Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/274

240 deserve thy curse, O ! But yet hast thou cursed me. Thou hast acted under the influence of passion and not from a sense of duty. Therefore thy desire shall not be fulfilled. No Rishi's son shall ever accept thy hand in marriage. Thou hast said that my knowledge shall not bear fruit. Let it be so. But in him it shall bear fruit to whom I may impart it.

Vaisampayana continued, "That first of Brahmanas, Kacha, having said so unto, speedily wended unto the abode of the chief of the celestials. And beholding him arrived, the celestials with Indra ahead, having first worshipped, spoke unto him as follows:—'Thou hast, indeed, performed an act of great good for us. Wonderful hath been thy achievement! Thy fame shall never die! And thou shalt be a sharer with us in sacrificial offerings.

And thus ends the seventy-seventh Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.

 

( Sambhava Parva continued. )

Vaisampayana said, "The dwellers of heaven became exceedingly glad to welcome Kacha who had mastered the wonderful science. And, O thou bull of the Bharata race the celestials then leart that science from Kacha and considered their object as already achieved. And then assembling together they spoke unto him of an hundred sacrifices, saying, 'The time hath come for showing they prowess. Slay thy foes, O Purandara!' And thus addressed, Maghava, then accompanied by the celestials, set out, saying 'So be it.' But on his way he saw a number of damsels. These maidens were sporting in a lake in the gardens of the Gandharva . And changing himself into wind he soon mixed up the garments of those maidens which they had kept on the bank. A little while after, the maidens getting up from the water approached their garments that had, indeed, been mingled with each other. And it so happened that from the intermingled heap the attire of was appropriated by Sharmishta the daughter of Vrishaparva, from ignorance that 