As they went along, the passage became dark and gloomy. Blood and dead bodies covered the floor. Worms and maggots crawled everywhere. There was a horrible stench. Yudhishthira was horror-struck and asked how long they had to walk. The messenger asked him if he wished to turn back. But from far ahead, Yudhishthira heard voices that sounded familiar calling out to him piteously. They were the voices of Karna, his brothers and Draupadi. Stunned, Yudhishthira asked the messenger, “What good deeds has Duryodhana done that he sits royally in heaven, while these people are in hell?” Angrily, he ordered the messenger to go back and tell his masters that he would stay here with those who suffered the tortures of hell only for having obeyed him during their lifetime. The messenger went to Indra, while Yudhishthira stayed back with his family in the hell.
Stranger than Heaven
