Chapter 176

“Bhishma said, ‘I then placed the matter before (my mother) Kali,otherwise called Gandhavati, as also all our counsellors, and also beforeour special and ordinary priests and then permitted, O king, the eldestof those maidens, Amva, to depart. Permitted by me, that maiden then wentto the city of the ruler of the Salwas. And she had for her escort anumber of old Brahmanas and was also accompanied by her own nurse. Andhaving travelled the whole distance (between Hastinapura and Salwa’scity), she approached king Salwa and said these words, ‘I come, O thou ofmighty arms, expectant of thee, O high-souled one! Unto her, however, Oking, the lord of the Salwas said with a laughter, ‘O thou of the fairestcomplexion, I no longer desire to make a wife of thee who wast to bewedded to another. Therefore, O blessed one, go back thither untoBhishma’s presence. I no longer desire thee that was forcibly ravished byBhishma. Indeed, when Bhishma, having vanquished the kings, took theeaway, thou didst go with him cheerfully. When having humiliated andvanquished all the kings of the earth, Bhishma took thee away, I nolonger desire thee, O thou of the fairest complexion, for a wife,–theethat was to have been wedded to another! How can a king like myself, whois acquainted with all branches of knowledge and who lays down laws forthe guidance of others, admit (into his abode) a woman who was to havebeen wedded to another? O blessed lady, go whithersoever thou wishest,without spending thy time in vain!’ Hearing these words of his, Amvathen, O king, afflicted with the arrows of the god of love, addressedSalwa, saying, ‘Say not so, O lord of the earth, for it is not so! Ogrinder of foes, cheerful I was not when taken away by Bhishma! He tookme away by force, having routed all the kings, and I was weeping all thewhile. An innocent girl that I am and attached to thee, accept me, O lordof the Salwas! The abandonment (by one) of those that are attached (tohim) is never applauded in the scriptures. Having solicited Ganga’s sonwho never retreats from battle, and having at last obtained hispermission, I come to thee! Indeed, the mighty-armed Bhishma, O king,desireth me not! It hath been heard by me that his action (in thismatter) hath been for the sake of his brother. My two sisters Amvika andAmvalika, who were abducted with me at the same time, have, O king, beenbestowed by Ganga’s son on his younger brother Vichitravirya! O lord ofthe Salwas, I swear, O tiger among men, by touching my own head that Ihave never thought of any other husband than thee! I do not, O greatking, come to thee as one who was to have been wedded to another! I tellthee the truth, O Salwa, truly swearing by my soul! Take me, O thou oflarge eyes, me–a maiden come to thee of her own accord–one unbetrothedto another, one desirous of thy grace!’ Although she spoke in thisstrain, Salwa, however, O chief of the Bharatas, rejected that daughterof the ruler of Kasi, like a snake casting off his slough. Indeed,although that king was earnestly solicited with diverse expressions suchas these, the lord of the Salwas still did not, O bull of the Bharatarace, manifest any inclination for accepting the girl. Then the eldestdaughter of the ruler of Kasi, filled with anger, and her eyes bathed intears, said these words with a voice choked with tears and grief, ‘Castoff, O king, by thee, whithersoever I may go, the righteous will be myprotectors, for truth is indestructible!’

“It thus, O thou of Kuru’s race, that the lord of the Salwas rejectedthat maiden who addressed him in language such as this and who wassobbing in grief so tenderly. Go, go,–were the words that Salwa saidunto her repeatedly. I am in terror of Bhishma, O thou of fair hips, thouart Bhishma’s capture! Thus addressed by Salwa destitute of foresight,that maiden issued out of his city sorrowfully and wailing like ashe-osprey.'”