Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Volume 1).pdf/525

Rh triple nature ! The wise perform their sacrifices before thee, taking thee as consisting of eight (mouths)! The great Rishis declare that this universe hath been created by thee! O thou that feedest on sacrificial butter, without thee this wiole universe would be destroyed within a single day! Bowing to thee, the Brahmanas, accompanied by their wives and children, go to eternal regions won by them by help of their own deeds! O Agni, the learned represent thee as the clouds in the heavens charged with lightning 1 O Agni, the flames put forth by thee consume every creaturel Othou of great splendour, this universe hath been created by thee! The Vedas are thy word! All creatures, mobile and immobile, depend upon chee! Water primarily dependeth on thee, so also the whole of this uoiverse! All offerings of clarified butter and oblations of food to the pitris have been established in thee! O god. thou art the consumer, and thou art the creator and thou art Vrihaspati himself (in intelligence)! Thou art che twin Aswins; thou art Suryya : thou art Soma; thou art Vayu.'

Vaisampayana continued,-'O mooarch, thus panegyrised by Mandapala, Agni was gratified with that Rishi of immeasurable energy: and the god, well-pleased, replied --What good can I do to thee?' Then Mandapala with joined hands said unto the carrier of clarified butter,'While tlou burnest the forest of Khandava, spare my children. The illustrious bearer of clarified butter replied, 'So be ic. It was, therefore, O monarch, that he blazed not forth, while consuming the forest of Khandava, for the destruction of Mandapala's children.'

Thus ends the two hundred and thirty-first section in the Khandavadaha Parva of the Adi Parva.

Vaisa mpayana said.-'When the fire blazed forth in the forest of Khandava, the infant birds became very much distressed and afflicted. Filled with anxiety, they saw not any means of escape. Their mother. the helpless Jarita, knowing that they were too young to escape, was filled with sorrow and wept aloud. And she said, 'Oh the terrible conflagration, illuminating the whole universe and burning the forest down, approachetb towards us, increasing my woe! These infants with immature understanding, without feathers and feet, and the sole refuge of our deceased ancestors, afflict me! Oh, this fire approacheth, spread