Yudhisthira said: -
1. O foremost of celestials Rishis, I do not think that I am not endued with some merit. But I am still afflicted with so much sorrow that (I believe) there is no other king like me.
2. O Lomasha, I think my enemies have no merit and no virtuous tendencies. Why then do they proper in this world?
Lomasha said: -
3. O king, O Partha, never grieve that sinful men should prosper in consequence of the sins they commit.
4. A man may be seen to prosper by his sins, obtain good fruits or vanquish his enemies, but he is finally destroyed to the root.
5. O ruler of earth, I have seen many Daityas and Danavas prosper by sin, but I have also seen that destruction has again ever taken them.
6. O lord, I have seen all this formerly in the Deva Yuga. The celestials practised virtue whereas the Asuras practised sin.
7. O descendant of Bharata, the celestials visited the Tirthas whereas the Asuras did not visit them. Those sinful ones were first filled with pride.
8. Pride begot vanity and vanity begot wealth. From wealth arose every king of evil propensity and from evil propensities arose shamelessness.
9. From shamelessness good behaviour disappeared from among them. From their shamelessness, from their evil propensities, from their want of good conduct and virtuous vows, forgiveness, propensity and morality all forsook them.
10. O king, Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity) then sought the celestials while a Lakshmi (goddess of adversity) sought the Asuras. When they were possessed by adversity they became senseless out of pride.
11. Then Kali possessed the Daityas and the Danavas. Being thus possessed by adversity, the Danavas were destroyed by Kali.
12. O son of Kunti, as they were filled with pride they became destitute of rites and sacrifices, devoid of reason, overwhelmed with vanity and they soon met with their destruction.
13-15. Covered with infamy the Daityas were soon destroyed. O son of Pandu, the celestials, however, who were all of virtuous character, going to the seas, rivers and lakes and other sacred places, cleansed themselves of all their sins by means of asceticism and sacrifices, by gifts and blessings; and O Pandava, they obtained great prosperity. Because they thus abandoned all evil deeds and practised all good deeds,
16. And visited all the Tirthas, they obtained great good fortune. O king of kings, you will too therefore, bathing with your younger brothers in the Tirthas,
17. Obtain again great good fortune. This is the eternal road. As kings, Nriga, Shibi, Ushinara, Bhagiratha, Vasumana, Gaya, Puru and Pururava, by always practising austerities and touching the sacred waters,
19. And visiting the Tirthas and seeing the illustrious holy men, O king, obtained fame, virtue and great wealth.
20. So will you obtain by acquiring exceedingly great prosperity. As Ikshvaku with his sons, friends and followers, as Muchukunda, Mandhata and king Maruta,
21-22. As the celestials through their power of asceticism, as the celestials Rishis also have obtained fame, so will you also obtain great fame. The sons of Dhritarashtra, enslaved as they are by sin and ignorance, will certainly be destroyed like Daityas.
Thus ends the ninetyfourth chapter, Yudhisthira’s tirtha going in the Tirthayatra of the Vana Parva.
Vaishampayana said: -
1. O ruler of earth, those heroes, (the Pandavas) accompanied by their followers, going from place to place, at last reached Naimisha forest.
2. O king, O descendant of Bharata, the Pandavas bathed in the sacred Tirtha of Gomati and gave away kine and wealth (in charity).
3. O descendant of Bharata, again and again offering oblations there to the Pitris and the celestials and the Brahmanas and living in Kalkoti and Brishaprastha hills, these descendants of Kuru,
4. O ruler of earth, reached Vahuda and all performed there oblations. O king, going then to the sacrificial ground of the celestials.
5. Those truth-observing men purified their bodies by bathing in the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna and performed excellent austerities.
6-7. Having been thus cleansed of all their sins, those high-souled heroes gave much wealth to the Brahmanas. O descendant of Bharata, then the son of king, O Pandu went to the (sacrificial altar) Vedi of the Creator, ever adored by the ascetics. There lived those heroes and performed excellent asceticism.
8. Always gratifying the Brahmanas with the offer of fruits and ghee. Then they went to Mahidhara, consecrated by the virtuous.
9. Royal sage Gaya of matchless effulgence. Here stands the hill called Gayasira and where flows the sacred great river.
10. With charming banks adorned with bushes of cane plants. On that celestials and sacred hill of holy peaks.
11. Is the highly sacred Tirtha called Brahmasara adored by the Rishis, where Agastya went to the high-souled Vivaswata.
12. And where dwelt the eternal king of justice (Yama) himself. O king, all the rivers have taken their rise from it.
13. The wielder of Pinaka, the great god (Siva) is always near it. The heroic Pandavas performed there the vow called Chaturmasa,
14. According to the rites of the Rishi Jagma. Here is also the great banian tree called Akshayavata. Any sacrifice performed there produces ever-lasting merit.
15. They (the Pandavas) began to fast there with subdued mind. And there came to them hundreds of ascetic Brahmanas.
16. Those Brahmanas, learned in the Vedas and old in knowledge, also performed the vow called Chaturmasa according to the rites ordained by the Rishis and they, becoming he court of the illustrious heroes talked on various subjects.
17. O king, the learned and vow-observing and celebrated Samatha spoke of Gaya, the son of Amurtaya.
Samatha said: -
18. The son of Amurtaya is Gaya, the foremost of royal sages. O descendant of Bharata, listen to me, as I recite his virtuous deeds.
