protect thee everywhere! And may
the _Adityas_ and the _Vasus_, the _Rudras_ and the _Sadhyas_, the
_Viswadevas_ and the _Maruts_, and the cardinal points with the great
Indra and the regents presiding over them, and, indeed, all the
celestials, protect thee in every place! Even in foreign lands I shall
be able to recognise thee by this mail of thine! Surely, thy sire, O
son, the divine Surya possessed of the wealth of splendour, is blessed,
for he will with his celestial sight behold thee going down the current!
Blessed also is that lady who will, O thou that are begotten by a god,
take thee for her son, and who will give thee suck when thou art
thirsty! And what a lucky dream hath been dreamt by her that will adopt
thee for her son, thee that is endued with solar splendour, and
furnished with celestial mail, and adorned with celestial ear-rings,
thee that hast expansive eyes resembling lotuses, a complexion bright as
burnished copper or lotus leaves, a fair forehead, and hair ending in
beautiful curls! O son, she that will behold thee crawl on the ground,
begrimed with dust, and sweetly uttering inarticulate words, is surely
blessed! And she also, O son, that will behold thee arrive at thy
youthful prime like maned lion born in Himalayan forests, is surely
blessed!'"

"O king, having thus bewailed long and piteously, Pritha laid the basket
on the waters of the river Aswa. And the lotus-eyed damsel, afflicted
with grief on account of her son and weeping bitterly, with her nurse
cast the basket at dead of night, and though desirous of beholding her
son often and again, returned, O monarch, to the palace, fearing lest
her father should come to know of what had happened. Meanwhile, the
basket floated from the river Aswa to the river Charmanwati, and from
the Charmanwati it passed to the Yamuna, and so on to the Ganga. And
carried by the waves of the Ganga, the child contained in the basket
came to the city of Champa ruled by a person of the _Suta_ tribe.
Indeed, the excellent coat of mail and those ear-rings made of _Amrita_
that were born with his body, as also the ordinance of Destiny, kept the
child alive."

SECTION CCCVII

Vaisampayana said, "And it came to pass that at this time a _Suta_ named
Adhiratha, who was a friend of Dhritarashtra, came to the river Ganga,
accompanied by his wife. And, O king, his wife named Radha was
unparalleled on earth for beauty. And although that highly blessed dame
had made great