[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.2207 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2207 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2207 - **Language:** English ### [c5.2207](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2207) Yudhi-shthira fought in the great battle, but did not distinguish himself as a soldier. The version of the Mahā-bhārata given in Mr. Wheeler’s work makes him guilty of downright cowardice. At the instigation of Krishna he compassed the death of Drona by conveying to that warrior false intelligence of the death of his son Aswatthāman, and his character for veracity was used to warrant the truth of the representation. His conscience would not allow him to tell a downright lie, but it was reconciled to telling a lying truth in killing an elephant named Aswatthāman, and informing the fond father that Aswatthāman was dead. He retreated from a fight with Karna, and afterwards reproached Arjuna for not having supported him and Bhīma. This so irritated Arjuna that he would have killed him on the spot had not Krishna interposed. After the great battle was over Krishna saluted him king, but he showed great disinclination to accept the dignity. His sorrow for those who had fallen was deep, especially for Karna, and he did what he could to console the bereaved Dhrita-rāshṭra and Gāndhārī, as well as the many other sufferers. He was made king, and was raised to the throne with great pomp, he acting as ruler under the nominal supremacy of the old King Dhrita-rāshṭra. There, after an interval, he asserted his universal supremacy by performing the great Aswa-medha sacrifice. The death of Krishna at Dwārakā and regrets for the past embittered the lives of the Pāṇḍavas, and they resolved to withdraw from the world. Yudhi-shṭhira appointed Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna, to be his successor, and the five brothers departed with Draupadī to the Himālayas on their way to Swarga. The story of this journey is told with great feeling in the closing verses of the Mahā-bhārata. \*See\* Mahā-bhārata. - [Previous: c5.2206.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2206.5) - [Next: c5.2208](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2208) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) ## Cites (1) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2207](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2207) · Pramāṇa