And the Apsara, Menaka,
O thou of the Bhrigu race, when her time was come, brought forth an infant
near the hermitage of Sthulakesa. And dropping the newborn infant on the
banks of the river, O Brahmana, Menaka, the Apsara, being destitute of
pity and shame, went away. And the Rishi, Sthulakesa, of great ascetic
power, discovered the infant lying forsaken in a lonely part of the river-
side. And he perceived that it was a female child, bright as the offspring
of an Immortal and blazing, as it were, with beauty: And the great
Brahmana, Sthulakesa, the first of Munis, seeing that female child, and
filled with compassion, took it up and reared it. And the lovely child
grew up in his holy habitation, the noble-minded and blessed Rishi
Sthulakesa performing in due succession all the ceremonies beginning with
that at birth as ordained by the divine law. And because she surpassed all
of her sex in goodness, beauty, and every quality, the great Rishi called
her by the name of Pramadvara. And the pious Ruru having seen Pramadvara
in the hermitage of Sthulakesa became one whose heart was pierced by the
god of love. And Ruru by means of his companions made his father Pramati,
the son of Bhrigu, acquainted with his passion. And Pramati demanded her
of the far-famed Sthulakesa for his son. And her foster-father betrothed
the virgin Pramadvara to Ruru, fixing the nuptials for the day when the
star Varga-Daivata (Purva-phalguni) would be ascendant.
"Then within a few days of the time fixed for the nuptials, the beautiful
virgin while at play with companions of her own sex, her time having come,
impelled by fate, trod upon a serpent which she did not perceive as it lay
in coil.
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