And there
were flowers of blossoming Parijatas with the Kokilas pouring forth their
melodies from under every twig echoing with the sweet hums of the black
bees. And he beheld also various other kinds of trees bent down with the
weight of their flowers and fruits. And there were also many fine pools of
water overgrown with hundreds of fragrant lotuses. Beholding all these,
Pandu felt the soft influence of desire. Roving like a celestial with a
light heart amidst such scenery, Pandu was alone with his wife Madri in
semi-transparent attire. And beholding the youthful Madri thus attired,
the king's desire flamed up like a forest-fire. And ill-able to suppress
his desire thus kindled at the sight of his wife of eyes like lotus-petals,
he was completely overpowered. The king then seized her against her will,
but Madri trembling in fear resisted him to the best of her might.
Consumed by desire, he forgot everything about his misfortune. And, O thou
of Kuru's race unrestrained by the fear of (the Rishi's) curse and
impelled by fate, the monarch, overpowered by passion, forcibly sought the
embraces of Madri, as if he wished to put an end to his own life. His
reason, thus beguiled by the great Destroyer himself by intoxicating his
senses, was itself lost with his life. And the Kuru king Pandu, of
virtuous soul, thus succumbed to the inevitable influence of Time, while
united in intercourse with his wife.
"Then Madri, clasping the body of her senseless lord, began to weep aloud.
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