an account of himself, O
Bharata, saying, 'I am born in the race of the Haihayas. By name I am
Sumitra, and I am the son of Mitra. I chase herds of deer, slaying them
in thousands with my arrows. Accompanied by a large force and my
ministers and the ladies of my household, I came out on a hunting
expedition. I pierced a deer with an arrow, but the animal with the shaft
sticking to his body ran with great speed. In chasing it I have, without
a set purpose, arrived at this forest and find myself in your presence,
shorn of splendour, toil-worn, and with hope disappointed. What can be
more pitiable than this, viz., that I have arrived at this asylum, spent
with fatigue, shorn of the signs of royalty, and disappointed of my
hopes. I am not at all sorry, ye ascetics, at my being now shorn of the
signs of royalty or at my being now at a distance from my capital. I
feel, however, a poignant grief in consequence of my hope having been
disappointed. The prince of mountains, viz., Himavat, and that vast
receptacle of waters, viz., the ocean, cannot, for its vastness, measure
the extent of the firmament. Ye ascetics, similarly, I also cannot
discern the limit of hope. Ye that are endued with wealth of penances are
omniscient. There is nothing unknown to you. You are also highly blessed.
I therefore solicit you for resolving my doubt. Hope as cherished by
man, and the wide firmament, which of these two appears vaster to you? I
desire to hear in detail what is so unconquerable to hope. If the topic
be one upon which it is not improper for ye to discourse, then tell me
all about it without delay. I do not wish, ye foremost of regenerate
ones, to hear anything from you that may be a mystery improper to
discourse upon. If again the discourse be injurious to your penances, I
would not wish you to speak. If the question asked by me be a worthy
topic of discourse, I would then wish to hear the cause in detail.
Devoted to penances as ye are, do ye all instruct me on the subject.'"'"

SECTION CXXVII

"'Bhishma said, "Then that best of Rishis, viz., the regenerate Rishabha,
sitting in the midst of all those Rishis, smiled a little and said these
words: 'Formerly, O tiger among kings, while travelling among sacred
places, I arrived, O lord, at the beautiful asylum of Nara and Narayana.
There lies the delightful spot called Vadri, and there also is that lake
in the firmament (whence the sacred Ganga takes her rise).[381] There the
sage Asw