dear friend,"--I believe, Rama will be
here tomorrow morning. Thou wilt see him even here when he cometh to
behold thee. As regards this maiden, for what, O royal sage, hath she
come to the wood? Whose is she, and what is she to thee? I desire to know
all this.' Hotravahana said, 'The favourite daughter of the ruler of
Kasi, she is, O lord, my daughter's child! The eldest daughter of the
king of Kasi, she is known by the name of Amva. Along with her two
younger sisters, O sinless one, she was in the midst of her Swayamvara
ceremonies. The names of her two younger sisters are Amvika and Amvalika,
O thou endued with wealth of asceticism! All the Kshatriya kings of the
earth were assembled together at the city of Kasi. And, O regenerate
Rishi, great festivities were going on there on account of (the
self-choice of) these maidens. In the midst of these, Santanu's son,
Bhishma, of mighty valour, disregarding all the kings, abducted the
girls. Vanquishing all the monarchs, the pure-souled prince Bhishma of
Bharata's race then reached Hastinapura, and representing everything unto
Satyavati, ordered his brother Vichitravirya's marriage to take place
with the girls he had brought. Beholding the arrangements for those
nuptials complete, this maiden, O bull among Brahmanas, then addressed
Ganga's son in the presence of his ministers and said,--I have, O hero,
within my heart chosen the lord of the Salwas to be my husband.
Conversant as thou art with morality, it behoveth thee not to bestow me
on thy brother, whose heart is given away to another!--Hearing these
words of hers, Bhishma took counsel with his ministers. Deliberating on
the matter, he, at last, with Satyavati's consent, dismissed this maiden.
Permitted thus by Bhishma, this girl gladly repaired to Salwa, the lord
of Saubha, and approaching him said,--Dismissed I have been by Bhishma.
See that I do not fall off from righteousness! In my heart, I have chosen
thee for my lord, O bull among kings. Salwa, however, rejected her,
suspecting the purity of her conduct. Even she hath come to these woods,
sacred for asceticism, being ardently inclined to devote herself to
ascetic penances! She was recognised by me from the account that she gave
of her parentage. As regards her sorrow, Bhishma is considered by her to
be its root!' After Hotravahana had ceased, Amva herself said, 'O holy
one, it is even so as this lord of earth, this author of my mother's
body, Hotravahana of the Sri