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Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 39 The Excavator >>
 |  | O king, Vidura had a dear friend who was a professional excavator. One day he met the Pandavas in a secluded place and said, "Vidura has sent me. I am expert at digging, and Vidura told me, 'The Pandavas need help.' Please tell me, what can I do for you? Vidura told me in private, 'Have full faith in the Pandavas and try your best to help them.' So tell me, what can I do for you?
| | | On the fourteenth evening of the dark fortnight, Purocana will put fire in the door of your house.
| | | Duryodhana's determined plan, as I have heard it, is this: 'The Pandavas are leaders of the people, and they are to burn to death with their mother.' When you were leaving the city, Pandava, Vidura spoke a few words to you in the dialect of the Mlecchas, and you replied to him, 'So be it.' I say this to gain your trust.
| | | Dedicated to truth, Yudhisthira, son of Kunti, then replied, "I know, kind sir, that you are truly a well-wishing friend of Vidura's, and that you are innocent, trustworthy, and always trying to please us. Your firm devotion to our cause is obvious, and there is no need for a password from the learned Vidura for us to recognize you. As Vidura is to us, so are you. We see no difference in you; we shall be true to you as we are to him. Now, please save us as the learned Vidura would.
| | | I am aware that Purocana built this so-called home, on Duryodhana's order, to burn us to death. The sinful son of Dhrtarastra has a great treasury and allies, and being a wicked, evil-minded man, he constantly harasses us. When we are burned alive, Duryodhana's desire will be fulfilled. But you, sir, must work to save us from that fire.
| | | Next door to us here is the fully equipped armory of wicked Purocana. Its ramparts come flush against our big house. Vidura certainly knew previously of Purocana's wicked plan, and therefore he took care to warn us. The crisis he had foreseen is now upon us. You must save us without exposing our plan to Purocana.
| | | The excavator vowed to do as Yudhisthira asked, and set about the task with zeal. He dug a tunnel and a large hole in the middle of the house, with a deceptively small mouth so that it could be easily covered and the floor kept smooth and even. Fearing evil-minded Purocana, who practically lived in the doorway of the house, the excavator disguised the hole so well that it could not be detected.
| | | The Pandavas spent their nights in the house, keeping their weapons near at hand, but during the day, on the pretext of a fondness for hunting, they wandered from one forest to another. Feigning confidence though having none, and feigning satisfaction though always in anxiety, the Pandavas lived in the greatest distress. But they successfully deceived Purocana. Nor could the residents of the city discover them, except for one man, a most skillful excavator, who was a trusted adviser to Vidura.
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