attendants of Siva, those two heroes set out for that
celestial lake which possessed hundreds of heavenly
wonders, that sacred lake, capable of granting every
object, which the god, having the bull for his mark,
had indicated to them, And unto that lake, the Rishis
Nara and Narayana (viz., Arjuna and Vasudeva) went
fearlessly. And having reached that lake, bright
as the disc of the sun, Arjuna and Achyuta beheld within
its waters a terrible snake. And they beheld
there another foremost of snakes, that had a thousand
heads. And possessed of the effulgence of fire,
that snake was vomiting fierce flames. Then Krishna
and Partha having touched water, joined their hands,
and approached those snakes, having bowed unto the
god having the bull for his mark. And as they
approached the snakes, conversant as they were with
the Vedas, they uttered the hundred stanzas of the
Veda, to the praise of Rudra, bowing the while with
their sincere souls unto Bhava of immeasurable power.
Then those two terrible snakes, in consequence of
the power of those adorations to Rudra, abandoned
their snake-forms and assumed the forms of a foe-killing
bow and arrow. Gratified (with what they saw),
Krishna and Arjuna then seized that bow and arrow
of great effulgence. And those high-souled heroes
then brought them away and gave them unto the illustrious
Mahadeva. Then from one of the sides of Siva’s
body there came out a Brahmacharin of tawny eyes.
And he seemed to be the refuge of asceticism.
Of blue throat and red locks, he was endued with great
might. Taking up that best of bows that Brahmacharin
stood placing (both the bow and his feet properly).
And fixing the arrow on the bowstring, he began to
stretch the latter duly. Beholding the manner
of his seizing the handle of the bow and drawing the
string and placing of his feet, and hearing also the
Mantras uttered by Bhava, the son of Pandu, of inconceivable
prowess, learnt everything duly. The mighty and
puissant Brahmacharin then sped that arrow to that
same lake. And he once more threw that bow also
in that self-same lake. Then Arjuna of good memory
knowing that Bhava was gratified with him, and remembering
also the boon the latter had given him in the forest,
and the sight also he gave him of his person, mentally
entertained the desire, ’Let all this become
productive of fruit!’ Understanding this to be
his wish, Bhava, gratified with him, gave him the
boon. And the god also granted him the terrible
Pasupata weapon and the accomplishment of his vow.
Then having thus once more obtained the Pasupata weapon
from the supreme god, the invincible Arjuna, with
hair standing on end, regarded his business to be already
achieved. Then Arjuna and Krishna filled with
joy, paid their adorations unto the great god by bowing
their heads. And permitted by Bhava both Arjuna
and Kesava, those two heroes, almost immediately came
back to their own camp, filled with transports of
delight. Indeed, their joy was as great as that
of Indra and Vishnu when those two gods, desirous of
slaying Jambha, obtained the permission of Bhava that
slayer of great Asuras.’”