"'Vibhandaka said, "Those are, O son! Rakshasas. They walk about in that
wonderfully beautiful form. Their strength is unrivalled and their
beauty great. And they always meditate obstruction to the practice of
penances. And, O my boy, they assume lovely forms and try to allure by
diverse means. And those fierce beings hurled the saints, the dwellers
of the woods, from blessed regions (won by their pious deeds). And the
saint who hath control over his soul, and who is desirous of obtaining
the regions where go the righteous, ought to have nothing to do with
them. And their acts are vile and their delight is in causing
obstruction to those who practise penance; (therefore) a pious man
should never look at them. And, O son! those were drinks unworthy to be
drunk, being as they were spirituous liquors consumed by unrighteous
men. And these garlands, also, bright and fragrant and of various hues,
are not intended for saints." Having thus forbidden his son by saying
that those were wicked demons, Vibhandaka went in quest of her. And when
by three day's search he was unable to trace where she was he then came
back to his own hermitage. In the meanwhile, when the son of Kasyapa had
gone out to gather fruits, then that very courtesan came again to tempt
Rishyasringa in the manner described above. And as soon as Rishyasringa
had her in sight, he was glad and hurriedly rushing towards him said,
"Let us go to thy hermitage before the return of my father." Then, O
king! those same courtesans by contrivances made the only son of Kasyapa
enter their bark, and unmoored the vessel. And by various means they
went on delighting him and at length came to the side of Anga's king.
And leaving then that floating vessel of an exceedingly white tint upon
the water, and having placed it within sight of the hermitage, he
similarly prepared a beautiful forest known by the name of the _Floating
Hermitage_. The king, however, kept that only son of Vibhandaka within
that part of the palace destined for the females when of a sudden he
beheld that rain was poured by the heavens and that the world began to
be flooded with water. And Lomapada, the desire of his heart fulfilled,
bestowed his daughter Santa on Rishyasringa in marriage. And with a view
to appease the wrath of his father, he ordered kine to be placed, and
fields to be ploughed, by the road that Vibhandaka was to take, in order
to come to his son. And the king also placed plentiful cattle and stout
cowherds, and gave the latter the following order:
"'"When the great saint Vibhandaka should enquire of you about his son,
ye must join your palms and say to him that these cattle, and these
ploughed fields belong to his son and that ye are his slaves, and that
ye are ready to obey him in all that he might bid." Now the saint, whose
wrath was fierce, came to his hermitage, having gathered fruits and
roots and searched for his son. But not finding him he became
exceedingly wroth. And he was tortured with anger and suspected it to be
the doing of the king. And therefore, he directed his course towards the
city of Champa having made up his mind to burn the king, his city, and
his whole territory. And on the way he was fatigued and hungry, when he
reached those same settlements of cowherds, rich with cattle. And he was
honoured in a suitable way by those cowherds and then spent the night in
a manner befitting a king. And having received very great hospitality
from them, he asked them, saying, "To whom, O cowherds, do ye belong?"
Then they all came up to him and said, "All this wealth hath been
provided for thy son." At different places he was thus honoured by that
best of men, and saw his son who looked like the god Indra in heaven.
And he also beheld there his daughter-in-law, Santa, looking like
lightning issuing from a (cloud). And having seen the hamlets and the
cowpens provided for his son and having also beheld Santa, his great
resentment was appeased. And O king of men! Vibhandaka expressed great
satisfaction with the very ruler of the earth. And the great saint,
whose power rivalled that of the sun and the god of fire, placed there
his son, and thus spake, "As soon as a son is born to thee, and having
performed all that is agreeable to the king, to the forest must thou
come without fail." And Rishyasringa did exactly as his father said, and
went back to the place where his father was. And, O king of men! Santa
obediently waited upon him as in the firmament the star Rohind waits
upon the Moon, or as the fortunate Arundhati waits upon Vasishtha, or as
Lopamudra waits upon Agastya. And as Damayanti was an obedient wife to
Nala, or as Sachi is to the god who holdeth the thunderbolt in his hand
or as Indrasena, Narayana's daughter, was always obedient to Mudgala, so
did Santa wait affectionately upon Rishyasringa, when he lived in the
wood. This is the holy hermitage which belonged to him. Beautifying the
great lake here, it bears holy fame. Here perform thy ablutions and have
thy desire fulfilled. And having purified thyself, direct thy course
towards other holy spots.'"