Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/197

Rh the king after these adorations then bowed down to his great-grand-father, and sitting in joy asked him about his welfare. And the illustrious Rishi also, casting his eyes upon him and asking him about his welfare, then worshipped the Sadasyas, having been before worshipped by them all. And after all this, Janamejaya with all his Sadasyas, asked that first of Brahmanas, with joined hands, the following:—

'O Brahmana, thou hast seen with thy own eyes the acts of the Kurus and the Pandavas. I am desirous of hearing thee recite their history! What was the cause of the disunion amongst them of extraordinary deeds? Why also did that great war which was the death of countless creatures occur between all my grand-fathers—their clear sense over-clouded by fate? O excellent of Brahmanas, tell me all this in full, as everything had happened!'

"And hearing those words of Janamejaya, Krishna-Dwaipayana then directed his disciple Vaisampayana seated at his side, saying, 'The disunion that happened between the Kurus and the Pandavas of old, repeat all to him about as thou hast heard from me.'

"Then that bull amongst Brahmanas, at the command of his master, recited the whole of that old history unto the king, the Sadasyas, and all the princes and chieftains there assembled. And he told them all about the hostility and the utter extinction of the Kurus and the Pandavas."

And so ends the sixtieth Section in the Adivansavatarana of the Adi Parva.

 

( Adivansavatarana Parva continued. )

Vaisampayana said, "Bowing down in the first place to my preceptor with the eight parts of the body touching the ground, with devotion and reverence, and singleness of heart, worshiping the whole assembly of Brahmanas and other learned persons, I shall recite in full the narration I have heard of this high-souled great Rishi Vyasa, the first of intelligent men in the three worlds. And having got it within thy reach, 