Chapter 8
“Sauti said, ‘O Brahmana, Chyavana, the son of Bhrigu, begot a son in thewomb of his wife Sukanya. And that son was the illustrious Pramati ofresplendent energy. And Pramati begot in the womb of Ghritachi a soncalled Ruru. And Ruru begot on his wife Pramadvara a son called Sunaka.And I shall relate to you in detail, O Brahmana, the entire history ofRuru of abundant energy. O listen to it then in full!
“Formerly there was a great Rishi called Sthulakesa possessed of asceticpower and learning and kindly disposed towards all creatures. At thattime, O Brahmana sage, Viswavasu, the King of the Gandharvas, it is said,had intimacy with Menaka, the celestial dancing-girl. And the Apsara,Menaka, O thou of the Bhrigu race, when her time was come, brought forthan infant near the hermitage of Sthulakesa. And dropping the newborninfant on the banks of the river, O Brahmana, Menaka, the Apsara, beingdestitute of pity and shame, went away. And the Rishi, Sthulakesa, ofgreat ascetic power, discovered the infant lying forsaken in a lonelypart of the river-side. And he perceived that it was a female child,bright as the offspring of an Immortal and blazing, as it were, withbeauty: And the great Brahmana, Sthulakesa, the first of Munis, seeingthat female child, and filled with compassion, took it up and reared it.And the lovely child grew up in his holy habitation, the noble-minded andblessed Rishi Sthulakesa performing in due succession all the ceremoniesbeginning with that at birth as ordained by the divine law. And becauseshe surpassed all of her sex in goodness, beauty, and every quality, thegreat Rishi called her by the name of Pramadvara. And the pious Ruruhaving seen Pramadvara in the hermitage of Sthulakesa became one whoseheart was pierced by the god of love. And Ruru by means of his companionsmade his father Pramati, the son of Bhrigu, acquainted with his passion.And Pramati demanded her of the far-famed Sthulakesa for his son. And herfoster-father betrothed the virgin Pramadvara to Ruru, fixing thenuptials for the day when the star Varga-Daivata (Purva-phalguni) wouldbe ascendant.
“Then within a few days of the time fixed for the nuptials, the beautifulvirgin while at play with companions of her own sex, her time havingcome, impelled by fate, trod upon a serpent which she did not perceive asit lay in coil. And the reptile, urged to execute the will of Fate,violently darted its envenomed fangs into the body of the heedlessmaiden. And stung by that serpent, she instantly dropped senseless on theground, her colour faded and all the graces of her person went off. Andwith dishevelled hair she became a spectacle of woe to her companions andfriends. And she who was so agreeable to behold became on her death whatwas too painful to look at. And the girl of slender waist lying on theground like one asleep–being overcome with the poison of the snake-oncemore became more beautiful than in life. And her foster-father and theother holy ascetics who were there, all saw her lying motionless upon theground with the splendour of a lotus. And then there came many notedBrahmanas filled with compassion, and they sat around her. AndSwastyatreya, Mahajana, Kushika, Sankhamekhala, Uddalaka, Katha, andSweta of great renown, Bharadwaja, Kaunakutsya, Arshtishena, Gautama,Pramati, and Pramati’s son Ruru, and other inhabitants of the forest,came there. And when they saw that maiden lying dead on the groundovercome with the poison of the reptile that had bitten her, they allwept filled with compassion. But Ruru, mortified beyond measure, retiredfrom the scene.'”
So ends the eighth section of the Pauloma Parva of the Adi Parva of theblessed Mahabharata.
