"Thereupon I said in sweet accents to the great ocean who had been terrified and moved by the curse of the gods who were innocent of the cause thereof. ’O you of great mind, O lord of rivers, be thou at ease, do not fear, I have been propitiated with thee, Listen now to the future object of this imprecation (36–37). O lord, renouncing this thy ocean body, go to the race of Bharata. Then, O great ocean, O great king, you will be enveloped with regal grace. There, O lord of waters, you will govern the four Varnas and be pleased (38–39). And assuming, a beautiful form of a woman, this Gangā, the foremost of rivers, will serve you (40). Sporting with Jānhavi, by my command you will not experience human miseries (41). O ocean, be you soon united with Gangā in wed-lock and carry out my command (42). Exiled from the celestial region the Vasus have entered the _Rasātala_. I appoint you for procreating them (43). Let Jānhavi, for having offspring, conceive those eight Vasus who are effulgent like fire and increase the joy of the celestials (44). Having procreated the Vasus, multiplied the Kuru race and cast off your human body, you will, in no time, assume your ocean body’ (45). "O foremost of gods, thus in the days yore beholding the future burden of the earth, I sowed the seeds of Shāntanu’s race for your well-being in which have been born the Vasus who live in the celestial region (46–47). Even now in the celestial region exists Gangā’s son Bhishma as the eighth Vasu. The seven other Vasus have repaired to their respective regions and only Vishnu is now living (48). The king Shāntanu begat on his second wife the highly effulgent and powerful king Vichitravirya (49). The two sons of Vichitravirya were the two famous kings of the world Dhritarāstra and Pāndu, the two foremost of men (50). Of them Pāndu had two beautiful and youthful wives. The first was named Kunti and the second was named Mādri. And both of them were like the wives of the celestials (51). Dhritarāshtra had one wife, by name Gāndhāri, who, by stead-fastly serving her husband, became celebrated in the world (52). Herein that house will be divided into two hostile parties and a terrible dissension will take place amongst the sons of those two kings (53). On account of the internal dissensions of these kings all the royal families will be destroyed. A terrible fear, like the hour of universal dissolution will then prevail (54). When all the kings, with their armies, will be slain by one another the cities and kingdoms will be shorn of their inhabitants and Earth will enjoy relief (55). I have read in the Puranas that in the end of the Dwāpara Yuga, all the kings, with their armies, will be destroyed by weapons. Then Ashwathama, a portion incarnate of Sankara, with the fire of weapon, will consume the remnant of humanity in battle lying unconscious, at night, in sleep (56–57). When that one of cruel deeds, the like of death himself, will