eld that illustrious Kapila and that same
horse. And having beheld that ancient saint, most righteous of his
order, looking like a mass of light, he bowed with his head to the
ground, and informed him of the reason of his visit. Then, O great king,
Kapila was pleased with Ansuman, and that saint of a virtuous soul told
him to ask for a favour from him. And he in the first place prayed for
the horse, for the purpose of using it in the sacrifice; in the second
place he prayed for the purification of his fathers. Then the mighty
chief of saints, Kapila spake to him, saying, "I shall grant thee
everything that thou desirest, O stainless (prince). May good luck be
thine! In thee are fixed (the virtues of) forbearance, and truth, and
righteousness. By thee hath Sagara had all his desires fulfilled. Thou
are (really) a son to thy father. And by thy ability the sons of Sagara
will go to heaven (i.e., will be delivered from the consequences of
their unhallowed death). And the son of thy son, with a view to
purifying the sons of Sagara, will obtain the favour of the great god
Siva, (by means of practising great austerities), and will (thus) bring
(to this world) the river that floweth in three (separate) streams,
Ganga, O chief of men! May good luck be thine! Take thou with thee the
sacrificial horse. Finish, my lad! the sacrificial rites of the
magnanimous Sagara." Thus addressed by the illustrious Kapila, Ansuman
took the horse with him, and came back to the sacrificial yard of the
mighty-minded Sagara. Then he fell prostrate at the feet of the
high-souled Sagara, who smelt him on the head and narrated all the
events to him, all that had been seen and heard by him, and likewise the
destruction of Sagara's sons. He also announced that the horse had been
brought back to the sacrificial yard. And when king Sagara heard of
this, he no more grieved on account of his sons. And he praised and
honoured Ansuman, and finished those same sacrificial rites. His
sacrifice finished, Sagara was greeted honourably by all the gods; and
he converted the sea, Varuna's dwelling place, into a son of himself.
And the lotus-eyed (King Sagara) having ruled his kingdom for a period
of exceeding length, placed his grandson on the throne, (full of)
responsibilities and then ascended to heaven. And Ansuman likewise, O
great king! virtuous in soul, ruled over the world as far as the edge of
the sea, following the foot-prints of his father's father. His son w