SECTION –CXIII
(Tirtha-yatra Parva Continued)
"Vibhandaka said, 'Those are, O son!
Rakshasas. They walk about in that wonderfully beautiful form. Their strength
is unrivalled and their beauty great And they always meditate obstruction to
the practice of penances. And, O my boy, they assume lovely forms and try to
allure by diverse means. And those fierce beings hurled the saints, the
dwellers of the woods, from blessed regions (won by their pious deeds) And the
saint who hath control over his soul, and who is desirous of obtaining the
regions where go the righteous, ought to have nothing to do with them. And
their acts are vile and their delight is in causing obstruction to those who
practise penance; (therefore) a pious man should never look at them.
And, O son! those were drinks unworthy to be
drunk, being as they were spirituous liquors consumed by unrighteous men. And
these garlands, also, bright and fragrant and of various hues, are not intended
for saints.' Having thus forbidden his son by saying that those were wicked
demons, Vibhandaka went in quest of her. And when by three day's search he was
unable to trace where she was he then came back to his own hermitage. In the
meanwhile, when the son of Kasyapa had gone out to gather fruits, then that
very courtesan came again to tempt Rishyasringa in the manner described above.
And as soon as Rishyasringa had her in sight, he was glad and hurriedly rushing
towards him said, 'Let us go to thy hermitage before the return of my father.'
Then, O king! those same courtesans by contrivances made the only son of
Kasyapa enter their bark, and unmoored the vessel. And by various means they
went on delighting him and at length came to the side of Anga's king. And
leaving then that floating vessel of an exceedingly white tint upon the water,
and having placed it within sight of the hermitage, he similarly prepared a
beautiful forest known by the name of the Floating Hermitage. The king,
however, kept that only son of Vibhandaka within that part of the palace
destined for the females when of a sudden he beheld that rain was poured by the
heavens and that the world began to be flooded with water. And Lomapada, the
desire of his heart fulfilled, 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 Rohini 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,'"
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