ell-known weapon)--the trident; the god of three eyes; the repository
of (eternal) peace; the ruler of all those that are fierce; capable of
assuming very many forms; and the lord of the goddess Uma. And that same
ruler of men, of mighty arms, as soon as he beheld the god--that giver
of boons--fell down at his feet, with both his queens, and proffered a
prayer to have a son. And the god Siva, well pleased with him, spake
(thus) to that most righteous of the rulers of men, attended by his two
wives, saying, "O lord of men! considering the (astrological) moment at
which thou hast proffered thy prayer to me, sixty thousand sons, O
foremost of choice men valorous and characterised by exceeding pride,
will be born in one of thy two wives (here). But they all, O ruler of
the earth, shall perish together. In the other wife, (however), will be
born a single valiant son, who will perpetuate thy race." Having said
this to him, the god Rudra (Siva) vanished from sight at that very spot,
and that same king Sagara now came (back) to his own abode accompanied
by his two wives, exceedingly delighted at heart (for what had happened)
then. And, O most praiseworthy of the sons of Manu! (i.e., men), there
the two lotus-eyed wives of him--the princess of Vidarbha and the
princess of Sivi--came (erelong) to be with child. And afterwards, on
the due day, the princess of Vidarbha brought forth (something) of the
shape of a gourd and the princess of Sivi gave birth to a boy as
beautiful as a god. Then the ruler of the earth made up his mind to
throw away the gourd,--when he heard (proceeding) from the sky a speech
(uttered) in a grave and solemn voice, "O king! do thou not be guilty of
this hasty act; thou shouldst not abandon thy sons. Take out the seeds
from the gourd and let them be preserved with care in steaming vessels
partly filled with clarified butter. Then thou wilt get, O scion of
Bharata's race! sixty thousand sons. O ruler of men! the great god
(Siva) hath spoken that thy sons are to be born in this manner. Let not
therefore thy mind be turned away therefrom."'"

SECTION CVII

"Lomasa said, 'O most righteous of kings! When he heard these words
(proceeding) from the sky, he had faith therein, and did all that he was
directed to do, O chief of the men of Bharata's race! Then the ruler of
men took separately each of the seeds and then placed these divisions
(of the gourd) in vessels filled with clarified butter. And intent on
the