. SWARAJYA, January 20, 1973 5

It was this child who later became famous a~ will live long in~he world ;in a!t: glory, but the others .. . will be freed h'omtn.e' curse as soon as born. My This was how, the came' to incur . word$' cannot prbve 'ineffective? but! shall soften th~ . hth ' th" " t· 'f h l'·d····· "th" curse, to this Afterwards:,v asishtha set his VaSls a s curse" ey'wen ora 0 1 aywl ' th~'elr'.." ,.. e~tent.'""" wives to a mounta,in tract where stood the hermitage .min~ a?ain o~ his .austeritie~, the effect of which had of .. One of them sawVasishtha's cbw,been slIghtly lrtlpaired by hiS anger. Sages who per~ Nandini, grazing there. Its divinely beautiful 'fonn fonn ~usterit~es acquire the powe~ to curse, but. every attracted him ahd he pointed it out to the lac;lies. exercise of thIs power reduces their store of ment. They were all loud in praise of the graceful animal, The Vasus felt relieved andapp):'oached the god~ and one of them requested her husband to secure dess and begged of her: "We pray you to it for her. become our mother. For 9.ur sake we beseech you to He replied: "What need have we, the devas, descend to the earth and marry a worthy man. Throw for the milk of cows? This cow belongs to the sage us into the water as soon as we are born and liberate , Vasishtha who is the master of the whole place. tiS from the curse." The goddess granted their prayer, Man will certainly became immortal by drinking its came to the earth and became the wife of Santanu. milk; but this is no gain to us, who are already When the goddess, Ganga left Santanu and dis~ immortal, Is it worth our while incurring Vasishtha's appeared with the eighth child, the king gave up all wrath merely to satisfy a whim?" . • sensual pleasures and ruled the kingdom in a spirit But she was not thus to be put off. "I have a of asceticism. One day he was wandering along the dear companion in the mortal world. ,It is, for her banks of, the when he saw a boy endowed sake that I make this request. Before Vasishtha with the beauty and form, of Devendra, the king of returns we shall have escaped with' the cow. You the gods. The child was amusing himself by casting must certainly do this for my sake, for it is my dearest a dam of arrows across the Ganges in flood, playi!lg wish." Finally her husband yielded. All the Vasus with the mighty river as a child with an indulgent joined together and took the cow and its calf away mother. To the king who stood transfixed with with them. amazement at the sight, the goddess Ganga revealed herself and presented the child as his own son. ' .. When Vasishtha returned to· his , he missed the cow and the calf, because they were indis~ She. said: "0 king, this is that eighth child I pensable for his daily rituals. Very soon, he came to. bore you. I have brought him up till now. His know by his yogic insight all that had taken place., name is Devavrata. He has mastered the art of Anger seized him and he uttered a curse against the anns and equals Parasur~ma in prowess. He has Vasus. The sage, whose sole wealth was his austerity, learnt the and the from Vasishtha, willed that they should be born into the world of men. and is well versed in the arts and sciences known to When the Vasus came to know of the curse, repentant Sukra. Take back with you this child who is, a great too late, they threw themselves on the sage's mercy archer and hero as well as a master in statecraft." • nnd implored forgiveness. Then she blessed the boy, handed him to his father, the king, and disappeared. . Vasishtha said: "The curse must needs take its • course. Prabhasa, the -, who seized the cow, (To be continued) . ' ", .' . '. ' ,

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