saying, 'Let my son
be long-lived, O Muni, through thy ascetic merit.' Parvata, however, said
nothing, through partiality for Indra. Beholding the king very cheerless,
I said unto him, 'Think of me, O king, (in thy distress), and I shall
promise to come when thought of by thee. Do not grieve, O lord of earth!
I will give thee back thy beloved child, even if he be dead, in his
living form.' Having said so unto that monarch, both of us left his
presence for coming to where we wished, and Srinjaya returned to his
abode as he pleased. After some time had elapsed, the royal sage Srinjaya
had born unto him a son of great prowess and blazing forth with energy.
The child grew up like a large lotus in a lake, and became
Suvarnashthivin in reality as in name. This extraordinary fact, O best of
the Kurus, soon became widely known over the world. The Chief of the gods
also came to know it as the result of Parvata's boon. Fearing humiliation
(at the hands of the child when he would grow up), the slayer of Vala and
Vritra began to watch for the laches of the prince. He commanded his
celestial weapon Thunder, standing before him in embodied shape, saying,
'Go, O puissant one, and assuming the form of a tiger slay this prince.
When grown up, this child of Srinjaya may, by his achievements, humiliate
me, O Thunder, as Parvata said.' Thus addressed by Sakra, the celestial
weapon Thunder, that subjugator of hostile towns, began from that day to
continually watch for the laches of the prince. Srinjaya, meanwhile,
having obtained that child whose splendour resembled that of Indra
himself, became filled with joy. The king, accompanied by his wives, and
the other ladies of his household, took up his residence in the midst of
a forest. One day, on the shores of the Bhagirathi, the boy, accompanied
by his nurse, ran hither and thither in play. Though only five years of
age, his prowess, even then, resembled that of a mighty elephant. While
thus employed, the child met a powerful tiger that came upon him
suddenly. The infant prince trembled violently as he was being crushed by
the tiger and soon fell down lifeless on the earth. At this sight the
nurse uttered loud cries of grief. Having slain the prince, the tiger,
through Indra's powers of delusion, vanished there and then. Hearing the
voice of the crying nurse, the king, in great anxiety, ran to the spot.
He beheld his son there, his blood quaffed off, and lying lifeless on the
ground like the