# The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section LXXIV

Section LXXIV. ( Sambhava Parva continued. )
Vaisampayana said, "After Dushmanta had left the asylum giving those promises to Sakuntala, the latter of tapering thighs brought forth a boy of immeasurable energy. And when the child was full three years of age, he became in splendour like the blazing fire. And, O Janamejaya, he was possessed of beauty and magnanimity and every accomplishment. And the first of virtuous men, Kanwa, caused all the rites of religion to be performed on that intelligent child thriving day by day. And the boy gifted with pearly teeth and shining locks, capable of slaying lions even at that age, with all auspicious signs on his palm, and broad expansive forehead, grew up in beauty and strength. And like unto a celestial child in splendour he began to grow up rapidly. And when he was only six years of age, endued with great strength he used to seize and bind to the trees that stood around that asylum lions and tigers and boars and buffaloes and elephants. And he rode on some animals, seized some, and pursued others in sportive mood. The dwellers of Kanwa's asylum thereupon bestowed on him a name. And they said, because he seizes and restrains all animals however strong, let him be called Sarva-damana (the restrainer of all.) And it was thus that the boy came to be named Sarva-damana, endued as he was with prowess and energy, and strength. And the Rishi seeing the boy and marking also his extraordinary acts, told Sakuntala that the time had come for his installation as the heir-apparent. And beholding the strength of the boy, Kanwa commanded his disciples, saying, 'Bare ye without delay this Sakuntala with her son from this abode to that of her husband blessed with every auspicious sign. Women should not live long in the houses of their paternal or maternal relations. Such residence is destructive of their reputation, their good conduct, their virtue. Therefore delay not in bear- ​ing her hence.' The disciples of the Rishi thereupon, saying 'so be it,' went towards the city named after the elephant (Hastinapore) with Sakuntala and her son before them. And then she of fair eye-brows taking with her that boy of celestial beauty endued with eyes like lotus leaves, left the woods where she had been first known by Dushmanta. And having approached the king, she with her boy resembling in splendour the rising Sun was introduced to him. And the disciples of the Rishi having introduced her, returned to the asylum. And Sakuntala having worshipped the king according to proper form, told him, 'This is thy son, O king! Let him be installed as thy heir-apparent. O king, this child, like unto a celestial, hath been begotten by thee in me. Therefore, O thou best of men, fulfil now the promise thou gavest me. Call to thy mind, O thou of great good fortune, the agreement into which thou hadst entered on the occasion of thy union with me in the asylnm of Kanwa.'
"The king, hearing these her words, and remembering everything, said, 'I do not remember anything. Whose art thou, O wicked woman in ascetic guise? I do not remember having contracted any connection with you in respect of Dharma, Kama and Artha. Go or stay or do as thou pleasest.' Thus addressed by him, the fair-complexioned innocent one became abashed. Grief deprived her of consciousness and she stood for a time like an wooden post. Soon, however, her eyes became red like copper and her lips began to quiver. And the glances she now and then cast upon the king seemed to burn the latter. Her rising wrath, however, and the fire of her asceticism, she extinguished within herself by an extraordinary effort. Gathering her thoughts within a moment, her heart possessed with sorrow and rage, she thus addressed her lord in anger, looking at him. 'Knowing everything, O monarch, how canst thou, like an inferior person, thus say that thou knowest not? Thy heart is a witness a regards the truth or falsehood of this matter. Therefore speak truly without degrading thyself! He who being one thing, representeth himself as another thing to others is like a thief and a robber of his own self. Of what sin is he not capable? Thou thinkest that ​thou alone hast knowledge of thy deed. But knowest thou not that the ancient omniscient one (Narayana) lieth in thy heart? He knoweth all thy sins, and thou sinnest in his presence. He that sins thinks that none observeth him. But he is observed by the gods and by him also who occupieth every heart. The Sun, the Moon, the Air, Fire, Earth, Sky, Water, the heart, Yama, the day, the night, both twilights, and Dharma, all witness the acts of man. Yama, the son of Surya, taketh no account of his sins with whom Narayana the witness of all acts is gratified. But he with whom Narayana is not gratified is tortured for his sins by Yama. Him who degradeth himself by representing his self falsely, the gods never bless. Even his own soul doth not bless him. I am a wife devoted to my husband. I have com of my own accord, it is true. But do not, on that account, treat me with disrespect. I am thy wife and therefore deserve to be treated respectfully. Wilt thou not treat me so because I have come hither of my own accord? In the presence of so many, why dost thou treat me like an ordinary woman? I am not certainly crying in the wilderness. Dost thou not hear me? But if thou refusest to do what I supplicate thee for, O Dushmanta, thy