handas (Rhymes) that are regarded as bearers of the libations poured in
sacrifices, the Rishis, Earth, the Oceans, the sacrificial presents,
those syllables that are uttered for completing the cadences of Samans,
the Rikshas, the Pitris, the Planets, the spouses of the deities, the
celestial maidens, the celestial mothers, the great cycles, kine,
Chandramas, Savitri, Agni, Savitri, the knowledge of the Vedas, the
seasons, the year, small and big divisions of time, e.g., the Kshanas,
the Labas, the Muhurtas, the Nimeshas, and the Yugas in succession,
protect thee, O Yadava, and keep thee in happiness, wherever thou mayst
stay. Let no danger overtake thee on thy way, and let no heedlessness be
thine, O sinless one.'--Thus blessed by her, I took her leave, bidding
farewell unto the daughter of the prince of apes. Repairing then into the
presence of that foremost of men, viz., my father, of my mother, of the
king, and of Ahuka, I informed them of what the daughter of the prince of
the Vidyadharas, in great affliction, had said unto me. Bidding them
farewell with a sorrowful heart, I then repaired to Gada and to Rama of
great might. These two cheerfully addressed me saying,--Let thy penances
increase without any obstruction.--Having obtained the permission of all
of them, I thought of Garuda. He immediately came to me and bore me to
Himavat (at my bidding). Arrived at Himavat, I dismissed him. There on
that foremost of mountains, I beheld many wonderful sights. I saw an
excellent, wonderful, and agreeable retreat for the practice of penances.
That delightful retreat was owned by the high-souled Upamanyu who was a
descendant of Vyaghrapada. That retreat is applauded and reverenced by
the deities and the Gandharvas, and seemed to be covered with Vedic
beauty. It was adorned with Dhavas and Kakubhas and Kadamvas and Cocas,
with Kuruvakas and Ketakas and Jamvus and Patalas, with banians and
Varunakas and Vatsanabhas and Vilwas, with Saralas and Kapitthas and
Piyalas and Salas and palmyras with Vadaris and Kundas and Punnagas and
Asokas and Amras and Kovidaras and Champakas and Panasas, and with
diverse other trees endued with fruits and flowers. And that retreat was
also decked with the straight stems of the Musa Supienta.[37] Truly, that
asylum was adorned with diverse other kinds of trees and with diverse
kinds of fruits forming the food of diverse kinds of birds. Heaps of
ashes (of sacrificial fires) were thrown in proper places