d engaged in
the business of buying and selling. Even he, O best of regenerate
persons, is not worthy of saying such words as thou sayest.' Thus
addressed by those beings, Jajali of austere penances replied unto them,
saying, 'I shall see that famous Tuladhara who is possessed of such
wisdom.' When the Rishi said those words, those superhuman beings raised
him from the sea, and said unto him, 'O best of regenerate persons, go
thou along this road.' Thus addressed by those beings, Jajali proceeded
onwards with a cheerless heart. Arrived at Varanasi he met Tuladhara whom
he addressed saying the following words."

"'Yudhishthira said, "What, O sire, are those difficult feats that Jajali
had performed before in consequence of which he had acquired such high
success? It behoveth thee to describe them to me."

"'Bhishma said, "Jajali had become engaged in penances of the severest
austerities. He used to perform ablutions morning and evening. Carefully
tending his fires, he was devoted to the study of the Vedas.
Well-conversant with the duties laid down for forest recluses, Jajali (in
consequence of his practices) seemed to blaze with effulgence.[1139] He
continued to live in the woods, engaged all the while in penances. But he
never regarded himself as one that had acquired any merit by his acts. In
the season of the rains he slept under the open sky. In autumn he sat in
water. In summer he exposed himself to the sun and the wind. Still he
never regarded himself as one that had acquired any merit through such
acts. He used to sleep on diverse kinds of painful beds and also on the
bare earth. Once on a time, that ascetic, while standing under the sky in
the rainy season, received on his head repeated downpours from the
clouds. He had to pass through the woods repeatedly. What with exposure
to the rains and what with the filth they caught, the locks of that
sinless Rishi became entangled and intertwined with one another. On one
occasion, that great ascetic, abstaining entirely from food and living
upon air only, stood in the forest like a post of wood. Unmoved at heart,
he stood there, without once stirring an inch. While he stood there like
a wooden post, perfectly immovable, O Bharata, a pair of Kulinga birds, O
king, built their nest on his head. Filled with compassion, the great
Rishi suffered that feathery couple in building their nest among his
matted locks with shreds of grass. And as the ascetic stood there like a
post