s, yet in accordance with the
advice of Vidura they suppressed their indignation.

"Meanwhile, the king (Dhritarashtra), beholding the Kuru princes passing
their time in idleness and growing naughty, appointed Gautama as their
preceptor and sent them unto him for instruction. Born among a clump of
heath, Gautama was well-skilled in the Vedas and it was under him (also
called Kripa) that the Kuru princes began to learn the use of arms.'"

SECTION CXXX

(Sambhava Parva continued)

"Janamejaya said, 'O Brahmana, it behoveth thee to relate to me
everything about the birth of Kripa. How did he spring from a clump of
heath? Whence also did he obtain his weapons?'

"Vaisampayana said, 'O king, the great sage Gautama had a son named
Saradwat. This Saradwat was born with arrows (in hand). O oppressor of
foes, the son of Gautama exhibited great aptitude for the study of the
science of weapons, but none for the other sciences. Saradwat acquired
all his weapons by those austerities by which Brahmanas in student life
acquire the knowledge of Vedas. Gautama (the son of Gotama) by his
aptitude for the science of weapons and by his austerities made Indra
himself greatly afraid of him. Then, O thou of Kuru's race, the chief of
the gods summoned a celestial damsel named Janapadi and sent her unto
Gautama, saying, 'Do thy best to disturb the austerities of Gautama.'
Repairing unto the charming asylum of Saradwat, the damsel began to tempt
the ascetic equipped with bow and arrows. Beholding that Apsara, of
figure unrivalled on earth for beauty, alone in those woods and clad in a
single piece of cloth, Saradwat's eyes expanded with delight. At the
sight of the damsel, his bow and arrows slipped from his hand and his
frame shook all over with emotion; but possessed of ascetic fortitude and
strength of soul, the sage mustered sufficient patience to bear up
against the temptation. The suddenness, however, of his mental agitation,
caused an unconscious emission of his vital fluid. Leaving his bow and
arrows and deer-skin behind, he went away, flying from the Apsara. His
vital fluid, however, having fallen upon a clump of heath, was divided
into two parts, whence sprang two children that were twins.

"And it happened that a soldier in attendance upon king Santanu while the
monarch was out a-hunting in the woods, came upon the twins. And seeing
the bow and arrows and deer-skin on the ground, he thought they might be
the offspring of som