man, you must know as you possess all the details, who is she mother ?'

 

All eyes were turned upon Queen Kunti, she looked at all of them, she looked at Krsna who was looking at her with infinite pity in his eyes and then she looked straight within the eyes of Yuddhisthira 'that woman is still alive' she said 'i am that woman, Radheya was my son, my first born'.

 

 

Vidura rushed to her side, as he had on the day of the tournament when she fainted at the sight of Radheya entering the arena. Yuddhisthira could not think at all, he stood staring at them all, he kept repeating 'Radheya is my elder brother and we have killed him'.

 

Arjuna rushed to Yuddhisthira and cried out 'what have i done, what have i done my lord, how can i live after this, i have killed my own brother' he could not stand up, he slumped to the ground and was shouting like a man who was bereft of his senses.

 

Krsna came to him and tried to comfort him and Yuddhisthira, but Yuddhisthiras grief was dreadful, he was trembling like a man with an ague, his eyes became blood shot and nearby Bhima sat down next to Arjuna, too stunned to think, he was like a child who had suddenly become old.

 

 

 

Bhima though of the day of the tournament as he remembered discovering that Radheya was a sutaputra and heard himself saying 'You, a sutaputra, are not fit to be killed by Arjuna, you are not fit to hold a bow, get thee hence and take up your whip which suits you better' he also recalled the words of Duryodhana 'As for this young man, he is full of the qualities of a ksatriya, can you not see that a tiger can never be born of a poor meek deer'.

 

Duryodhanas words burned into him, yes they were not great enough to recognise the greatness of Radheya and Bhima sat there sobbing uncontrollably, his huge frame was shattered, he could not speak a word, there was dumb misery and nothing else.

 

Nakula though of his dual with Radheya who said 'some day you will be proud of this dual you fought with me, some day you will be proud that Radheya insulted you' and so it was, it would be his most treasured memory as it was with Sahadeva who also fought with Radheya, his elder brother, whom they had killed and were now inconsolable.

 

 

Queen Kunti was revived with water and other things, yet for the first time in his life Yuddhisthira paid no attention, he could not look at the woman who had done this injustice, he remembered the day when Radheya had died, he remembered every moment of that day and he remembered calling him a 'sutaputra'.

 

Yuddhisthira turned to his mother and asked 'Did Radheya know about it and did he know who he was ?' 'Yes' said Krsna and all eyes turned towards Krsna 'did you know about it Krsna ?' asked Yuddhisthira 'Yes' was the reply and after that nobody spoke a word.

 

Radheya knew he was not a sutaputra, knew he was the son of Surya and Kunti and yet he allowed his brothers to taunt him with the name of sutaputra, Yuddhisthira beat his head in futile anger, when he heard that Radheya was dead he ran to the battlefield to see if he was really dead, he was so happy to see him dead, he could not understand how his mother could allow this to happen.

 

 

Yuddhisthira looked at his mothers face, she looked so unhappy and he did not wish to speak anymore, she had suffered enough and so he went and stood alone upon the banks of the Ganga where his tears were embraced by the great goddess of the waters.

 

The death of Abhimanyu and the death of the sons of Draupadi had been forgotten within this great calamity which had befallen them, they had killed their brother and this was the only thought which accompanied them as they departed the banks of the river Ganga.

 

The procession winded its way towards the city as Gandhari and Kunti and Draupadi all shared the same grief, they had lost their sons and were inconsolable, Krsna walked along with them, he left them to their grief as he and Satyaki walked a few paces behind them.