the accident which hath happened. Surely what thou hast done must
have been the fiat of Fate. Since thou, O great king, being a thirst
hast drunk water prepared with sacred hymns, and filled with the virtue
of my religious labours, thou must bring forth out of thy own body a son
of the character described above. To that end we shall perform a
sacrifice for thee, of wonderful effect so that, valorous as thou art,
thou wilt bring forth a son equal to Indra. Nor with thou experience any
trouble on account of the labour pains." Then when one hundred years had
passed away, a son shining as the sun pierced the left side of the king
endowed with a mighty soul, and came forth. And the son was possessed of
mighty strength. Nor did Yuvanaswa die--which itself was strange. Then
Indra of mighty strength came to pay him a visit. And the deities
enquired of the great Indra, "What is to be sucked by this boy?" Then
Indra introduced his own forefinger into his mouth. And when the wielder
of the thunderbolt said, "He will suck me," the dwellers of heaven
together with Indra christened the boy Mandhata, (_literally_, Me he
shall suck). Then the boy having tasted the forefinger extended by
Indra, became possessed of mighty strength, and he grew thirteen cubits,
O king. And O great king! the whole of sacred learning together with the
holy science of arms, was acquired by that masterful boy, who gained all
that knowledge by the simple and unassisted power of his thought. And
all at once, the bow celebrated under the name of Ajagava and a number
of shafts made of horn, together with an impenetrable coat of mail, came
to his possession on the very same day, O scion of Bharata's race! And
he was placed on the throne by Indra himself and he conquered the three
worlds in a righteous way, as Vishnu did by his three strides. And the
wheel of the car of that mighty king as irresistible in its course
(throughout the world). And the gems, of their own accord, came into the
possession of that saintly king. This is the tract of land, O lord of
earth, which belonged to him. It abounds in wealth. He performed a
number of sacrificial rites of various kinds, in which abundant
gratuities were paid to the priests. O king! he of mighty force and
unmeasured lustre, erected sacred piles, and performed splendid pious
deeds, and attained the position of sitting at Indra's side. That
sagacious king of unswerving piety sent forth his fiat, and simply by
its virtue co