Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/102

68 Rishi performing in due succession all the ceremonies beginning with that at the birth as ordained by the divine law. And because she surpassed all of her sex in goodness, beauty, and every quality, the great Rishi called her by the name of Pramadvara. And the pious Ruru having seen Pramadvara in the hermitage of became one whose heart was pursued by the god of love. And Ruru by means of his companions made his father Pramati, the son of Bhrigu, acquainted with his passion. And Pramati demanded her of the  for his son. And her betrothed the virgin Pramadvara to Ruru fixing the nuptials for the day when the star  ( would be ascendant.

"Then within a few days of the time fixed for the nuptials, the beautiful virgin while at play with companions of her own sex, her time having come, impelled by fate, trod upon a serpent she did not perceive as it lay in a coil. And the reptile, urged to execute the will of fate, violently darted its envenomed fangs on the body of the heedless maiden. And stung by that serpent, she instantly dropped senseless on the ground, her color faded and all the graces of her person gone. And with disheveled hair she became a spectacle of woe to her companions and friends. And she who was so agreeable to behold became in death what was too painful to look at. And the girl, lying on the ground like one asleep—being overcome with the poison of the snake—once more became more beautiful still than in life. And her  and the other holy ascetics who were there, all saw her lying motionless upon the ground with the splendour of a lotus. And then there came many noted Brahmanas filled with compassion, and they sat around her. And Swastyatreya, Mahajana, Kushika, Uddalaka,  and Sweta of great renown, Bharadwaja,   Gautama, Pramati, and Pramati's son Ruru, and other inhabitants of the forest, came there. And when they saw that maiden lying dead on the ground overcome with the poison of the reptile that had stung her, filled with compassion, they all wept. But Ruru, pained exceedingly, retired from the scene."