Chapter 120

“Narada said, ‘King Yayati then, desirous again of disposing of hisdaughter in Swayamvara, went to a hermitage on the confluence of theGanga and the Yamuna, taking Madhavi with him on a chariot, her persondecked with garlands of flowers. And both Puru and Yadu followed theirsister to that sacred asylum. And in that spot was assembled a vastconcourse of Nagas and Yakshas and human beings, of Gandharvas andanimals and birds, and of dwellers of mountains and trees and forests,and of many inhabitants of that particular province. And the woods allaround that asylum were filled with numerous Rishis resembling Brahmanhimself. And while the selection had commenced of husband, that maiden ofthe fairest complexion, passing over all the bridegrooms there assembled,selected the forest as her lord. Descending from her chariot and salutingall her friends, the daughter of Yayati went into the forest which isalways sacred, and devoted herself to ascetic austerities. Reducing herbody by means of fasts of various kinds and religious rites and rigidvows, she adopted the deer’s mode of life And subsisting upon soft andgreen grass-blades, resembling the sprouts of lapis lazuli and which wereboth bitter and sweet to the taste, and drinking the sweet, pure, cool,crystal, and very superior water of sacred mountain-streams, andwandering with the deer in forests destitute of lions and tigers, indeserts free from forest-conflagration, and in thick woods, that maiden,leading the life of a wild doe, earned great religious merit by thepractice of Brahmacharya austerities.

‘(Meanwhile) king Yayati, following the practice of kings before him,submitted to the influence of Time, after having lived for many thousandsof years. The progeny of two of his sons–those foremost of men–Puru andYadu, multiplied greatly, and in consequence thereof, Nahusha’s son wongreat respect both in this and the other world. O monarch, dwelling inheaven, king Yayati, resembling a great Rishi, became an object of muchregard, and enjoyed the highest fruits of those regions. And after manythousands of years had passed away in great happiness, on one occasionwhile seated among the illustrious royal sages and great Rishis, kingYayati, from folly, ignorance, and pride, mentally disregarded all thegods and Rishis, and all human beings. Thereat the divine Sakra–theslayer of Vala–at once read his heart. And those royal sages alsoaddressed him saying, ‘Fie, fie.’ And beholding the son of Nahusha, thequestions were asked, ‘Who is this person? What king’s son is he? Why ishe in heaven? By what acts hath he won success? Where did he earn asceticmerit? For what hath he been known here? Who knoweth him? The dwellers ofheaven, thus speaking of-that monarch, asked one another these questionsabout Yayati, that ruler of men. And hundreds of heaven’s charioteers,and hundreds of those that kept heaven’s gates, and of those what were incharge of heaven’s seats, thus questioned, all answered, ‘We do not knowhim.’ And the minds of all were temporarily clouded, so that nonerecognised the king and thereupon the monarch was soon divested of hissplendour.'”