that ye are his slaves, and that ye are
ready to obey him in all that he might bid.' Now the saint, whose wrath
was fierce, came to his hermitage, having gathered fruits and roots and
searched for his son. But not finding him he became exceedingly wroth.
And he was tortured with anger and suspected it to be the doing of the
king. And therefore, he directed his course towards the city of Champa
having made up his mind to burn the king, his city, and his whole
territory. And on the way he was fatigued and hungry, when he reached
those same settlements of cowherds, rich with cattle. And he was honoured
in a suitable way by those cowherds and then spent the night in a manner
befitting a king. And having received very great hospitality from them,
he asked them, saying, 'To whom, O cowherds, do ye belong?' Then they all
came up to him and said, 'All this wealth hath been provided for thy
son.' At different places he was thus honoured by that best of men, and
saw his son who looked like the god Indra in heaven. And he also beheld
there his daughter-in-law, Santa, looking like lightning issuing from a
(cloud). And having seen the hamlets and the cowpens provided for his son
and having also beheld Santa, his great resentment was appeased. And O
king of men! Vibhandaka expressed great satisfaction with the very ruler
of the earth. And the great saint, whose power rivalled that of the sun
and the god of fire, placed there his son, and thus spake, 'As soon as a
son is born to thee, and having performed all that is agreeable to the
king, to the forest must thou come without fail.' And Rishyasringa did
exactly as his father said, and went back to the place where his father
was. And, O king of men! Santa obediently waited upon him as in the
firmament the star Rohini waits upon the Moon, or as the fortunate
Arundhati waits upon Vasishtha, or as Lopamudra waits upon Agastya. And
as Damayanti was an obedient wife to Nala, or as Sachi is to the god who
holdeth the thunderbolt in his hand or as Indrasena, Narayana's daughter,
was always obedient to Mudgala, so did Santa wait affectionately upon
Rishyasringa, when he lived in the wood. This is the holy hermitage which
belonged to him. Beautifying the great lake here, it bears holy fame.
Here perform thy ablutions and have thy desire fulfilled. And having
purified thyself, direct thy course towards other holy spots,'"

SECTION CXIV

(Tirtha-yatra Parva continued)

"Vaisampayana said,