epaired to the regions of Brahma, taking Devasena[33] with him. And
saluting the Grandsire he said unto him, "Do thou fix a renowned warrior
as husband of this lady." Brahma replied, "O slayer of _Asuras_, it
shall be as thou hast intended. The issue of that union will be mighty
and powerful accordingly. That powerful being will be the husband of
this lady and the joint leader of thy forces with thee." Thus addressed,
the lord of the celestials and the lady bowed unto him and then repaired
to the place where those great Brahmanas, the powerful celestial
_Rishis_, Vasistha and others, lived. And with Indra at their head, the
other gods also, desirous of drinking the Soma beverage, repaired to the
sacrifices of those _Rishis_ to receive their respective shares of the
offerings. Having duly performed the ceremonies with the bright blazing
fire, those great-minded persons offered oblations to the celestials.
And the _Adbhuta_ fire, that carrier of oblations, was invited with
_mantras_. And coming out of the solar disc, that lordly fire duly
repaired thither, restraining speech. And, O chief of Bharata's race,
that fire entering the sacrificial fire that had been ignited and into
which various offerings were made by the _Rishis_ with recitations of
hymns, took them with him and made them over to the dwellers of heaven.
And while returning from that place, he observed the wives of those
high-souled _Rishis_ sleeping at their ease on their beds. And those
ladies had a complexion beautiful like that of an altar of gold,
spotless like moon-beams, resembling fiery flames and looking like
blazing stars. And seeing those wives of the illustrious Brahmanas with
eager eyes, his mind became agitated and he was smitten with their
charms. Restraining his heart he considered it improper for him to be
thus agitated. And he said unto himself, "The wives of these great
Brahmanas are chaste and faithful and beyond the reach of other people's
desires. I am filled with desire to possess them. I cannot lawfully cast
my eyes upon them, nor ever touch them when they are not filled with
desire. I shall, therefore, gratify myself daily with only looking at
them by becoming their _Garhapatya_ (house-hold) fire."'

[31] According to the Hindus, the sun rises from and sets behind
two hills respectively. He rises from the _Udaya_ or Sun-rise
hill and sets behind the _Asta_ or sun-set hill.

[32] _Raudra_--belonging to Rudra, the god of