mighty god, it is unworthy of thee to give me away to an ordinary mortal.  And this act of gift on thy part will come to nothing; (for) here am I going to descend into the bottom of the nether world.”  Then when the blessed saint Kasyapa beheld the goddess Earth, despondent and sad, he, O protector of men, performed a propitiatory act calculated to appease her wrath.  And then, O Pandu’s son, the Earth was pleased with his pious deed.  And she uprose again from within the waters, and showed herself in the form of a sacred altar.  This, O king, is the spot which distinctly manifests the form of an altar.  O great monarch, ascend over it, and thou wilt gain valour and strength.  And, O king, this is the very altar which reaches as far as the sea, and rests itself upon its bosom.  May good luck be thine, do thou mount hereupon, and of thyself cross the sea.  And while thou this day mountest upon it, I shall administer the ceremony for averting all evil from thee; for this altar here, as soon as it gets a mortal’s touch, at once enters into the sea. Salutation to the god who protects the universe!  Salutation to thee that art beyond the universe!  O Lord of gods, vouchsafe thy presence in this sea. O Pandu’s son, thou must recite the following words of truth, and while so reciting, thou must quickly ascend this altar, “The god of fire, and the sun, and the organ of generation, and water, and goddess and the seed of Vishnu, and the navel of nectar.  The god of fire is the organ that generated the (ocean); the earth is thy body; Vishnu deposited the seed that caused thy being and thou art the navel of nectar.”  Thus, O Pandu’s son, the words of truth must be audibly recited, and while so reciting, one must plunge into the lord of rivers.  O most praiseworthy of Kunti’s son, otherwise this lord of waters of divine birth, this best storehouse of the waters (of the earth), should not be touched, O son of Kunti, even with the end of a sacred grass.’”

Vaisampayana said, “Then when the ceremony for averting evil had been completed in his behalf, the magnanimous Yudhishthira went into the sea, and having performed all that the saint had bid, repaired to the skirts of the Mahendra hill, and spent the night at that spot.”

SECTION CXV

Vaisampayana said, “The protector of the earth spent there a single night, and with his brothers, paid the highest honours to the religious men.  And Lomasa made him acquainted with the names of all of them, such as the Bhrigus, the Angiras, the Vasishthas, and the Kasyapas.  And the royal saint paid visit to them all and made obeisance to them with joined palms.  And then he asked the valiant Akritavrana, who was a follower of Parasurama, ’when will the revered Parasurama show himself to the religious men here?  It is desired on that occasion to obtain a sight of the descendant of Bhrigu.’