01.073
Vaiśampāyana said.
When Kaca returned after acquiring the knowledge, the gods were delighted. Having learned that knowledge from Kaca, they had accomplished their purpose, O bull among the Bharatas. (01-73-1)
All of them assembled and then said to Śatakratu, "Today is the occasion for your valor; slay the enemies, O Purandara." (01-73-2)
Then Maghavan, thus addressed by the assembled gods, said, 'So be it,' and approached; he saw women in the forest. (01-73-3)
But while the maidens were playing in a forest like Caitraratha, he became the wind and mixed up all their garments. (01-73-4)
Then those maidens, having come up out of the water together, took those garments, each according to what was near at hand. (01-73-5)
Then Śarmiṣṭhā, the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan, not knowing it was mixed up, took Devayānī’s garment there. (01-73-6)
Then, because of that, a mutual conflict arose there between Devayānī and Śarmiṣṭhā, O lord of kings. (01-73-7)
Devayānī said.
Why do you take my garment after becoming my disciple, O Āsuri? For you, who are devoid of proper conduct, there will be no welfare. (01-73-8)
Śarmiṣṭhā said.
Your father repeatedly praises and salutes my father, whether he is seated or lying down, standing humbly below like a disciplined person. (01-73-9)
You are indeed the daughter of one who begs, praises, and accepts gifts; I am the daughter of one who is praised, gives, and does not accept gifts. (01-73-10)
Unarmed and empty-handed before an armed woman, you tremble, O mendicant. You will find an opponent, for I do not consider you worth reckoning. (01-73-11)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Śarmiṣṭhā threw Devayānī, who had reached the raised place and was caught in her garment, into a well. Then she returned to her own city. (01-73-12)
Knowing, "this one is dead," Śarmiṣṭhā, set on evil, went home without looking back, carried away by the force of anger. (01-73-13)
Then Yayāti, the son of Nahuṣa, came to that region. His team and horses were exhausted; he was hunting deer and was thirsty. (01-73-14)
The descendant of Nahuṣa, looking at a waterless well, saw that maiden there, shining like a flame of fire. (01-73-15)
Having seen that maiden of divine appearance, the best of kings comforted her with very charming gentle words and asked her. (01-73-16)
Who are you, with reddish nails, dark complexion, and beautifully polished jeweled earrings? Why do you ponder so deeply and sigh in distress? (01-73-17)
How have you fallen into this well covered with creepers and grass? And whose daughter are you? Tell me everything, O beautiful-waisted one. (01-73-18)
Devayānī said.
I am the daughter of that Śukra who, by his knowledge, revives the Daityas slain by the gods; he surely does not recognize me. (01-73-19)
This is my right hand, O king, with copper-colored nails on its fingers. Grasp it and lift me up, for I consider you noble-born. (01-73-20)
I know that you are indeed calm, strong, and renowned. Therefore you ought to lift me, fallen as I am, out of this well. (01-73-21)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Then the son of Nahuṣa, recognizing her as a Brāhmaṇa woman, took her by the right hand and lifted her out of the pit. (01-73-22)
After swiftly drawing her out of that well, King Yayāti addressed the fair-hipped woman and went to his own city. (01-73-23)
Devayānī said.
Go quickly, O Ghūrṇikā, and tell everything to my father. For I will not enter Vṛṣaparvan's city now. (01-73-24)
Vaiśampāyana said.
But she quickly went to the abode of Ghūrṇikāsura and, seeing Kāvya, said this, her mind overcome with agitation. (01-73-25)
I tell you, O greatly wise one: Devayānī was slain in the forest by Śarmiṣṭhā, O highly fortunate one, the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan. (01-73-26)
When Kāvya heard that his daughter had been struck there by Śarmiṣṭhā, he hurried out in grief, searching for his daughter in the forest. (01-73-27)
Then in the forest, Kāvya saw his daughter Devayānī, embraced her tightly with both arms, and, distressed, spoke these words. (01-73-28)
All people are bound to pain and happiness by their own faults. I think there is some bad deed of yours for which this expiation has been performed. (01-73-29)
Devayānī said.
Whether I receive redress or not, listen carefully to what Śarmiṣṭhā, daughter of Vṛṣaparvan, said to me. She said: This is indeed true: you are the singer of the Daityas. (01-73-30)
Indeed, Śarmiṣṭhā, the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan, says this exceedingly sharp and harsh speech to me, her eyes reddened with anger. (01-73-31)
Indeed, you are the daughter of one who praises, asks, and accepts; I am the daughter of one who is praised, gives, and does not accept. (01-73-32)
Thus Śarmiṣṭhā, the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan, her eyes reddened with anger and full of pride, said to me again and again. (01-73-33)
I told my friend, "If I am the daughter of a man who praises others and accepts gifts, O father, then I will conciliate Śarmiṣṭhā." (01-73-34)
Śukra said.
O auspicious one, you are not the daughter of one who praises, nor of one who accepts. Devayānī, you are the daughter of one who does not praise but is himself praised. (01-73-35)
Vṛṣaparvan indeed knows this, as do Śakra and King Nāhuṣa. My power is truly inconceivable, sacred, beyond duality, and sovereign. (01-73-36)
