he name of Chitraratha.
The king was in the water with his wives, and wearing on his breast a
lotus wreath, was engaged in sport. And beholding his magnificent form,
Renuka was inspired with desire. And this unlawful desire she could not
control, but became polluted within the water, and came back to the
hermitage frightened at heart. Her husband readily perceived what state
she was in. And mighty and powerful and of a wrathful turn of mind, when
he beheld that she had been giddy and that the lustre of chastity had
abandoned her, he reproached her by crying out 'Fie!' At that very moment
came in the eldest of Jamadagni's sons, Rumanvan; and then, Sushena, and
then, Vasu, and likewise, Viswavasu. And the mighty saint directed them
all one by one to put an end to the life of their mother. They, however,
were quite confounded and lost heart. And they could not utter a single
word. Then he in ire cursed them. And on being cursed they lost their
sense and suddenly became like inanimate objects, and comparable in
conduct to beasts and birds. And then Rama, the slayer of hostile heroes,
came to the hermitage, last of all. Him the mighty-armed Jamadagni, of
great austerities, addressed, saying, 'Kill this wicked mother of thine,
without compunction, O my son.' Thereupon Rama immediately took up an axe
and therewith severed his mother's head. Then, O great king, the wrath of
Jamadagni of mighty soul, was at once appeased; and well-pleased, he
spake the following words, 'Thou hast, my boy, performed at my bidding
this difficult task, being versed in virtue. Therefore, whatsoever wishes
there may be in thy heart, I am ready to grant them all. Do thou ask me.'
Thereupon Rama solicited that his mother might be restored to life, and
that he might not be haunted by the remembrance of this cruel deed and
that he might not be affected by any sin, and that his brothers might
recover their former state, and that he might be unrivalled on the field
of battle, and that he might obtain long life. And, O Bharata's son,
Jamadagni, whose penances were the most rigid, granted all those desires
of his son. Once, however, O lord, when his sons had gone out as before,
the valourous son of Kartavirya, the lord of the country near the shore
of the sea, came up to the hermitage. And when he arrived at that
hermitage, the wife of the saint received him hospitably. He, however,
intoxicated with a warrior's pride, was not at all pleased with the
reception