“’"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.’”

SECTION CXIV

Vaisampayana said, “Then, O Janamejaya, the son of Pandu started from the river Kausiki and repaired in succession to all the sacred shrines.  And, O protector of men, he came to the sea where the river Ganga falls into it; and there in the centre of five hundred rivers, he performed the holy ceremony of a plunge.  Then, O ruler of the earth, accompanied by his brothers, the valiant prince proceeded by the shore of the sea towards the land where the Kalinga tribes dwell.