Chapter 304

Vaisampayana said, “When that foremost of Brahmanas had gone away on someother errand, the maiden began to ponder over the virtue of thosemantras. And she said to herself, ‘Of what nature are those mantras thathave been bestowed on me by that high-souled one? I shall without delaytest their power’. And as she was thinking in this way, she suddenlyperceived indications of the approach of her season. And her seasonhaving arrived, while she was yet unmarried, she blushed in shame. And itcame to pass that as she was seated in her chamber on a rich bed, shebeheld the solar orb rising in the east. And both the mind and the eyesof that maiden of excellent waist became rivetted fast upon the solarorb. And she gazed and gazed on that orb without being satiated with thebeauty of the morning Sun. And she suddenly became gifted with celestialsight. And then she beheld that god of divine form accoutred in mail andadorned with ear-rings. And at sight of the god, O lord of men, shebecame curious as to the (potency of the) mantras. And thereupon thatmaiden resolved to invoke him. And having recourse to Pranayama, sheinvoked the Maker of day. And thus invoked by her, O king, the Maker ofday speedily presented himself. And he was of a yellowish hue like honey,and was possessed of mighty arms, and his neck was marked with lines likethose of a conchshell. And furnished with armlets, and decked with adiadem, he came smiling, and illumining all the directions. And it was byYoga power that he divided himself in twain, one of which continued togive heat, and the other appeared before Kunti. And he addressed Kunti inwords that were exceedingly sweet, saying, ‘O gentle maiden, over-poweredby the mantras, I come hither obedient to thee. Subject as I am to thypower, what shall I do, O queen? Tell me, for I shall do whatever thoumayst command? Hearing these words of the deity, Kunti said, ‘Oworshipful one, go thou back to the place thou hast come from! I invokedthee from curiosity alone. Pardon me, O worshipful one!’ Surya then said,’O damsel of slender waist, I will, even as thou hast said, return to theplace I have come from! Having called a celestial, it is not, however,proper to send him away in vain. Thy intention, O blessed one, it is tohave from Surya a son furnished with a coat of mail and ear-rings, andwho in point of prowess would be beyond compare in this world! Do thou,therefore, O damsel of elephantine gait, surrender thy person to me! Thoushall then have, O lady, a son after thy wish! O gentle girl, O thou ofsweet smiles, I will go back after having known thee! If thou do notgratify me to-day by obeying my word, I shall in anger curse thee, thyfather and that Brahmana also. For thy fault, I will surely consume themall, and I shall inflict condign punishment on that foolish father ofthine that knoweth not this transgression of thine and on that Brahmanawho hath bestowed the mantras on thee without knowing thy disposition andcharacter! Yonder are all the celestials in heaven, with Purandara attheir head, who are looking at me with derisive smiles at my beingdeceived by thee, O lady! Look at those celestials, for thou art nowpossessed of celestial sight! Before this I have endued thee withcelestial vision, in consequence of which thou couldst see me!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Thereupon the princess beheld the celestialsstanding in the firmament, each in his proper sphere[107], even as shesaw before her that highly resplendent deity furnished with rays, viz.,Surya himself. And beholding them all, the girl became frightened and herface was suffused with blushes of shame. And then she addressed Surya,saying, ‘O lord of rays, go thou back to thy own region. On account of mymaidenhood, this outrage of thine is fraught with woe to me! It is onlyone’s father, mother, and other superiors, that are capable of givingaway their daughter’s body. Virtue I shall never sacrifice, seeing thatin this world the keeping of their persons inviolate is deemed as thehighest duty of women, and is held in high regard! O thou possessed ofwealth of splendour, it is only to test the power of my mantras that Ihave, from mere childishness, summoned thee. Considering that this hathbeen done by a girl of tender years, it behoveth thee, O lord, to forgiveher!’ Then Surya said, ‘It is because I consider thee a girl that, OKunti, I am speaking to thee so mildly. To one that is not so I would notconcede this. Do thou, O Kunti, surrender thyself! Thou shalt surelyattain happiness thereby. Since, O timid maiden, thou hast invoked mewith mantras, it is not proper for me to go away without any purposebeing attained, for, if I do so I shall then. O thou of faultless limbs,be the object of laughter in the world, and, O beauteous damsel, abye-word with all the celestials. Do thou, therefore, yield to me! Bythat thou shalt obtain a son even like myself, and thou shalt also bemuch praised in all the world.'”