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Rh at length replied, saying, 'Asked by me about offspring, the bighsouled and mighty ascetic said there is and then he went away. I do not remember him to have ever before in jest aught that is false. Why should he. O king, speak a falsehood on such a serious occasion ? He said, "Thou shouldst not grieve, O daughter of the snake race, about the intended result of our union ! A son shall be born to thee, resplen. dent as the blazing sun. O brother, having said this to me, my husband of ascetic wealth hath gone away. Therefore, let the deep sorrow cherished in thy heart disappear !""

Sauti continued, -"Thus addressed, Vasuki, the king of the snakes, accepted those words of his sister, and in great joy said,-'Be it so ! And the chief of the snakes then adored his sister with his best regards, gift of wealth, and fitting eulogies. Then, O best of Brahmanas, the embryo endued with great energy and great splendour, began to develop, like the moon in the heavens in the bright fortnight."

"And in due time, the sister of the snakes, O Brahmana, gave birth to a son of the splendour of a celestial child, who became the reliever of the fears of his paternal ancestors and maternal relatives. The child grew up there in the house of the king of the snakes. He studied the Vedas and their branches with the ascetic Chyavana, the son of Bhrigu. And though but a boy, his vows were rigid. And he was gifted with great intelligence, and with the several attributes of virtue, knowledge, freedom from the world's indulgences, and saintliness. And the name by which he was known to the world was Astika. And he was known by the name of Astika (whoever is) because his father had gone to the woods, saying, 'There is,' when he was in the womb. Though but a boy, he had great gravity and intelligence. And he was reared with great care in the palace of the snakes. And he was like the illustrious lord of the celescials, viz., Mahadeva of the golden form, the wielder of the trident. And he grew up day by day, the delight of all the snakes 1"

So ends the forty-eighth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.

Saunaka said,"Tell me again, in detail, all that king Janamejaya had asked his ministers about his father's ascension to heaven."

Sauti said, "O Brahmana, hear all that the king asked his ministers, and all that they said about the death of Parikshit 1"

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