Page:Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan.djvu/101

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THE ROYAL ASCETIC AND THE HIND.

From the Vishnu Purana. B. II. Chap. XIII.


 * . Of old thou gav'st a promise to relate

The deeds of Bharat, that great hermit-king: Beloved Master, now the occasion suits, And I am all attention.
 * .Brahman, hear.
 * With a mind fixed intently on his gods

Long reigned in Saligram of ancient fame, The mighty monarch of the wide, wide world. Chief of the virtuous, never in his life Harmed he, or strove to harm, his fellow-man, Or any creature sentient. But he left His kingdom in the forest-shades to dwell, And changed his sceptre for a hermit's staff, And with ascetic rites, privations rude, And constant prayers, endeavoured to attain