Bharata’s race! having visited it and Sikataksha also, thou shalt repair to the Saindhava wood, and behold a number of small artificial rivers.  And O great king, O scion of Bharata’s race! thou shalt touch the waters of all the holy lakes and reciting the hymns of the god Sthanu (Siva), meet with success in every undertaking.  For this is the junction, O most praiseworthy of men, of the two ages of the world, viz., Dwapara and Treta.  It is a time, O Kunti’s son! capable of destroying all the sins of a person.  Here do thou perform ablutions, for the spot is able to remove all the sins of an individual.  Yonder is the Archika hill, a dwelling place for men of cultured minds.  Fruits of all the seasons grow here at all times and the streams run for ever.  It is an excellent place fit for the celestials.  And there are the holy cairns of diverse forms, set up by the celestials.  O Yudhishthira! this is the bathing spot belonging to the Moon.  And the saints are in attendance here on all sides round—­they are the dwellers of the wood and the Valakhilyas, and the Pavakas, who subsist on air only.  These are three peaks and three springs.  Thou mayst walk round them all, one by one:  then thou mayst wash thyself at pleasure.  Santanu, O king! and Sunaka the sovereign of men, and both Nara and Narayana have attained everlasting regions from this place.  Here did the gods constantly lie down, as also the forefathers, together with the mighty saints.  In this Archika hill, they all carried on austerities.  Sacrifice to them, O Yudhishthira!  Here did they, also the saints, eat rice cooked in milk, O protector of men!  And here is the Yamuna of an exhaustless spring.  Krishna here engaged himself in a life of penances, O Pandu’s son.  O thou that draggest the dead bodies of thy foes! the twin brothers, and Bhimasena and Krishna and all of us will accompany thee to this spot.  O lord of men, this is the holy spring that belongeth to Indra.  Here the creative and the dispensing deity, and Varuna also rose upwards, and here too they dwelt, O king! observing forbearance, and possessed of the highest faith.  This excellent and propitious hill is fit for persons of a kindly and candid disposition.  This is that celebrated Yamuna, O king! frequented by hosts of mighty saints, the scene of diverse religious rites, holy, and destructive of the dread of sin.  Here did Mandhata himself, of a mighty bow, perform sacrificial rites for the gods; and so did Somaka, O Kunti’s son! who was the son of Sahadeva, and a most excellent maker of gifts.’”

SECTION CXXVI

“Yudhishthira said, ’O great Brahmana, how was that tiger among kings, Mandhata, Yuvanaswa’s son, born,—­even he who was the best of monarchs, and celebrated over the three worlds?  And how did he of unmeasured lustre attain the very height of real power, since all the three worlds were as much under his subjection, as they are under that of Vishnu of mighty soul?  I am desirous of hearing all this in connection with the life and achievements of that sagacious monarch.  I should also like to hear how his name of Mandhata originated, belonging as it did to him who rivalled in lustre Indra himself:  and also how he of unrivalled strength was born, for thou art skilled in the art of narrating events.’