u be prosperous, and may righteousness shield
thee, and mayst thou be assiduous in the practice of virtue."'

[17] _Vishada_ is the original. It means discontent, but here it
means more a mixture of discontent, perplexity and confusion
than mere discontent.

"Markandeya continued, 'The fowler said to him, "Be it so." And the good
Brahmana walked round him[18] and then departed. And the Brahmana
returning home was duly assiduous in his attention to his old parents. I
have thus, O pious Yudhishthira, narrated in detail to thee this history
full of moral instruction, which thou, my good son, didst ask me to
recite,--the virtue of women's devotion to their husbands and that of
filial piety.' Yudhishthira replied, 'O most pious Brahmana and best of
_munis_, thou hast related to me this good and wonderful moral story;
and listening to thee, O learned man, my time has glided away like a
moment; but, O adorable sir, I am not as yet satiated with hearing this
moral[19] discourse.'"

[18] A form of Hindu etiquette at parting.

[19] It is so very difficult to translate the word
_Karma_,--religion and morals were invariably associated with
each other in ancient Hindu mind.

SECTION CCXVI

Vaisampayana continued, "The virtuous king Yudhishthira, having listened
to this excellent religious discourse, again addressed himself to the
_rishi_ Markandeya saying, 'Why did the fire-god hide himself in water
in olden times, and why is it that Angiras of great splendour
officiating as fire-god, used to convey[20] oblations during his
dissolution. There is but one fire, but according to the nature of its
action, it is seen to divide itself into many. O worshipful sir, I long
to be enlightened on all these points,--How the Kumara[21] was born, how
he came to be known as the son of Agni (the fire-god) and how he was
begotten by Rudra or Ganga and Krittika. O noble scion of Bhrigu's race,
I desire to learn all this accurately as it happened. O great _muni_, I
am thrilled with great curiosity.' Markandeya replied, 'In this
connection this old story is cited by the learned, as to how the carrier
of oblations (the fire-god) in a fit of rage, sought the waters of the
sea in order to perform a penance, and how the adorable Angiras
transforming himself into the fire-god,[22] destroyed darkness and
distressed the world with his scorching rays. In olden times, O
long-armed hero, the great Angiras performed a wonderful