SECTION XLV
(Astika Parva continued)
"Meanwhile the great ascetic Jarac karu wandered over the whol Earth making the place where evening fell his home for the night. And gifted with ascetic power, he roamed, practising various vows difficult to be practised by the immatured, and bathing also in various sacred waters. And the Muni bad ait alone for his food and was free from desire of worldly enjoyment. And he became daily emaciated and grew leanfleshed. And one day he saw the spirits of his ancestors, heads down, in a hole, by a cord of virana roots baving only one thread entire. And that single thread even was being gradually eaten away by a large rat dwelling in that hole. And the Pitris in that hole were without food, emaciated, pitiable, and eagerly desirous of salvation. And Jaratkatu, approaching the pitiable one, himself in humble guise, asked them. 'Who are ye hanging by this cord of virana roots? The single weak root that is still left in this cord of virana roots already eaten away by the rat, dwelling in this hole, is itself being gradually eaten away by the same rat with his sharp teeth. The little that remains of that single thread will soon be cut away. It is clear ye shall then have to fall down into this pit with faces downwards. Seeing you with faces downwards, and overtaken by this great calamity, my pity hath been excited. What good can I do to you I Tell me quickly whether this calamity can be relieved by a fourth, a third, or even by the sacrifice of a half of this my asceticism, O. relieve yourselves even with the whole of my asceticism ! I consent to all this. Do ye as ye please I'"
"The Pitris said, 'Venerable Brahmacharin, thou desirest to relieve us! But, О foremost of Brahmanas, thou canst not dispel our affliction by thy asceticism! O child, O first of speakers, we too have the fruits of our asceticism ! But, O Brahmana, it is for the loss of children that we are falling down into this unholy hell 1 The grandsire himself hath said that a son is a great merit. As we are about to be cast in this hole, our ideas are no longer clear! Therefore, O child, we know thee not, although thy manhood is well-known on earth. Venerable thou art and of good fortune, thou who thus from kindness grievest for us worthy of pity and greatly afflicted ! O Brahmana, listen, who we are.'
"Weare Rishi of the Yayavara sect, of rigid vows. And, O Muni, from loss of children, we have fallen down from a sacred region. Our severe penances have not been destroyed: we have a thread yet. But we have only one thread now. It matters little, however, whether he is or is pot.
