(Adivansavatarana Parva continued)
Sauti said, "Hearing that Janamejaya was installed in the snake-sacrifice,
the learned Rishi Krishna-Dwaipayana went thither on the occasion. And he,
the grand-father of the Pandavas, was born in an island of the Yamuna, of
the virgin Kali by Sakti's son, Parasara. And the illustrious one
developed by his will alone his body as soon as he was born, and mastered
the Vedas with their branches, and all the histories. And he readily
obtained that which no one could obtain by asceticism, by the study of the
Vedas, by vows, by fasts, by progeny, and by sacrifice. And the first of
Veda-knowing ones, he divided the Vedas into four parts. And the Brahmana
Rishi had knowledge of the supreme Brahma, knew the past by intuition, was
holy, and cherished truth. Of sacred deeds and great fame, he begot Pandu
and Dhritarashtra and Vidura in order to continue the line of Santanu.
"And the high-souled Rishi, with his disciples all conversant with the
Vedas and their branches, entered the sacrificial pavilion of the royal
sage, Janamejaya. And he saw that the king Janamejaya was seated in the
sacrificial region like the god Indra, surrounded by numerous Sadasyas, by
kings of various countries whose coronal locks had undergone the sacred
bath, and by competent Ritwiks like unto Brahman himself. And that
foremost one of Bharata's race, the royal sage Janamejaya, beholding the
Rishi come, advanced quickly with his followers and relatives in great joy.
And the king with the approval of his Sadasyas, gave the Rishi a golden
seat as Indra did to Vrihaspati. And when the Rishi, capable of granting
boons and adored by the celestial Rishis themselves, had been seated, the
king of kings worshipped him according to the rites of the scriptures. And
the king then offered him--his grandfather Krishna--who fully deserved
them, water to wash his feet and mouth, and the Arghya, and kine. And
accepting those offerings from the Pandava Janamejaya and ordering the
kine also not to be slain, Vyasa became much gratified. And the king,
after those adorations bowed to his great-grandfather, and sitting in joy
asked him about his welfare. And the illustrious Rishi also, casting his
eyes upon him and asking him about his welfare, worshipped the Sadasyas,
having been before worshipped by them all. And after all this, Janamejaya
with all his Sadasyas, questioned that first of Brahmanas, with joined
palms as follows:
"'O Brahmana, thou hast seen with thy own eyes the acts of the Kurus and
the Pandavas. I am desirous of hearing thee recite their history. What was
the cause of the disunion amongst them that was fruitful of such
extraordinary deeds? Why also did that great battle, which caused the
death of countless creatures occur between all my grandfathers--their
clear sense over-clouded by fate? O excellent Brahmana, tell me all this
in full as everything had happened.'
"Hearing those words of Janamejaya, Krishna-Dwaipayana directed his
disciple Vaisampayana seated by his side, saying, 'The discord that
happened between the Kurus and the Pandavas of old, narrate all to the
king even as thou hast heard from me.'
"Then that blessed Brahmana, at the command of his preceptor recited the
whole of that history unto the king, the Sadasyas, and all the chieftains
there assembled. And he told them all about the hostility and the utter
extinction of the Kurus and the Pandavas."