head this moment shall burst in hundred pieces. The husband entering the womb of the wife cometh out himself in the form of the son. Therefore is the wife called by those cognisant with the Veda as Jāyā (she in whom one is born.) And the son that is so born unto persons cognisant of the Vedic Mantras rescueth the spirits of deceased ancestors. And because the son rescueth ancestors from the hell call Put, therefore hath he been called by the self-create himself Puttra (the rescuer from Put.) By a son one conquered the three worlds. By a son's son, one enjoyeth eternity. And by a grand-son's son great-grand-fathers enjoy everlasting happiness. She is a true wife who is skilful in house-hold affairs. She is a true wife who hath borne a son. She is a true wife whose heart is devoted to her lord. She is a true wife who knoweth none but her lord. The wife is a man's half. The wife is the first of friends. The wife is the root of Dharma, Artha, and Kama. The wife is the root of salvation. They that have wives can ​perform religious acts. They that have wives can lead domestic lives. They that have wives have the means to be cheerful. They that have wives can achieve good fortune. Sweet-speeched wives are as friends on occasions of joy. They are as fathers on occasions of religious acts. They are as mothers in hours of sickness and woe. Even in the deep woods, a wife to a traveller is his refreshment and solace. He that hath a wife is trusted by all. A wife therefore is one's most valuable possession. Even when the husband leaving this world goeth into the region of Yama, it is the devoted wife that accompanies him there. A wife gone before waits for the husband. But if the husband goeth before, the chaste wife followeth close. For these reasons, O king, doth marriage exist. The husband enjoyeth the companionship of the wife both in this and the other world. It hath been said by learned persons that one is himself born as one's son. Therefore should a man whose wife hath borne a son look upon her as his mother. Beholding the face of the son one hath begot in his wife, like his own face in a mirror, one feeleth as happy as a virtuous man on attaining to heaven. Men scorched by mental grief or suffering under bodily pain feel as much refreshed in the companionship of their wives as one perspiring (under the hot sun) in a cool bath. No man even in anger should ever do anything that is disagreeable to his wife, seeing that happiness, joy, and virtue, everything dependeth on the wife. A wife is the sacred field in which the husband is born himself. Even Rishis cannot create creatures without women. What happiness is greater than what the father feels when the son running towards him, even though his body be smeared with dust, clasps his limbs? Why then dost thou treat with indifference such a son who hath approached thee himself and who casteth wishful glances towards thee for climbing thy knees? Even ants support, without destroying, their own eggs. Then why shouldst not thou, virtuous as thou art, support thy own child? The torch of soft sandal paste, of women, of (cool) water, is not so agreeable as the touch of one's own infant son locked in one's embrace. As a Brahmana is the foremost of all bipeds, a cow the foremost of all ​quadrupeds, a preceptor the foremost of all superiors, so is the son foremost of all objects agreeable to the touch. Let therefore, this handsome child touch thee in embrace. There is nothing in the world more agreeable to the touch than the embrace of one's son. O thou chastiser of the foe, I have brought forth this child, O monarch, capable of dispelling all thy sorrows, after bearing him in my womb for full three years. And, O monarch of the Puru race, "He shall perform a hundred horse-sacrifices" were the words uttered in the skies when I was in the lying-in room. Indeed, men going into places remote from their homes take up others' children on their laps and smelling their heads feel great happiness. Thou knowest that Brahmanas repeat these Vedic mantras on the occasion of the consecrating rites of infancy. "Thou art born, O son, of my body! Thou art sprung from my heart. Thou art myself in the form of son. Live thou for a hundred years! My life dependeth on thee, and the continuation of my race also on thee. Therefore, O son, live thou in great happiness for a hundred years." He hath sprung from thy body—this second being from thee. Behold thyself in thy son as thou beholdest thy image in the clear lake! As the sacrificial fire is kindled from the domestic one, so hath this one sprung from thee. Though one, thou hast divided thyself. In course of hunting while engaged in the pursuit of deer, I was approached by thee, O king, I was who was then a virgin in the asylum of my father! Urvasi, Purva-chitti, Saha-janya, Menaka, Viswachi, and Ghritachi, these are the six foremost Apsaras. Amongst them again, Menaka, born of Brahma, is the first. Descending from heaven on earth, after intercourse with Viswamitra she gave me birth. That celebrated Apsara, Menaka, brought me forth in a valley of the Himalya. And bereft of all affection, she went away casting me there as if I was any body else's child. What sinful act did I do of old in some other life that I was in infancy cast off by my parents and at present am cast off by thee! Cast off by thee I am ready to return to the asylum of my father. But it behoveth thee not to cast off this child who is thy own.'
