03.115
The episode of Kārtavīrya.
Vaiśampāyana said.
There, after spending that one night, the lord of the earth, together with his brothers, offered great honor to the ascetics. (03-115-1)
Lomaśa also told him there about all those ascetics—the Bhṛgus, Aṅgirases, Vāsiṣṭhas, and Kāśyapas. (03-115-2)
Having approached them, the royal sage greeted (them) with folded hands and asked the heroic attendant of Rāma, who was unwounded. (03-115-3)
When indeed will the revered Rāma introduce the ascetics? Through him alone, I wish, by association, to see Bhārgava. (03-115-4)
Akṛtavraṇa said.
As soon as you arrive, you are known to Rāma, who knows himself. Rāma's affection for you will quickly be shown to you. (03-115-5)
The ascetics see the fourteenth and eighth tithis as well as Rāma. When this night passes, then the fourteenth will occur. (03-115-6)
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
You, having followed the mighty hero Jāmadagnya, are the direct witness of all previous actions. (03-115-7)
You, sir, please tell how all the Kṣatriyas were conquered by Rāma in battle—how, by whom, and for what reason. (03-115-8)
Akṛtavraṇa said.
There was a great and mighty king in Kanyakubja, Gādhi by name, renowned in the world; he went to live in the forest. (03-115-9)
But as he dwelt in the forest, a daughter was born to him, equal to an apsaras. Ṛcīka, the Bhārgava, chose her for marriage, O Bhārata. (03-115-10)
Then the king said to the Brāhmaṇa of firm vow: "Something proper for us in our family, which has been established by the ancestors." (03-115-11)
O best of the twice-born, know that the price for one side of dark-eared and white swift horses is a thousand (horses). (03-115-12)
Nor, O Bhārgava, should the revered one be told, 'Let her be given.' This my daughter is indeed to be given to a great-souled one like you. (03-115-13)
Ṛcīka said.
On one side, I will give you a thousand swift dark-eared and white horses; but my wife and sons are to you. (03-115-14)
Akṛtavraṇa said.
He, having thus promised, O king, said to Varuṇa: From one side, out of the thousand swift white black-eared horses, let one horse be given to me as the price. (03-115-15)
Varuṇa then gave him a thousand horses. The place where those horses emerged is famous as the horse-ford. (03-115-16)
At that time, in Kanyakubja on the river Gaṅgā, Satyavatī was indeed given. Then Gādhi (had) a daughter for him, and the gods became offspring at that time. Having obtained a thousand horses and having seen them, the gods who dwell in heaven (reacted thus). (03-115-17)
Ṛcīka, best among the twice-born, having obtained that wife righteously, sported with her, the slender-waisted, according to his wish and with full enjoyment. (03-115-18)
O king, at the marriage having been performed, the foremost among Bhṛgus arrived with his wife; seeing his son, he was delighted. (03-115-19)
The husband and wife worshipped the venerable teacher, who was seated and honored by the gods; after worshipping him, they reverently approached, stood there with joined palms at that time. (03-115-20)
Then the venerable and delighted Bhṛgu spoke to his daughter-in-law: "O fortunate one, choose a boon; I am indeed the giver of your desire." (03-115-21)
She indeed sought to please the teacher on account of her son, and he also sought the favor of both herself and her mother. (03-115-22)
Bṛgu said.
During the proper season, you and your mother, after bathing for the puṃsavana rite, should each embrace separate trees: you (the aśvattha) and your mother (the udumbara). (03-115-23)
But, O king, in their embrace, they indeed committed a reversal. At some time, Bhrigu came and knows that reversal concerning him. (03-115-24)
Then the great and radiant Bhṛgu said to Satyavatī, his daughter-in-law: "Your son will be a Brāhmaṇa with the conduct of a kṣatriya." (03-115-25)
Your son by the mother, who is a kṣatriya with the conduct of a brāhmaṇa, will be great, full of great energy, and will follow the path of the righteous. (03-115-26)
Then she pleaded with her father-in-law again and again, saying: "May I not have such a son; truly, may I have a grandson like this." (03-115-27)
"Let it be so"—thus, addressed by him, O Pāṇḍava, she then gave birth, when the proper time arrived, to Jamadagni, a son endowed with energy and splendor, truly the son of Bhṛgu. (03-115-28)
He, the descendant of Pandu, who grew in brilliance, indeed surpassed many sages by his study of the Veda. (03-115-29)
But the entire science of archery became manifest to him, O bull of the Bharatas, along with the four kinds of missiles, whose brilliance was like that of the sun. (03-115-30)
