“Vaisampayana continued, ’The monarch, then, O thou of Bharata’s race, seeing the purity of his son established by the celestial messenger, became exceedingly glad.  And he took unto him that son with joy.  And the king with a joyous heart then performed all those rites upon his son that a father should perform.  And the king smelt his child’s head and hugged him with affection.  And the Brahmanas began to utter blessings upon him and the bards began to applaud him.  And the monarch then experienced the great delight that one feeleth at the touch of one’s son.  And Dushmanta also received mat wife of his with affection.  And he told her these words, pacifying her affectionately, ’O goddess, my union with the? took place privately Therefore, I was thinking of how best to establish thy purity.  My people might think that we were only lustfully united and not as husband and wife, and therefore, this son that I would have installed as my heir apparent would only have been regarded as one of impure birth.  And dearest, every hard word thou hast uttered in thy anger, have I, O large-eyed one, forgiven thee.  Thou art my dearest!’ And the royal sage Dushmanta, having spoken thus unto his dear wife, O Bharata, received her with offerings of perfume, food, and drink.  And king Dushmanta, then, bestowed the name of Bharata upon his child, and formally installed him as the heir apparent.  And the famous and bright wheels of Bharata’s car, invincible and like unto the wheels of the cars owned by the gods, traversed every region, filling the whole Earth with their rattle.  And the son of Dushmanta reduced to subjection all kings of the Earth.  And he ruled virtuously and earned great fame.  And that monarch of great prowess was known by the titles of Chakravarti and Sarvabhauma.  And he performed many sacrifices like Sakra, the lord of the Maruts.  And Kanwa was the chief priest at those sacrifices, in which the offerings to Brahmanas were great.  And the blessed monarch performed both the cow and the horse-sacrifices.  And Bharata gave unto Kanwa a thousand gold coins as the sacerdotal fee.  It is that Bharata from whom have emanated so many mighty achievements.  It is from him that the great race called after him in his race are called after him.  And in the Bharata race there have been born many godlike monarchs gifted with great energy, and like unto Brahman himself.  Their number cannot be counted.  But, O thou of Bharata’s race, I shall name the principal ones that were blessed with great good fortune, like unto the gods, and devoted to truth and honesty.’”

SECTION LXXV

(Sambhava Parva continued)

“Vaisampayana said, ’Hear now, as I recite the recorded genealogy, that is sacred and subservient to religion, profit and pleasure, of these royal sages—­Daksha, the lord of creation, Manu, the son of Surya, Bharata, Ruru, Puru, and Ajamidha.  I shall also recite to thee, O sinless one, the genealogies of the Yadavas and of the Kurus and of the king of the Bharata line.  These genealogies are sacred and their recitation is a great act of propitiation.  That recitation conferreth wealth, fame and long life.  And, O sinless one, all these I have named shone in their splendour and were equal unto the great Rishis in energy.