"Hearing all this, Dushmanta said, 'O Sakuntala, I do not ​know having begot in thee this son. Women generally speak untruths. Who shall believe in thy words? Destitute of all affection, the lewd Menaka is thy mother, for by her wast thou cast off on the surface of the Himalya as one throws away, after the worship is over, the flowery offerings he had made to his gods. Thy father too of the Kshatria race, the lustful Viswamitra, who was tempted to become a Brahmana, is destitute of all affection. However, Menaka is the first of Apsaras, and thy father also is the first of Rishis. Being their daughter, why dost thou speak like a woman that is lewd? Thy words deserve no credit. Art thou not ashamed to speak them? Especially before me? Go hence, O wicked woman in ascetic guise. Where is that foremost of great Rishis, where also is that Apsara Menaka? And where art thou, low as thou art, in the guise of an ascetic? Thy child too is grown up. Thou sayest he is a boy, but he is very strong. How hath he so soon grown like a Shala sprout? Thy birth is low. Thou speakest like a lewd woman. Lustfully hast thou been begotten by Menaka. O woman of ascetic guise, all that thou sayest is quite unknown to me. I don't know thee. Go whithersoever thou choosest.'
"Sakuntala replied, 'Thou seest, O king, the faults of others, even though they be so small as a mustard seed. But seeing, thou noticest not thy own faults even though they be as large as the Vilwa fruit. Menaka is of the celestials. Indeed, Menaka is reckoned as the first of celestials. My birth, therefore, O Dushmanta, is far higher than thine. Thou walkest upon the earth, O king, but I roam in the skies. Behold, the difference between ourselves is as that between (the mountain of) Meru and a mustard seed. Behold my power, O king! I can repair to the abodes of Indra, Kuvera, Yama, and Varuna. The saying is true which I shall refer to before thee, O sinless one! I refer to it for example's sake and not from evil motives. Therefore it behoveth thee to pardon me after thou hast hear it. An ugly person considereth himself handsomer than others until he sees his own face in the mirror. But when he sees his own ugly face in the mirror, it is then that he perceives the difference between himself and others. He that is really ​handsome never taunts anybody. And he that always talketh evil becometh a reviler. And as the swine always affect dirt and filth even when in the midst of a flower-garden, so the wicked always choose the evil out of both evil and good that others speak. Those, however, that are wise, hearing the speeches of others that are intermixed with both good and evil, accept only what is good, like geese that always extract the milk though it be mixed with water. As the honest are always pained in speaking ill of others, so are the wicked always rejoiced in doing the same thing. As the honest are always pleased in showing regard for the old, so are the wicked always rejoiced in aspersing the good. The honest are happy in seeking for them. The wicked ever speak ill of the honest. But the latter never injure the former even if injured by them. What can be more ridiculous in the world than those that are themselves wicked should represent the really honest as wicked? When even atheists are annoyed with those that have fallen off from truth and virtue and who are really like angry snakes of virulent poison, what shall I say of myself who am nurtured in faith? He that, having begotten a son who is his own image, regardeth him not, never attaineth to the worlds he coveteth, and verily the gods destroy his good fortune and possessions. The pitris have said that the son continueth the race and the line and is, therefore, the best of all religious acts. Therefore should none abandon a son. Manu hath said that there are five kinds of sons: those begotten by one's self in his own wife, those obtained (in gift) from others, those purchased for a consideration, those reared with affection and those begotten in others than wedded wives. Sons support the religion and achievements of men, enhance their joys, and rescue deceased ancestors from hell. It behoveth thee not, therefore, O tiger among kings, to abandon a son who is such. Therefore, O lord of the earth, cherish thy own self, truth, and virtue, by cherishing thy son. O thou lion among monarchs, it behoveth thee not to support this deceitfulness. The dedication of a tank is more meritorious than that of a hundred wells. A sacrifice again is more meritorious than the dedication of a ​tank. A son is more meritorious than a sacrifice. Truth is more meritorious than a hundred sons. An hundred horse-sacrifices had once been weighed with Truth. Truth was found heavier than an hundred horse-sacrifices. O king, Truth, I ween, may be equal to the study of the whole Vedas and ablutions in all holy places. There is no virtue equal to Truth. There is nothing superior to Truth. O king, Truth is God himself. Truth is the highest vow. Therefore, violate not thy pledge, O monarch! Let Truth and thee be ever united. If thou placest no credit on my words, I shall of my own accord go hence. Indeed, thy companionship should be avoided. But know thou, O Dushmanta, that when thou art gone, this son of mine shall rule the whole earth surrounded by the four seas and adorned by the king of the mountains.