Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/166

132 passed his time in pleasure as Pururava of old did on receiving the celestial damsel Urvasi. And the fairest of the fair, the damsel Vapushtama too, devoted to her lord and celebrated for her beauty, having gained a desirable husband, pleased him by the excess of her affection during the period he spent in the pursuit of pleasure."

And so ends the forty-fourth Section in the Astika of the Adi Parva.

 

( Astika Parva continued. )

Meanwhile, the great ascetic Jaratkaru wandered over the whole Earth making the place where evening fell his home for the night. And gifted with ascetic power, he roamed, practising various vows difficult of being practised by the inmature, and bathing also in various sacred waters. And the Muni had air alone for his food, and was free from the desire of worldly enjoyment. And he became daily emaciated and grew lean-fleshed. And he saw one day the spirits of his ancestors hanging with heads downward in a hole, by a cord of virana roots having one only thread entire. And that single thread even was being gradually eaten away by a large rat dwelling in that hole. And the pitris in that hole were without food, emaciated, pitiable, and eagerly wishing for their salvation. And Jaratkaru approaching the pitiable ones, himself in humble guise, asked them, 'Who are ye hanging by this cord of virana roots? The single weak root that is still left in this cord of virana roots already eaten away by the rat dwelling in this hole, is itself being gradually eaten away by the rat with his sharp teeth. The little that remains of that single thread will soon be cut away. It is clear ye shall then fall down into this pit with faces downwards. Seeing ye with faces downwards, and overtaken by this great calamity, my pity hath been excited. What good can I do to ye? Tell me quickly, whether this calamity can be relieved by a fourth, a third, or even with a half of this my asceticism. O relieve your- 