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476 Do what I say ! Thy virtue bath sustained no diminution. Thou hast not disregarded me !'

"Arjuna, hearing this, replied, 'I have heard, even from thee, that quibbling is not permitted in the discharge of duty. I cannot waver from cruth. Truth is my weapon."

Vaisampayana continued, -"Obtaining then the king's permission, Arjuna prepared himself for a forest life: and he went to the forest to live there for twelve years.'

Thus ends the two hundred and fifteenth section in the Arjuna. vanavasa Parva of the Adi Parva.

Vaisampayana said, "When that spreader of the renown of Kuru's race viz., the strong armed Arjuna, set out (for the forest), Brahmanas conversant with the Vedas walked behind that illustrious hero to a certain distance. Followed by Brahmanas conversant with the Vedas and their branches and devoted to the contemplation of the Supreme Spirit, by persons skilled in music, by ascetics devoted to the Deity, by reciters of Puranas, by narrators of sacred stories, by devotees leading celibate lives, by Vanaprasthas, by Brahmanas sweetly reciting celestial histories, and by various other classes of persons of sweet speeches, Arjuna journeyed like Indra followed by the Maruts. And, O thou of Bharata's race, that bull among the Bharatas saw, as he journeyed, many delightful and picturesque forests, lakes, rivers, seas, provinces, and waters. At length, on arriving at the source of the Ganges the mighty hero thought of settling there.

"Listen now, O Janamejaya, to a wonderful feet which that foree most of the sons of Pandu, of high soul, did, while living there. When that son of Kunti, O Bharata, and the Brahmanas who had followed him, took up their residence in that region, the latter performed innumerable Agnihotras (sacrificial rites by igniting the sacred fire). And, O king, in consequence of those learned vow-observing, and illustrious Brahmanas, who never deviated from the right path, daily establishing and igniting with mantras on the banks of that sacred stream, after the performance of their ablutions, fires for their sacrifices, and pouring libations of clarified butter into the same, and worshipping those fires with offerings of flowers, that region itself where the Ganges entered the plains became exceedingly beautiful.