A
wretch that I am, some loving couple had doubtless been separated by me in
a former life, for which, in this life, I am made to suffer the pangs of
separation from thee. O king, that wretched woman who liveth even for a
moment separated from her lord, liveth in woe and suffereth the pangs of
hell even here. Some loving couple had doubtless been separated by me in a
former life, for which sinful act I am suffering this torture arising from
my separation from thee. O king, from this day I will lay myself down on a
bed of Kusa grass and abstain from every luxury, hoping to behold thee
once more. O tiger among men, show thyself to me. O king, O lord, command
once more thy wretched and bitterly weeping wife plunged in woe.'
"Kunti continued, 'It was thus, O Pandu, that the beautiful Bhadra wept
over the death of her lord. And the weeping Bhadra clasped in her arms the
corpse in anguish of heart. Then she was addressed by an incorporeal voice
in these words, "Rise up, O Bhadra, and leave this place. O thou of sweet
smiles, I grant thee this boon. I will beget offspring upon thee. Lie thou
down with me on thy own bed, after the catamenial bath, on the night of
the eighth or the fourteenth day of the moon.' Thus addressed by the
incorporeal voice, the chaste Bhadra did, as she was directed, for
obtaining offspring. And, O bull of the Bharatas, the corpse of her
husband begat upon her seven children viz., three Salwas and four Madras.
O bull of the Bharatas, do thou also beget offspring upon me, like the
illustrious Vyushitaswa, by the exercise of that ascetic power which thou
possessest.
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