Vaisampayana said, "It was, O lord of earth, on the first day of the
lighted fortnight during the tenth month of the year that Pritha
conceived a son like the lord himself of the stars in the firmament. And
that damsel of excellent hips from fear of her friends, concealed her
conception, so that no one knew her condition. And as the damsel lived
entirely in the apartments assigned to the maidens and carefully
concealed her condition, no one except her nurse knew the truth. And in
due time that beauteous maiden, by the grace of deity, brought forth a
son resembling a very god. And even like his father, the child was
equipped in a coat of mail, and decked with brilliant ear-rings. And he
was possessed of leonine eyes and shoulders like those of a bull. And no
sooner was the beauteous girl delivered of a child, then she consulted
with her nurse and placed the infant in a commodious and smooth box made
of wicker work and spread over with soft sheets and furnished with a
costly pillow. And its surface was laid over with wax, and it was
encased in a rich cover. And with tears in her eyes, she carried the
infant to the river Aswa, and consigned the basket to its waters. And
although she knew it to be improper for an unmarried girl to bear
offspring, yet from parental affection, O foremost of kings, she wept
piteously. Do thou listen to the words Kunti weepingly uttered, while
consigning the box to the waters of the river Aswa, 'O child, may good
betide thee at the hands of all that inhabit the land, the water, the
sky, and the celestial regions. May all thy paths be auspicious! May no
one obstruct thy way! And, O son, may all that come across thee have
their hearts divested of hostility towards thee: And may that lord of
waters, Varuna, protect thee in water! And may the deity that rangeth
the skies completely protect thee in the sky. And may, O son, that best
of those that impart heat, viz., Surya, thy father, and from whom I have
obtained thee as ordained by Destiny, protect thee everywhere! And may
the _Adityas_ and the _Vasus_, the _Rudras_ and the _Sadhyas_, the
_Viswadevas_ and the _Maruts_, and the cardinal points with the great
Indra and the regents presiding over them, and, indeed, all the
celestials, protect thee in every place! Even in foreign lands I shall
be able to recognise thee by this mail of thine! Surely, thy sire, O
son, the divine Surya possessed of the wealth of splendour, is blessed,
for he will with his celestial sight behold thee going down the current!
Blessed also is that lady who will, O thou that are begotten by a god,
take thee for her son, and who will give thee suck when thou art
thirsty! And what a lucky dream hath been dreamt by her that will adopt
thee for her son, thee that is endued with solar splendour, and
furnished with celestial mail, and adorned with celestial ear-rings,
thee that hast expansive eyes resembling lotuses, a complexion bright as
burnished copper or lotus leaves, a fair forehead, and hair ending in
beautiful curls! O son, she that will behold thee crawl on the ground,
begrimed with dust, and sweetly uttering inarticulate words, is surely
blessed! And she also, O son, that will behold thee arrive at thy
youthful prime like maned lion born in Himalayan forests, is surely
blessed!'"
"O king, having thus bewailed long and piteously, Pritha laid the basket
on the waters of the river Aswa. And the lotus-eyed damsel, afflicted
with grief on account of her son and weeping bitterly, with her nurse
cast the basket at dead of night, and though desirous of beholding her
son often and again, returned, O monarch, to the palace, fearing lest
her father should come to know of what had happened. Meanwhile, the
basket floated from the river Aswa to the river Charmanwati, and from
the Charmanwati it passed to the Yamuna, and so on to the Ganga. And
carried by the waves of the Ganga, the child contained in the basket
came to the city of Champa ruled by a person of the _Suta_ tribe.
Indeed, the excellent coat of mail and those ear-rings made of _Amrita_
that were born with his body, as also the ordinance of Destiny, kept the
child alive."