"Markandeya said, 'O king, after the death of Ikshvaku, a highly
virtuous king of the name of _Sasada_, ascending the throne of Ayodhya
ruled this earth. And from _Sasada_ was descended Kakutstha of great
energy. And Kakutstha had a son of name Anenas. And Anenas had a son
named Prithu and Prithu had a son named Viswagaswa and from Viswagaswa
sprang Adri and from Adri sprang Yuvanaswa and from Yuvanaswa sprang
Sravastha and it was by this Sravastha that the city called _Sravasthi_
was built and from Sravastha was descended Vrihadaswa and from
Vrihadaswa sprang Kuvalaswa and Kuvalaswa had twentyone thousand sons
and all these sons were fierce and powerful and skilled in learning. And
Kuvalaswa excelled his father in every quality. And when the time came,
his father Vrihadaswa installed him--the brave and highly virtuous
Kuvalaswa--on the throne. And having thus made over the royal dignity to
his son, that slayer of foes--king Vrihadaswa of great intelligence--
retired into the woods for asceticism.'
"Markandeya continued, 'O king, when the royal sage Vrihadaswa was about
to retire into the woods, that best of Brahmanas, Utanka heard of it.
And Utanka who was possessed of great energy and immeasurable soul,
approached that foremost of all wielders of weapons and best of men. And
approaching him, the _Rishis_ began to persuade him to give up
asceticism. And Utanka said, "O king, to protect (the people) is thy
duty. It behoveth thee to do that duty of thine. Let us be free from all
anxiety through thy grace. Possessed as thou art of a great soul,
protected by thee, the earth will be freed from all dangers. Therefore,
it behoveth thee, not to retire into the woods. Great merit attaches to
the act of protecting people in this world. Such merit can never be
acquired in the woods. Let not thy heart, therefore, turn to this
course. The merit, great king, that was acquired in days of old by great
royal sages by protecting their subjects was so great that nothing equal
to it could be seen. The king should always protect his subjects. It
behoveth thee, therefore, to protect thy people. O lord of the earth, I
cannot (at present) perform my ascetic devotions peacefully. Close to my
asylum there is a sea of sands known by the name of _Ujjalaka._ And it
occupies a level country and is without any water. And it extends many
_yojanas_ in length and breadth and in that desert dwells a chief of the
_Danavas_ called Dhundhu by name. And Dhundhu is the son of Madhu and
Kaitabha, and is fierce and terrible and possessed of great prowess. And
endued with immeasurable energy, that _Danava_, O king, dwelleth under
the ground, and, O king, it behoveth thee to retire into the woods,
having first slain that _Asura_. That _Asura_ is now lying still in the
observance of an ascetic penance of great austerity and, O king, the
object he hath in view is sovereignty over the celestials as also of the
three worlds. And, O king, having obtained a boon from the Grandsire of
all creatures, that _Asura_ hath become incapable of being slain by the
gods and _Daityas_ and _Rakshasas_ and _Gandharvas_. Slay though him, O
king, and blessed be thou and let not thy heart turn to any other
course. By slaying him thou wilt without doubt, achieve a great thing
and thou wilt also obtain eternal and undying fame. And O king, when at
the end of every year that wicked _Asura_ lying covered with sands,
wakes up and begins to breathe, then the whole earth with her mountains,
forests and woods begins to tremble. And his breath raiseth up clouds of
sands, and shroudeth the very sun, and for seven days continually the
earth tremble all over, and sparks and flames of fire mixed with smoke
spread far around and for all this, O king, I cannot rest in peace in my
asylum. Slay thou him, O king, for the good of the world. Indeed, when
that _Asura_ is slain the triple world will be in peace and happiness.
That thou art competent, O king, to slay that _Asura_, I fully believe.
Thy energy will be enhanced by Vishnu with the addition of his own. In
days of old, O king, Vishnu gave this boon that the king who should slay
this fierce and great _Asura_ would be pervaded by the invincible energy
of Vishnu himself. Bearing that invincible _Vaishnava_ energy in
thyself, slay thou, O great king, that _Daitya_ of fierce prowess.
Possessed as Dhundhu is of mighty energy, no one, O king, that is endued
with small energy himself will be capable of consuming him, even if he
were to strive for a hundred years."'"