'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by her, O Bharata, the Brahmana
embraced her, and they both began to weep in silence, afflicted with
grief.'"
SECTION CLXI
(Vaka-vadha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'On hearing these words of her afflicted parents, the
daughter was filled with grief, and she addressed them, saying, 'Why are
you so afflicted and why do you so weep, as if you have none to look after
you? O, listen to me and do what may be proper. There is little doubt that
you are bound in duty to abandon me at a certain time. Sure to abandon me
once, O, abandon me now and save every thing at the expense of me alone.
Men desire to have children, thinking that children would save them (in
this world as well as in the region hereafter). O, cross the stream of
your difficulties by means of my poor self, as if I were a raft. A child
rescueth his parents in this and the other regions; therefore is the child
called by the learned Putra (rescuer). The ancestors desire daughter's
sons from me (as a special means of salvation). But (without waiting for
my children) I myself will rescue them by protecting the life of my father.
This my brother is of tender years, so there is little doubt that he will
perish if thou diest now. If thou, my father, diest and my brother
followeth thee, the funeral cake of the Pitris will be suspended and they
will be greatly injured. Left behind by my father and brother, and by my
mother also (for she will not survive her husband and son) I shall be
plunged deeper and deeper in woe and ultimately perish in great distress.
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