19. O king, here it was that he performed many sacrifices, in which food and gifts were in abundance and in which cooked rice was in hundreds and thousands of mountains.
20. Ghee and curds were in hundreds of lakes and rivers and richly cooked curries in thousands of streams.
21. O king, day after they were given away to all that asked for them. Besides Brahmanas were fed with food which was pure.
22. O descendant of Bharata, when the time for distributing Dakshina (gift) came, the chanting of the Vedas reached heaven. Nothing else could be heard for that chanting of the Vedas.
23. O king, those sacred sounds filled earth, the points of the firmament, the sky and the heaven itself; and great wonders were seen.
24. O best of Bharata race, greatly gratified with the food and the drink, men went about singing the following verse in various countries.
25. “Who is there among creatures that desires to day to eat more in the sacrifice of Gaya? There are still twenty-five mountains of food (uneaten).
26. What the immeasurably effulgent royal sage Gaya has done was never done by any man before or will be done by any man in future.
27. The celestials have been so very much fed with the Ghee that Gaya has offered them that they are not able to take anything more offered by anyone else.
28. As sand-grains on earth, as stars in the sky, as the drops of falling rains cannot be counted by any body, so will none be able to count the Dakshina given away in Gaya’s sacrifice.”
29. O descendant of Kuru, O king, many such sacrifices of his were performed on the banks of this lake.
Thus ends the ninety fifth chapter, description of Gaya’s sacrifice in the Tirthayatra of Vana Parva.
Vaishampayana said: -
1. Then the son of Kunti, the king (Yudhisthira), distinguished for his large gifts, came to the hermitage of Agastya and lived at Durjaya.
2. That foremost of eloquent men, the king (Yudhisthira) asked Agastya why Vatapi was killed there by him,
3. And what was the prowess of that men-eating Daitya and why the anger of that high-souled (Rishi) was excited against him.
Lomasha said: -
4. O descendant of Kuru, there was a Daitya, named Ilvala in the days of yore in the city of Manimati. He had a younger brother, called Vatapi.
5. That son of Diti (one day) spoke to an ascetic Brahmana, (saying), “O exalted one, give me a son equal to Indra.”
6. As that Brahmana did not give him a son equal to Indra, that Asura got exceedingly angry against that Brahmana.
7. O king of kings, from that day the Asura Ilvala became a destroyer of Brahmanas. Endued as he was with the power of illusion, he made his brother a goat.
8. Vatapi who was capable of assuming any form at will at once assumed the form of a goat. After being cooked that food was given to the Brahmanas in order to kill them.
9. For he, whom he (Ilvala) summoned with his voice, would at once come back to him if he had gone even to the abode of Yama.
10. Thus having transformed Vatapi into a goat and after having cooked his flesh, he fed the Brahmanas and summoned him (back) again.
11. That powerful (Asura) endued with great power of illusion, that thorn to the Brahmanas, hearing the words loudly uttered by Ilvala,
12. That great Asura Vatapi, O king, O ruler of earth, would laughingly come out ripping open the sides of these Brahmanas.
13. O king, having thus fed the Brahmanas again and again, the wicked-minded Daitya Ilvala destroyed the Brahmanas.
14. The exalted Agastya in the mean-while saw his (dead) ancestors hanging in a pit with their head downwards.
15. He asked them who were thus hanging, “What is the matter with you?” And those Brahmanas replied, “It is for the want offspring.”
16. They told him, “We are your forefathers. We are thus hanging in this pit for the want of offspring.
17. O Agastya, if you beget an excellent son for us, we may then be saved from this hell and you too can acquire the blessed state obtainable by begetting offspring.”
18. To them replied that powerful Rishi observant of truth and morality, “O Pitris, I shall accomplish your desire and remove the fever of your mind.”
19. Then that illustrious Rishi began to think how to perpetuate his race. He did not find a fit wife in whom he can take his birth as his son.
20. He then, taking those parts of creatures that are considered beautiful, created an excellent woman with them.
21. That greatly ascetic Rishi then gave that woman created for him to the king of Vidarbha who was performing great asceticism to beget an offspring.
22. Taking her birth there, that exalted girl of beautiful face, as effulgent as the lightning, began to grow in body day after day.
23. O descendant ofBharata, as soon as she was born, seeing her, that ruler of earth, the king of Vidharbha communicated it to the Brahmanas in great joy.
24. O ruler of earth, all those Brahmanas blessed her and those twice born ones gave her the name of Lopamudra.
25. O king, possessed with great beauty that blessed girl began to grow quickly like a lotus in water or the blazing flame in a fire.
26. O king of kings, when she grew youthful, one hundred damsels adorned with ornaments and also one hundred maid-servants, remaining at her command always, waited upon that blessed girl.
27. Surrounded by these one hundred maid-servants and remaining in the midst of these one hundred damsels, that effulgent damsel shone, as the brilliant Rohini (star) in the sky.
28. When she grew youthful, even then for the fear of the illustrious king none dared ask for her hand, endued as she was with good and excellent manners.
29. That truthful maiden possessed of beauty like that of an Apsara pleased her father and relatives with her good conduct.
30. Seeing her attain to puberty, her father, the king of Vidharbha thought in his mind, “To whom shall I give me this daughter?"
Thus ends ninety sixth chapter, history of Agasthya in the Tirthayatra of Vana Parva.