01.112
Core:Kanti suggests other yogic means to get Sons.
Vaiśampāyana said:
Thus addressed, O great king, Kuntī spoke to Pāṇḍu — the heroic bull of the Kurus, her husband, lord of the earth.
You, O knower of dharma and lotus-eyed one, should not speak thus to me — your righteous wife who is devoted to you.
O mighty-armed hero, you alone shall righteously beget in me children endowed with heroism, O Bhārata.
O tiger among men, may I attain heaven with you; for the sake of offspring, you alone must approach me, O joy of the Kurus.
Indeed, I would not even in mind approach any man other than you; who else on earth is superior to you, O man?
Now hear from me this righteous and ancient tale, O wide-eyed one, which is well known — I shall narrate it.
There was once a king named Vyushitāśva, famed and supremely righteous, who advanced the lineage of Pūru.
While that great and righteous king was performing sacrifice, the gods along with Indra and great sages came there.
Indra rejoiced with soma, and the twice-born with gifts, at the sacrifice of the great-souled royal sage Vyushitāśva.
Then, O king, Vyushitāśva shone surpassingly beyond mortals, as the sun does over all beings at winter’s end.
He, the best of kings, having conquered and seized the eastern, northern, central, and southern kings, brought them under control.
In the great horse sacrifice, Vyushitāśva, the powerful, became a king of kings endowed with the strength of ten elephants.
Even here they sing a verse, those who know the Purāṇas: Vyushitāśva, having conquered this earth bounded by oceans, protected all castes like a father protects his own sons.
Performing great sacrifices, he gave wealth to the Brāhmaṇas; having gathered countless jewels, he celebrated great rites, pressed many Soma libations, and established Soma sacrifices.
His wife was Kākṣīvatī, greatly esteemed — Bhadra by name, O king of men, unequalled in beauty upon the earth.
It is said that both deeply desired each other; he, overcome by passion for her, contracted a wasting disease.
Within a short time, he passed away like the setting sun; his wife, deeply afflicted, mourned after the king of men had died.
O tiger among men, we have heard that childless Bhadra, deeply stricken with grief, lamented — know this, O lord of men.
A woman, supreme knower of dharma though she be, without a son and bereft of husband, though she lives — truly lives not, being afflicted.
Better is death than life without her husband for a woman, O foremost of warriors. I wish to follow your path — be gracious, take me with you.
I cannot live even a moment bereft of you; grant me grace, O king — swiftly take me from here.
I shall follow you, O tiger among men, through smooth and rough paths — you who go without return.
Like an inseparable shadow, O king, I shall always be obedient, O tiger among men, ever devoted to your pleasure and welfare.
From today, O king, torments that dry the heart will overwhelm me in your absence, O lotus-eyed one.
O king, surely it is due to my misfortune that our companionships or unions were broken in former births.
This sorrow, born of separation from you, O king, has come to me as a result of sinful actions accumulated in former lives.
From today, O king, I shall lie upon kuśa grass, filled with sorrow, devoted solely to the vision of you.
O tiger among men, reveal yourself kindly to me — sorrowful, helpless, destitute, pitiable, and lamenting, O lord of men.
As she lamented again and again in many ways, embracing the corpse, her speech choked, the hidden (voice) spoke.
Arise, O gentle one, go — I grant you a boon here. O lovely-smiling one, I shall beget children in you.
O best-hipped lady, on the fourteenth or the eighth lunar day, having bathed after your period, you may lie with me on your own bed.
Thus addressed, that lady Bhadra, devoted to her husband and desiring a son, did exactly as told.
O lord of men, the lady gave birth through the corpse to three sons of the Shālva line and four of the Madra line, O best of the Bharatas.
Likewise, O bull among the Bharatas, you too are capable of begetting sons in me through mental union, by the strength of austerity and yoga.