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "And Sakuntala having spoken to the monarch in this wise, then left his presence. But as soon as she had left, a voice from the skies, emanating from no visible shape, thus spoke to Dushmanta as he was sitting surrounded by his Ritwijas, Purohita, Acharyas, and Ministers. And the voice said, 'The mother is but the sheath of flesh: the son sprung from the father is the father himself. Therefore, O Dushmanta, cherish thy son, and insult not Sakuntala. O thou best of men, the son, who is but a form of one's own seed, rescueth (ancestors) from the regions of Yama. Thou art the progenitor of this boy. Sakuntala hath spoken the truth. The husband dividing his body in twain is born of his wife in the form of son. Therefore, O Dushmanta, cherish thou, O monarch, thy son born of Sakuntala. To live forsaking one's living son is a great misfortune. Therefore, O thou of the Puru race, cherish thy high-souled son born of Sakuntala! And because this child is to be cherished by thee even at our word, therefore shall this thy son be known by the name of Bharata (the cherished.)' Hearing these words uttered by the dwellers of heaven, the monarch of the Paurava race became overjoyed and spoke as follows unto his Purohita and ministers. 'Hear ye these words uttered by the celestial messenger? I also myself do know this one to be my son. If I had taken him as my son on the strength of ​Sakuntala's words alone, my people would have been suspicious and my son also would not have been regarded as pure.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "The monarch then, O thou of the Bharata race, seeing the purity of his son established by the celestial messenger, became exceedingly glad. And he took unto him that son with joy. And the king with a joyous hear then performed all those rites upon his son that a father should perform. And the king smelt his child's head and hugged him with affection. And the Brahmanas began to utter blessings upon him and the bards began to applaud him. And the monarch then experienced the great delight that one feeleth at the touch of one's son. And Dushmanta also received that wife of his with affection. And he told her these words, pacifying her affectionately. 'O Goddess, my union with thee took place privately. Therefore, I was thinking of how best to establish thy purity. My people might think that we were only lustfully united and not as husband and wife; and therefore, this son that I would have installed as my heir-apparent would only have been regarded as of impure birth. And, dearest, every hard word thou hast uttered in thy anger, have I, O large-eyed one, forgiven thee. Thou art my dearest.' And that royal sage, Dushmanta, having spoken thus to his dear wife, then, O Bharata, received her with offerings of perfume, food, and drink. And king Dushmanta then, bestowing the name of Bharata upon his child, formally installed him as the heir-apparent. And the famous bright wheels of Bharata's chariot, invincible and like unto the wheels of the cars owned by the gods, traversed every region filling the whole earth with their ghar-ghara. And the son of Dushmanta reduced to subjection all the kings of the earth. And he ruled virtuously and earned great fame. And that monarch of great prowess was known by the titles of Chakra-varti and Sarva-bhauma. And he performed many sacrifices like Sakra or the lord of the Marutas. And Kanwa was the chief priest in those sacrifices in which the offerings to Brahmanas were great. And the blessed monarch performed both the cow- and the horse-sacrifices. And Bharata gave unto Kanwa a thousand ​gold coins as the sacrificial fee. It is that Bharata from whom have flowed so many mighty achievements. It is from him that the great race hath sprung called after his name. And all monarchs that have come after him in his race are called after him. And in the Bharata race there have been born many god-like monarchs gifted with great energy, and like unto Brahmā himself. Their numbers cannot be counted. But, O thou of the Bharata race, I shall name the principal ones that were blessed with great good fortune, like unto the gods, and devoted to truth and honesty."
And so ends the seventy-fourth Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.