marked with lines like those of a conchshell.  And furnished with armlets, and decked with a diadem, he came smiling, and illumining all the directions.  And it was by Yoga power that he divided himself in twain, one of which continued to give heat, and the other appeared before Kunti.  And he addressed Kunti in words that were exceedingly sweet, saying, ’O gentle maiden, over-powered by the mantras, I come hither obedient to thee.  Subject as I am to thy power, what shall I do, O queen?  Tell me, for I shall do whatever thou mayst command?  Hearing these words of the deity, Kunti said, ’O worshipful one, go thou back to the place thou hast come from!  I invoked thee from curiosity alone.  Pardon me, O worshipful one!’ Surya then said, ’O damsel of slender waist, I will, even as thou hast said, return to the place I have come from!  Having called a celestial, it is not, however, proper to send him away in vain.  Thy intention, O blessed one, it is to have from Surya a son furnished with a coat of mail and ear-rings, and who in point of prowess would be beyond compare in this world!  Do thou, therefore, O damsel of elephantine gait, surrender thy person to me!  Thou shall then have, O lady, a son after thy wish!  O gentle girl, O thou of sweet smiles, I will go back after having known thee!  If thou do not gratify me to-day by obeying my word, I shall in anger curse thee, thy father and that Brahmana also.  For thy fault, I will surely consume them all, and I shall inflict condign punishment on that foolish father of thine that knoweth not this transgression of thine and on that Brahmana who hath bestowed the mantras on thee without knowing thy disposition and character!  Yonder are all the celestials in heaven, with Purandara at their head, who are looking at me with derisive smiles at my being deceived by thee, O lady!  Look at those celestials, for thou art now possessed of celestial sight!  Before this I have endued thee with celestial vision, in consequence of which thou couldst see me!’”

Vaisampayana continued, “Thereupon the princess beheld the celestials standing in the firmament, each in his proper sphere[107], even as she saw before her that highly resplendent deity furnished with rays, viz., Surya himself.  And beholding them all, the girl became frightened and her face was suffused with blushes of shame.  And then she addressed Surya, saying, ’O lord of rays, go thou back to thy own region.  On account of my maidenhood, this outrage of thine is fraught with woe to me!  It is only one’s father, mother, and other superiors, that are capable of giving away their daughter’s body.  Virtue I shall never sacrifice, seeing that in this world the keeping of their persons inviolate is deemed as the highest duty of women, and is held in high regard!  O thou possessed of wealth of splendour, it is only to test the power of my mantras that I have, from mere childishness, summoned thee.  Considering that this hath been done by a girl of