sacred fire is observed in the morning and in the evening.  Here if one bathes, his sin is forthwith destroyed, O Kunti’s son!  O most praiseworthy of the race of Kuru! do thou, therefore, perform thy ablutions, together with thy younger brothers.  Then after having washed thyself in the Nanda, thou wilt repair to the river Kausiki, the spot where the most excellent and severest form of penances was practised by Viswamitra.’  Then the king with his attendants, having washed his body there, proceeded to the river Kausiki, which was pure and delightful and pleasant with cool water.

“Lomasa said, ’This is the pure divine river by name Kausiki.  O chief of Bharata’s race! and this is the delightful hermitage of Viswamitra, conspicuous here.  And this is a hermitage, with a holy name, belonging to Kasyapa of mighty soul; whose son was Rishyasringa, devoted to penances, and of passions under control.  He by force of his penances caused Indra to rain; and that god, the slayer of the demons Vala and Vritra, dreading him, poured down rain during a drought.  That powerful and mighty son of Kasyapa was born of a hind.  He worked a great marvel in the territory of Lomapada.  And when the crops had been restored, king Lomapada gave his daughter Santa in marriage to him, as the sun gave in marriage his daughter Savitri.’

“Yudhishthira said, ’How was the son of Kasyapa, Rishyasringa, born of a hind?  And how was he endowed with holiness, being the issue of a reprehensible sexual connexion?  And for what reason was Indra, the slayer of the demons Vala and Vritra, afraid of that same sagacious boy, and poured down rain during a period of drought?  And how beautiful was that princess Santa, pure in life, she who allured the heart of him when he had turned himself into a stag?  And since the royal saint Lomapada is said to have been of a virtuous disposition, why was it that in his territory, Indra, the chastiser of the demon Paka, had withheld rain?  O holy saint! all this in detail, exactly as it happened, thou wilt be pleased to narrate to me, for I am desirous of hearing the deeds of Rishyasringa’s life.’

“Lomasa said, ’Hear how Rishyasringa, of dreaded name, was born as a son to Vibhandaka, who was a saint of the Brahmana caste, who had cultured his soul by means of religious austerities, whose seed never failed in causing generation, and who was learned and bright like the Lord of beings.  And the father was highly honoured, and the son was possessed of a mighty spirit, and, though a boy, was respected by aged men.  And that son of Kasyapa, Vibhandaka, having proceeded to a big lake, devoted himself to the practice of penances.  And that same saint, comparable to a god, laboured for a long period.  And once while he was washing his mouth in the waters, he beheld the celestial nymph Urvasi—­whereupon came out his seminal fluid.  And, O king! a hind at that time lapped it up along with the water that she was drinking, being athirst; and from this cause