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THE EPIC AGE—THE MAHABHARATA

the fertile tract between the Ganges and the Jumna was retained by the sons of Dhritarashtra, while the uncleared jungle in the west was given to the Pandavas. The jungle Khandava Prastha was soon cleared by fire, and a new capital called Indraprastha was built, the supposed ruins of which are shown to every modern visitor to Delhi. The Pandavas, according to the Mahabharata, now undertook various military campaigns

THE ILL-FATED GAMBLING-MATCH.

extending to Bengal and even to Ceylon, but the accounts of these distant expeditions are thought to be later interpolations in the poem.

Now Yudhishthira, as Yuvaraja, was to celebrate the Rajasuya, or coronation ceremony, and all the princes of the land, including his kinsmen of Hastinapura, were invited. The place of honour was given to Krishna, chief of the Yadavas of Gujarat. Sisupala of Chedi violently protested, and Krishna killed him on the spot. The tumult finally subsided, however, and