Janamejaya said: -
1. O utterer of Brahma, you have recited the excellent account of the extraordinary births of the sons of Dhritarastra on earth, the result of the Rishi grace.
2. O Brahmana, you have also told me their names according to their order of birth. I have heard all this from you. (Now) tell me all about the Pandavas.
3. While reciting the incarnations of the celestials, the Asuras and beings of other classes on earth, you said that the illustrious men, the Pandavas, as powerful as the king of the celestials, were all incarnate portions of the celestials themselves.
4. I desire to hear all about those beings of extraordinary achievements, beginning from the moments of their births. O Vaishampayana, narrate to me all their achievements.
Vaishampayana said: -
5. O king, one day Pandu, while roaming in that great forest abounding in deer and other fierce animals, saw a large deer, the leader of its herd, coupling with its mate.
6. Seeing them, Pandu pierced both with five of his sharp and swift arrows, winged with golden feathers.
7. O king, it was a greatly effulgent ascetic, the son of a Rishi (in the form of that deer) this effulgent man was with his wife who was a deer.
8. Wounded by Pandu while with the mate, he fell down on the ground in a moment and uttered cries that were human. He began to weep bitterly.