The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Vana Parva, Part 1
Religion
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Vana Parva, Part 1
Epic literature, Sanskrit
bestowed his daughter Santa on Rishyasringa in marriage. And with a view
to appease the wrath of his father, he ordered kine to be placed, and
fields to be ploughed, by the road that Vibhandaka was to take, in order
to come to his son. And the king also placed plentiful cattle and stout
cowherds, and gave the latter the following order:
"'"When the great saint Vibhandaka should enquire of you about his son,
ye must join your palms and say to him that these cattle, and these
ploughed fields belong to his son and that ye are his slaves, and that
ye are ready to obey him in all that he might bid." Now the saint, whose
wrath was fierce, came to his hermitage, having gathered fruits and
roots and searched for his son. But not finding him he became
exceedingly wroth. And he was tortured with anger and suspected it to be
the doing of the king. And therefore, he directed his course towards the
city of Champa having made up his mind to burn the king, his city, and
his whole territory. And on the way he was fatigued and hungry, when he
reached those same settlements of cowherds, rich with cattle. And he was
honoured in a suitable way by those cowherds and then spent the night in
a manner befitting a king. And having received very great hospitality
from them, he asked them, saying, "To whom, O cowherds, do ye belong?"
Then they all came up to him and said, "All this wealth hath been
provided for thy son." At different places he was thus honoured by that
best of men, and saw his son who looked like the god Indra in heaven.
And he also beheld there his daughter-in-law, Santa, looking like
lightning issuing from a (cloud). And having seen the hamlets and the
cowpens provided for his son and having also beheld Santa, his great
resentment was appeased. And O king of men! Vibhandaka expressed great
satisfaction with the very ruler of the earth. And the great saint,
whose power rivalled that of the sun and the god of fire, placed there
his son, and thus spake, "As soon as a son is born to thee, and having
performed all that is agreeable to the king, to the forest must thou
come without fail." And Rishyasringa did exactly as his father said, and
went back to the place where his father was. And, O king of men! Santa
obediently waited upon him as in the firmament the star Rohind waits
upon the Moon, or as the fortunate Arundhati waits upon Vasishtha, or as
Lopamudra waits upon Agastya. And as Damayanti was an obedient wife to
Nala, or as Sachi is to the god who holdeth the thunderbolt in his hand
or as Indrasena, Narayana's daughter, was always obedient to Mudgala, so
did Santa wait affectionately upon Rishyasringa, when he lived in the
wood. This is the holy hermitage which belonged to him. Beautifying the
great lake here, it bears holy fame. Here perform thy ablutions and have
thy desire fulfilled. And having purified thyself, direct thy course
towards other holy spots.'"
SECTION CXIV
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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