Truly thou alone art to me as a
century of sons. I do not, therefore, desire to wed again. I only desire
and pray that prosperity may ever attend thee so that our dynasty may be
perpetuated. The wise say that he that hath one son hath no son.
Sacrifices before fire and the knowledge of the three Vedas yield, it is
true, everlasting religious merit, but all these, in point of religious
merit, do not come up to a sixteenth part of the religious merit
attainable on the birth of a son. Indeed, in this respect, there is hardly
any difference between men and the lower animals. O wise one, I do not
entertain a shadow of doubt that one attains to heaven in consequence of
his having begotten a son. The Vedas which constitute the root of the
Puranas and are regarded as authoritative even by the gods, contain
numerous proof of this. O thou of Bharata's race, thou art a hero of
excitable temper, who is always engaged in the exercise of arms. It is
very probable that thou wilt be slain on the field of battle. If it so
happen, what then will be the state of the Bharata dynasty, It is this
thought that hath made me so melancholy. I have now told thee fully the
causes of my sorrow.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Devavrata who was endued with great intelligence,
having ascertained all this from the king, reflected within himself for a
while. He then went to the old minister devoted to his father's welfare
and asked him about the cause of the king's grief.
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