daughter of
Kuntibhoja should so provide that I should have offspring, she would then
be really doing me a great favour and benefiting thee likewise. She being
my rival, I feel a delicacy in soliciting any favour of her. If thou
beest, O king, propitiously disposed to me, then ask her to grant my
desire.'

"Hearing her, Pandu replied, 'O Madri, I do revolve this matter often in
my own mind, but I have hitherto hesitated to tell thee anything, not
knowing how thou wouldst receive it. Now that I know what your wishes
are, I shall certainly strive after that end. I think that, asked by me,
Kunti will not refuse.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'After this, Pandu addressed Kunti in private,
saying, 'O Kunti, grant me some more offspring for the expansion of my
race and for the benefit of the world. O blessed one, provide thou that I
myself, my ancestors, and thine also, may always have the funeral cake
offered to us. O, do what is beneficial to me, and grant me and the world
what, indeed, is the best of benefits. O, do what, indeed, may be
difficult for thee, moved by the desire of achieving undying fame.
Behold, Indra, even though he hath obtained the sovereignty of the
celestials, doth yet, for fame alone, perform sacrifices. O handsome one,
Brahmanas, well-acquainted with the Vedas, and having achieved high
ascetic merit, do yet, for fame alone, approach their spiritual masters
with reverence. So also all royal sages and Brahmanas possessed of
ascetic wealth have achieved, for fame only, the most difficult of
ascetic feat. Therefore, O blameless one, rescue this Madri as by a raft
(by granting her the means of obtaining offspring), and achieve thou
imperishable fame by making her a mother of children.'

"Thus addressed by her lord, Kunti readily yielded, and said unto Madri,
'Think thou, without loss of time, of some celestial, and thou shall
certainly obtain from him a child like unto him.' Reflecting for a few
moments. Madri thought of the twin Aswins, who coming unto her with speed
begat upon her two sons that were twins named Nakula and Sahadeva,
unrivalled on earth for personal beauty. And as soon as they were born,
an incorporeal voice said, 'In energy and beauty these twins shall
transcend even the twin Aswins themselves.' Indeed possessed of great
energy and beauty, they illumined the whole region.

"O king, after all the children were born the Rishis dwelling on the
mountain of a hundred peaks uttering blessings