to the reason to which all this commotion is owing! This
agitation in the heavens hath been produced by the influence of the
illustrious Being who is omnipresent, eternal and the never-perishing
Soul. That Supreme soul, Vishnu hath lifted up the Earth, who had
entirely sunk down hundred _yojanas_. This commotion hath taken place in
consequence of the earth being raised up. Know ye this and dispel your
doubts." The celestials said, "Where is that Being who with pleasure
raiseth up the Earth? O possessor of the six attributes, mention unto us
the place. Thither shall we repair." Brahma said "Go ye. May good happen
to you! Ye will find him resting in the Nandana (gardens). Yonder is
visible the glorious worshipful Suparna (Garuda). After having raised
the Earth, the Supreme Being from whom the world become manifest,
flameth even in the shape of a boar, like unto the all-consuming fire at
the universal dissolution. And on his beast is really to be seen the gem
Srivatsa. (Go) and behold that Being knowing no deterioration."'

"Lomasa said, 'Then the celestials, placing the grandsire at their head,
came to that infinite Soul, and having listened to his praise, bade him
adieu and went back to whence they had come.'"

Vaisampayana said, "O Janamejaya, having heard this story, all the
Pandavas without delay and with alacrity, began to proceed by the way
pointed out by Lomasa."

SECTION CXLII

Vaisampayana said, "O king, then those foremost of bowmen, of
immeasurable prowess, holding bows stringed at full stretch and equipped
with quivers and arrows and wearing finger-caps made of the guana-skin,
and with their swords on, proceeded with Panchali towards the
Gandhamadana, taking with them the best of Brahmanas. And on their way
they saw various lakes, and rivers and mountains and forests, and trees
of wide-spreading shade on mountain summits and places abounding in
trees bearing flowers and fruit in all seasons and frequented by
celestials and sages. And restraining their senses within their inner
self and subsisting on fruits and roots, the heroes passed through
rugged regions, craggy and difficult of passage, beholding many and
various kinds of beasts. Thus those high-souled ones entered the
mountain inhabited by the sages, the Siddhas and the celestials, and
frequented by the Kinnaras and the Apsaras. And, O lord of men, as those
mighty heroes were entering the mountain Gandhamandana, there arose a
violent wind, attended