er of a heroic son![426]'

"'"Ganda said, 'Let her who has stolen the lotus-stalks be always a
speaker of falsehoods! Let her always quarrel with her kinsmen! Let her
bestow her daughter in marriage for a pecuniary consideration! Let her
eat the food which she has cooked, alone and without sharing it with
anybody! Let her pass her whole life in slavery! Indeed, let her who has
stolen the lotus-stalks be quick with child in consequence of sexual
congress under circumstances of guilt.'

"'"Pasusakha said, 'Let him who has stolen the lotus-stalks be born of a
slave-mother. Let him have many children all of whom are worthless! And
let him never bow to the deities.'

"'"Sunahsakha said, 'Let him who has removed the lotus-stalks obtain the
merit of bestowing his daughter in marriage upon a Brahmana, who has
studied all the Samans and the Yajuses and who has carefully observed the
vow of Brahmacharya. Let him perform the final ablutions after having
studied all the Atharvans!'

"'"All the Rishis said, 'The oath thou hast taken is no oath at all, for
all the acts which thou hast mentioned are very desirable for the
Brahmanas! It is evident, O Sunahsakha, that thou hast appropriated our
lotus-stalks!'

"'"Sunahsakha said, 'The lotus stalks deposited by you not being seen, what
you say is perfectly true, for it is I who have actually stolen them. In
the very sight of all of you I have caused the disappearance of those
stalks! Ye sinless ones, the act was done by me from desire of testing
you! I came hither for protecting you. That woman who lies slain there
was called Yatudhani. She was of a fierce disposition. Sprung from the
incantations of king Vrishadarbhi, she had come here from the desire of
slaying all of you! You ascetics endued with wealth of penances, egged on
by that king, she had come, but I have slain her. That wicked and sinful
creature, sprung from the sacrificial fire, would otherwise have taken
your lives. It was for killing her and saving you that I came here, ye
learned Brahmanas! Know that I am Vasava! Ye have completely freed
yourselves from the influence of cupidity. In consequence of this, ye
have won many eternal regions fraught with the fruition of every wish as
soon as it rises in the heart! Do ye rise, without delay, from this place
and repair to those regions of beatitude, ye regenerate ones, that are
reserved for you!'"

"'Bhishma continued, "The great Rishis, highly gratified at this, replied