ed the (ocean); the earth is thy body; Vishnu deposited the
seed that caused thy being and thou art the navel of nectar.' Thus, O
Pandu's son, the words of truth must be audibly recited, and while so
reciting, one must plunge into the lord of rivers. O most praiseworthy of
Kunti's son, otherwise this lord of waters of divine birth, this best
storehouse of the waters (of the earth), should not be touched, O son of
Kunti, even with the end of a sacred grass.'

"Vaisampayana said, 'Then when the ceremony for averting evil had been
completed in his behalf, the magnanimous Yudhishthira went into the sea,
and having performed all that the saint had bid, repaired to the skirts
of the Mahendra hill, and spent the night at that spot.'"

SECTION CXV

"Vaisampayana said, 'The protector of the earth spent there a single
night, and with his brothers, paid the highest honours to the religious
men. And Lomasa made him acquainted with the names of all of them, such
as the Bhrigus, the Angiras, the Vasishthas, and the Kasyapas. And the
royal saint paid visit to them all and made obeisance to them with joined
palms. And then he asked the valiant Akritavrana, who was a follower of
Parasurama, when will the revered Parasurama show himself to the
religious men here? It is desired on that occasion to obtain a sight of
the descendant of Bhrigu.'

"Akritavrana said, 'Thy journey to this spot is already known to Rama,
whose soul spontaneously knows everything. And he is in every way
well-pleased with thee, and he will show himself readily to thee. And the
saints who practise penances here, are permitted to see him on the
fourteenth and the eighth day of the lunar course. On the morrow at the
end of this very night there will set in the fourteenth day of the lunar
course. On that occasion thou wilt have a sight of him, clad in a sable
deerskin, and wearing his hair in the form of a matted mass."

"Yudhishthira said, Thou hast been a follower of the mighty Rama,
Jamadagni's son; thou must, therefore, have been the eye-witness of all
the deeds achieved by him in former days. I, therefore, request thee to
narrate to me how the members of the military caste were vanquished by
Rama on the field of battle, and what the original cause of those
conflicts was.'

"Akritavrana said, 'With pleasure shall I recite to thee that excellent
story, O Bharata's son, O chief of kings, the story of the godlike deeds
of Rama, the son of Jamadagni, who trace