03.104
Lomaśa said.
Brahmā, the Grandsire of the worlds, spoke to those who had assembled: "All of you gods, go wherever you wish, as you desire." (03-104-1)
By the mighty operation of time, the ocean will return to its natural state, having used the relatives of the great king Bhagiratha indeed as the reason. (3-104-2)
Yudhishthira said.
O Brāhmaṇa, how indeed did the relatives (come to be)? What was the cause here, O sage? And how did the ocean become full through the exertion of Bhagiratha? (03-104-3)
O sage rich in austerities, I wish to hear this in detail—the excellent deeds of the kings as narrated by you, O Brāhmaṇa. (03-104-4)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Thus, when addressed by the great-souled king Yama, the chief of Brāhmaṇas began to narrate the greatness of the noble Sagara. (03-104-5)
Lomaśa said.
King Sagara, born in the Ikṣvāku dynasty, endowed with beauty, virtue, and strength, was powerful but without a son. (03-104-6)
He destroyed the Haihayas and the Tāla-jaṅghas, O Bhārata, and, after subjugating the other kings as well, ruled over his own kingdom. (03-104-7)
He had two wives, proud of their beauty and youth—Vaidarbhi, O best of the Bharatas, and Shaibya, O bull among the Bharatas. (03-104-8)
He, the king who desired a son, performed very great penance; O king, together with his two wives, he took refuge in Mount Kailāsa. (3-104-9)
He, immersed in intense austerity, endowed with profound penance and yoga, approached the great-souled, three-eyed destroyer of Tripura. (03-104-10)
Shankara, the creator, the lord, the one who holds the trident, the wielder of the Pināka bow, the three-eyed deity, the auspicious one, fierce lord, of many forms, and the consort of Umā. (03-104-11)
As soon as the king, accompanied by his two wives, saw the bestower of boons, the mighty-armed king bowed down and requested him for a son. (03-104-12)
Hara, full of affection, said to him with his wife, "O best of kings, at the very moment when I was chosen by you here, O king, (you have received) the boon." (03-104-13)
O best of men, sixty thousand valiant sons, proud in battle, will be born to you from one wife. (03-104-14)
O king, all of them together will meet their destruction; but one valiant lineage-bearer will be born of one (woman). Having thus spoken, Rudra immediately disappeared there. (03-104-15)
And King Sagara also went to his own residence along with his two wives, O dear, with a mind exceedingly delighted at that time. (03-104-16)
Then, O best of men, your wives, the lotus-eyed Vaidarbhi and Shaibya, both became pregnant. (03-104-17)
Then in due course, Vaidarbhi gave birth to a gourd-like fruit. Shaibya likewise bore a son, a boy of godlike appearance. (03-104-18)
Then, the king made up his mind to throw away the gourd. At that moment, he heard a deeply resonant voice from the sky. (03-104-19)
O king, do not act rashly; you ought not abandon your sons. Just as, having taken out the seed from inside a gourd, it should be preserved with effort. (03-104-20)
O king, then, by means of those vessels filled with ghee mixed with sweat, in portions, you will obtain sixty thousand sons. (03-104-21)
O lord of men, the birth of your son has been ordained by Mahadeva. By following this method in order, do not let your mind turn elsewhere from this. (03-104-22)
