He was thus the brother of Dhritarashtra and the illustrious
Pandu. And Vidura was free from desire and passion and was conversant with
the rules of government, and was the god of justice born on earth under
the curse of the illustrious Rishi Mandavya. And Krishna-Dwaipayana, when
he met his mother as before, informed her as to how he had been deceived
by the seniormost of the princesses and how he had begotten a son upon a
Sudra woman. And having spoken thus unto his mother the Rishi disappeared
from her sight.
"Thus were born, in the field of Vichitravirya, even of Dwaipayana those
sons of the splendour of celestial children, those propagators of the Kuru
race.'"
SECTION CVII
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Janamejaya said, 'What did the god of justice do for which he was cursed?
And who was the Brahmana ascetic from whose curse the god had to be born
in the Sudra caste?'
"Vaisampayana said, 'There was a Brahmana known by the name of Mandavya.
He was conversant with all duties and was devoted to religion, truth and
asceticism. The great ascetic used to sit at the entrance of his hermitage
at the foot of a tree, with his arms upraised in the observance of the vow
of silence. And as he sat there for years together, one day there came
into his asylum a number of robbers laden with spoil. And, O bull in
Bharata's race, those robbers were then being pursued by a superior body
as guardians of the peace. The thieves, on entering that asylum, hid their
booty there, and in fear concealed themselves thereabout before the guards
came.
Pages:
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453