e chief of the Asuras, this town and the country
in which it is situate are protected by his might. We have no fear from
the machinations of any enemy, or indeed from any living soul. The fee,
however, fixed for that cannibal is his food, which consists of a
cart-load of rice, two buffaloes, and a human being who conveyeth them
unto him. One after another, the house-holders have to send him this
food. The turn, however, cometh to a particular family at intervals of
many long years. If there are any that seek to avoid it, the Rakshasa
slayeth them with their children and wives and devoureth them all. There
is, in this country, a city called Vetrakiya, where liveth the king of
these territories. He is ignorant of the science of government, and
possessed of little intelligence, he adopts not with care any measure by
which these territories may be rendered safe for all time to come. But we
certainly deserve it all, inasmuch as we live within the dominion of that
wretched and weak monarch in perpetual anxiety. Brahmanas can never be
made to dwell permanently within the dominions of any one, for they are
dependent on nobody, they live rather like birds ranging all countries in
perfect freedom. It hath been said that one must secure a (good) king,
then a wife, and then wealth. It is by the acquisition of these three
that one can rescue his relatives and sons. But as regards the
acquisition of these three, the course of my actions hath been the
reverse. Hence, plunged into a sea of danger, am suffering sorely. That
turn, destructive of one's family, hath now devolved upon me. I shall
have to give unto the Rakshasa as his fee the food of the aforesaid
description and one human being to boot. I have no wealth to buy a man
with. I cannot by any means consent to part with any one of my family,
nor do I see any way of escape from (the clutches of) that Rakshasa. I am
now sunk in an ocean of grief from which there is no escape. I shall go
to that Rakshasa today, attended by all my family in order that that
wretch might devour us all at once'"

SECTION CLXIII

(Vaka-vadha Parva continued)

"Kunti said, Grieve not at all, O Brahmana, on account of this danger. I
see a way by which to rescue thee from that Rakshasa. Thou hast only one
son, who, besides, is of very tender years, also only one daughter, young
and helpless, so I do not like that any of these, or thy wife, or even
thyself should go unto the Rakshasa. I have five sons,