Not content
with this, he set out on his chariot for the conquest of the world, and
taking up his bow he cast around his mighty weapons to exterminate the
Kshatriyas. And the illustrious scion of Bhrigu's race, by means of his
swift arrows annihilated the Kshatriya tribe one and twenty times.
"And when the earth was thus deprived of Kshatriyas by the great Rishi,
the Kshatriya ladies all over the land had offspring raised by Brahmanas
skilled in the Vedas. It has been said in the Vedas that the sons so
raised belongeth to him that had married the mother. And the Kshatriya
ladies went in unto the Brahamanas not lustfully but from motives of
virtue. Indeed, it was thus that the Kshatriya race was revived.
"In this connection there is another old history that I will recite to you.
There was in olden days a wise Rishi of the name of Utathya. He had a wife
of the name Mamata whom he dearly loved. One day Utathya's younger brother
Vrihaspati, the priest of the celestials, endued with great energy,
approached Mamata. The latter, however, told her husband's younger brother--
that foremost of eloquent men--that she had conceived from her connection
with his elder brother and that, therefore, he should not then seek for
the consummation of his wishes. She continued, 'O illustrious Vrihaspati,
the child that I have conceived hath studied in his mother's womb the
Vedas with the six Angas, Semen tuum frustra perdi non potest. How can
then this womb of mine afford room for two children at a time? Therefore,
it behoveth thee not to seek for the consummation of thy desire at such a
time.
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