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This Rishi's body had been huge, and he gradually reduced it by severe ascetic penances. For the same reason, O Brahmanas, the sister of Vasuki was called Jaratkaru. The virtuous Saunaka, when he heard this, smiled and addressing Ugrasravas said, 'It is even so. Saunaka then said, 'I have heard all that thou hast before recited. I desire to know how Astika was born.
He finished thus the first great lesson; entering the great Rishi's house, the darkness disappeared, light burst upon him; perfectly silent and at rest, he reached the last exhaustless source of truth; lustrous with all wisdom the great Rishi sat, perfect in gifts, whilst one convulsive throe shook the wide earth." The Birth
How did he then forgetting the Rishi's curse, approach thee with enkindled desire? O Madri, this foremost of men should have been protected by thee. Why didst thou tempt him into solitude? Always melancholy at the thought of the Rishi's curse, how came he to be merry with thee in solitude?
So ends the thirteenth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva. "Sauti said, 'That Brahmana of rigid vows then wandered over the earth for a wife but a wife found he not. One day he went into the forest, and recollecting the words of his ancestors, he thrice prayed in a faint voice for a bride. Thereupon Vasuki rose and offered his sister for the Rishi's acceptance.
Seeing this, the sage transformed his lion into a Sarabha of great strength. The wild Sarabha, beholding the Rishi's Sarabha before him to be fiercer and more powerful, quickly fled away, from that forest. Having been thus transformed into a Sarabha by the sage, the animal lived happily by the side of his transformer.
But if righteousness is the groundwork of a Rishi's purity, then the idea of a sacred spot as his dwelling, being the cause of his righteousness is wrong. What is reverenced, should be known and seen. Reverence indeed is due to righteous conduct, but let it not redound to the place or mode of life." Thus speaking at large on religious questions, they went on till the setting sun.
"My father Kanwa, in answer to that Rishi's enquiries, said, 'Viswamitra, of old, having been engaged in the austerest penances alarmed Indra, the chief of the celestials, who thought that the mighty ascetic of blazing energy would, by his penances, hurl him down from his high seat in heaven. Indra, thus alarmed, summoned Menaka and told her, 'Thou, O Menaka, art the first of celestial Apsaras.
Though practising the vow of continence from his very youth, as soon as he felt the influence of desire, the Rishi's vital fluid came out. And Drona studied all the Vedas and their several branches. And Bharadwaja had a friend named Prishata who was the king of Panchalas. And about the time that Drona was born, Prishata also obtained a son named Drupada.
After Himavat had promised the hand of Uma to Mahadeva, the great Rishi Bhrigu, approaching Himavat, addressed him, saying, 'Give this daughter of thine unto me in marriage. Himavat replied unto him, saying, 'Rudra is the bridegroom already selected by me for my daughter. Angry at this reply, Bhrigu said, 'Since thou refusest my suit for the hand of thy daughter and insultest me thus, thou shalt no longer abound with jewels and gems. To this day, in consequence of the Rishi's words, the mountains of Himavat have not any jewels and gems.
And beholding that wonderful sight, the monarch touched the feet of Satyavati's son, exclaiming, 'O great Rishi, nothing is miraculous in thee! The Rishi then cheerfully continued, 'In a certain hermitage there was an illustrious Rishi's daughter, who, though handsome and chaste, obtained not a husband. The lord Sankara, gratified at her penances, told her himself.
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