fered at thy mouth.'

'Sauti continued, 'Then Agni replied to the Grandfather, 'So be it.' And
he then went away to obey the command of the supreme Lord. The gods and
the Rishis also returned in delight to the place whence they had come.
And the Rishis began to perform as before their ceremonies and
sacrifices. And the gods in heaven and all creatures of the world
rejoiced exceedingly. And Agni too rejoiced in that he was free from the
prospect of sin.

"Thus, O possessor of the six attributes, had Agni been cursed in the
days of yore by Bhrigu. And such is the ancient history connected with
the destruction of the Rakshasa, Pauloma and the birth of Chyavana.'"

Thus endeth the seventh section of the Pauloma Parva of the Adi Parva of
the blessed Mahabharata.

SECTION VIII

(Pauloma Parva continued)

"Sauti said, 'O Brahmana, Chyavana, the son of Bhrigu, begot a son in the
womb of his wife Sukanya. And that son was the illustrious Pramati of
resplendent energy. And Pramati begot in the womb of Ghritachi a son
called Ruru. And Ruru begot on his wife Pramadvara a son called Sunaka.
And I shall relate to you in detail, O Brahmana, the entire history of
Ruru of abundant energy. O listen to it then in full!

"Formerly there was a great Rishi called Sthulakesa possessed of ascetic
power and learning and kindly disposed towards all creatures. At that
time, O Brahmana sage, Viswavasu, the King of the Gandharvas, it is said,
had intimacy with Menaka, the celestial dancing-girl. And the Apsara,
Menaka, O thou of the Bhrigu race, when her time was come, brought forth
an infant near the hermitage of Sthulakesa. And dropping the newborn
infant on the banks of the river, O Brahmana, Menaka, the Apsara, being
destitute of pity and shame, went away. And the Rishi, Sthulakesa, of
great ascetic power, discovered the infant lying forsaken in a lonely
part of the river-side. And he perceived that it was a female child,
bright as the offspring of an Immortal and blazing, as it were, with
beauty: And the great Brahmana, Sthulakesa, the first of Munis, seeing
that female child, and filled with compassion, took it up and reared it.
And the lovely child grew up in his holy habitation, the noble-minded and
blessed Rishi Sthulakesa performing in due succession all the ceremonies
beginning with that at birth as ordained by the divine law. And because
she surpassed all of her sex in goodness, beauty, and every quality, the
great Rishi cal