The Mahabharata
Book 1: Adi Parva
Kisari Mohan Ganguli, tr.
[1883-1896]
SECTION XII
(Pauloma Parva continued)
"Sauti continued, 'Ruru then asked, 'O best of Dwijas, why was king Janamejaya
bent upon destroying the serpents?--And why and how were they saved by the wise
Astika? I am anxious to hear all this in detail.'
"The Rishi replied, 'O Ruru, the important history of Astika you will learn
from the lips of Brahmanas.' Saying this, he vanished.
"Sauti continued, 'Ruru ran about in search of the missing Rishi, and having
failed to find him in all the woods, fell down on the ground, fatigued. And revolving
in his mind the words of the Rishi, he was greatly confounded and seemed to be
deprived of his senses. Regaining consciousness, he came home and asked his father
to relate the history in question. Thus asked, his father related all about the
story.'"
So ends the twelfth section in the Pauloma Parva of the Adi Parva.
