SECTION CX

Vaisampayana said, “O chief of the Bharata race! then the son of Kunti went at a slow pace to the two rivers Nanda and Aparananda, which had the virtue of destroying the dread of sin.  And the protector of men having reached the healthy hill Hemakuta, beheld there very many strange and inconceivable sights.  There the very utterance of words caused the gathering of clouds, and a thousand volleys of stones.  And people at its sight were struck sad, and were unable to ascend the hill.  There the winds blew for aye, and the heavens always poured down rains; and likewise the sounds of the recitation of the sacred writ were heard, yet nobody was seen.  In the evening and in the morning would be seen the blessed fire that carries offerings to the gods and there flies would bite and interrupt the practice of austerities.  And there a sadness would overtake the soul, and people would become sick.  The son of Pandu, having observed very many strange circumstances of this character again addressed his questions to Lomasa with reference to these wonderful things.

“Lomasa said, ’O slayer of foes!  O king!  I am going to tell thee as we heard it before; do thou attend to the same with intent mind.  In this peak of Rishava, there was once a saint known by that name.  And his life had lasted for many hundred years.  And he was devoted to penances and was greatly wrathful.  And he, forsooth, for having been spoken to by others, from wrath addressed the hill thus, “Whoever should utter any words here, thou must throw stones at him, and thou must call up the winds to prevent him from making any noise.”  This was what the saint said.  And so at this place, as soon as a man utters any words, he is forbidden by a roaring cloud.  O king! thus these deeds were performed by that great saint, and from wrath he also forbade other acts.  O king! tradition says that when the gods of yore had come to the Nanda, suddenly came over (there) a number of men to look at the celestials.  Those same gods at whose head stood Indra did not, however, like to be seen; and so they rendered this spot inaccessible, by raising obstructions in the form of hills.  And from that day forward, O Kunti’s son! men could not cast their eyes at any time on what looked like a hill, far less could they ascend the same.  This big mountain is incapable of being seen by one who hath not led an austere life, nor can such a one ascend it.  Therefore, O son of Kunti! keep thou thy tongue under control.  Here at that time all those gods performed the best sacrificial rites.  O Bharata’s son!  Even up to this day these marks thereof may be seen.  This grass here hath the form of the sacred kusa grass:  the ground here seemeth to be overspread with the sacred grass; and, O lord of men! many of these trees here look like the spots for tying the sacrificial beasts.  O Bharata’s son! still the Gods and saints have residence here; and their