(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Thus addressed, Kunti replied unto her heroic lord,
king Pandu, that bull amongst the Kurus, saying, "O virtuous one, it
behoveth thee not to say so unto me. I am, O thou lotus-eyed one, thy
wedded wife, devoted to thee. O, Bharata of mighty arms, thyself shalt, in
righteousness, beget upon me children endued with great energy. Then I
shall ascend to heaven with thee; O prince of Kuru's race, receive me in
thy embrace for begetting children. I shall not certainly, even in
imagination, accept any other man except thee in my embraces. What other
man is there in this world superior to thee? O virtuous one, listen to
this Pauranic narrative that hath been, O thou of large eyes, heard by me,
and that I shall presently narrate.
"'"There was, in ancient times, a king in the race of Puru, known by the
name of Vyushitaswa. He was devoted to truth and virtue. Of virtuous soul
and mighty arms, on one occasion, while he was performing a sacrifice the
gods with Indra and the great Rishis came to him, and Indra was so
intoxicated with the Soma juice he drank and the Brahmanas with the large
presents they received, that both the gods and the great Rishis began
themselves to perform everything appertaining to that sacrifice of the
illustrious royal sage. And thereupon Vyushitaswa began to shine above all
men like the Sun appearing in double splendour after the season of frost
is over. And the powerful Vyushitaswa, who was endued with the strength of
ten elephants very soon performed the horse-sacrifice, overthrowing, O
best of monarchs, all the kings of the East, the North, the West and the
South, and exacted tributes from them all. There is an anecdote, O best of
the Kurus, that is sung by all reciters of the Puranas, in connection with
that first of all men, the illustrious Vyushitaswa.--Having conquered the
whole Earth up to the coast of the sea, Vyushitaswa protected every class
of his subjects as a father does his own begotten sons.--Performing many
great sacrifices he gave away much wealth to the Brahmanas. After
collecting unlimited jewels and precious stones he made arrangements for
performing still greater ones. And he performed also the Agnishtoma, and
other special Vedic sacrifices, extracting great quantities of Soma juice.
And, O king, Vyushitaswa had for his dear wife, Bhadra, the daughter of
Kakshivat, unrivalled for beauty on earth. And it hath been heard by us
that the couple loved each other deeply. King Vyushitaswa was seldom
separated from his wife. Sexual excess, however, brought on an attack of
phthisis and the king died within a few days, sinking like the Sun in his
glory. Then Bhadra, his beautiful queen, was plunged into woe, and as she
was sonless, O tiger among men, she wept in great affliction. Listen to me,
O king, as I narrate to you all that Bhadra said with bitter tears
trickling down her cheeks. 'O virtuous one', she said, 'Women serve no
purpose when their husbands are dead. She who liveth after her husband is
dead, draggeth on a miserable existence that can hardly be called life. O
bull of the Kshatriya order, death is a blessing to women without husbands.
I wish to follow the way thou hast gone. Be kind and take me with thee. In
thy absence, I am unable to bear life even for a moment. Be kind to me, O
king and take me hence pretty soon. O tiger among men, I shall follow thee
over the even and uneven ground. Thou hast gone away, O lord, never to
return. I shall follow thee, O king, as thy own shadow. O tiger among men,
I will obey thee (as thy slave) and will ever do what is agreeable to thee
and what is for thy good. O thou of eyes like lotus-petals, without thee,
from this day, mental agonies will overwhelm me and eat into my heart. A
wretch that I am, some loving couple had doubtless been separated by me in
a former life, for which, in this life, I am made to suffer the pangs of
separation from thee. O king, that wretched woman who liveth even for a
moment separated from her lord, liveth in woe and suffereth the pangs of
hell even here. Some loving couple had doubtless been separated by me in a
former life, for which sinful act I am suffering this torture arising from
my separation from thee. O king, from this day I will lay myself down on a
bed of Kusa grass and abstain from every luxury, hoping to behold thee
once more. O tiger among men, show thyself to me. O king, O lord, command
once more thy wretched and bitterly weeping wife plunged in woe.'"
"'Kunti continued, "It was thus, O Pandu, that the beautiful Bhadra wept
over the death of her lord. And the weeping Bhadra clasped in her arms the
corpse in anguish of heart. Then she was addressed by an incorporeal voice
in these words, "Rise up, O Bhadra, and leave this place. O thou of sweet
smiles, I grant thee this boon. I will beget offspring upon thee. Lie thou
down with me on thy own bed, after the catamenial bath, on the night of
the eighth or the fourteenth day of the moon." Thus addressed by the
incorporeal voice, the chaste Bhadra did as she was directed, for
obtaining offspring. And, O bull of the Bharatas, the corpse of her
husband begat upon her seven children viz., three Salwas and four Madras.
O bull of the Bharatas, do thou also beget offspring upon me, like the
illustrious Vyushitaswa, by the exercise of that ascetic power which thou
possessest.'"