Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/135

Rh this ranger of the skies rises on its wings bearing a heavy burden, therefore let this foremost of birds having snakes for his food be called Gadura (bearer of heavy weight.)'

"And shaking the mountains by his wings, Gadura leisurely coursed through the skies. And as he soared with the elephant and the tortoise (in his claws), he beheld various regions underneath. And desiring as he did to save the Valakhilyas, he saw not a spot whereon to sit. And at last he wended to the foremost of mountains called Gandhamadana. And he saw there his father Kasyapa engaged in ascetic devotions. And Kasyapa also saw his son—that ranger of the skies, of divine form, possessed of great splendour, energy, and strength, and endued with the speed of the wind or the mind, huge as a mountain peak, a ready smiter like the curse of a Brahmana, inconceivable, indescribable, frightful to all creatures, endued with great prowess, terrible, of the splendour of Agni himself, and incapable of being overcome by the deities, Danavas, and invincible Rakshasas, capable of splitting mountain summits and of sucking the ocean itself and of destroying the worlds, fierce, and looking like Yama himself. And then the illustrious Kasyapa seeing him approach and knowing also his motive, spake unto him these words.

"And Kasyapa said, 'O child, don't commit a rash act, for then thou wouldst have to suffer pain. The Valakhilyas, supporting themselves by drinking the rays of the Sun, might, if angry, consume thee.

Sauti continued, "And Kasyapa then propitiated, for the sake of his son, the Valakhilyas of exceeding good fortune and whose sins had been destroyed by ascetic penances. And Kasyapa said, 'Ye whose wealth is asceticism, the essay of Gadura is for the good of all creatures. The task is great that he is striving to accomplish. It behoveth ye to accord him your permission?

Sauti continued, "The Munis thus addressed by the illustrious Kasyapa abandoned that branch and wended to the sacred mountain of Himavata for purposes of ascetic penances. And upon those Rishis going away, the son of Vinata, with voice obstructed by the branch in his beaks, asked his father Kasyapa,