bottom lower than the nether regions the vow-observing Brahmarshi, Atri, could not fathom after (toiling for) a hundred years. It becomes the bed of the lotus-naveled Vishnu when at the dawn of every Yuga that deity of immeasurable power enjoys the deep sleep of spiritual meditation. It is the refuge on Mainaka under the fear of falling thunder, and the retreat of the Asuras overcome in fierce encounters. It offers water as sacrificial butter to the blazing fire emitted from the mouth of Vadava (the ocean-mare). It is fathomless and without limits, vast and immeasurable, the lord of rivers.
"And they saw that unto it rushed mighty rivers by thousands, in pride of gait, like competitors in love, each eager for a meeting forestalling the others. And they saw that it was always full, and always dancing with the waves. And they saw that it was deep and abounding with fierce timis and makaras. And it roared constantly with the terrible sounds of aquatic creatures. And they saw that it was vast, and wide as the expanse of space, unfathomable, and limitless, and the grand reservoir of waters."
And so ends the twenty-first Section in the Astika of the Adi Parva.
Section XXII.
(Astika Parva continued.)
"The Nagas after a debate arrived at the conclusion that they should do their mother's bidding, for if she failed in obtaining her desire she might burn them all abandoning her affection; on the other hand if she were graciously inclined, the magnanimous one might free them from her curse. They said, 'We will certainly render the horse's tail black.' And it is said that they then went and became as hairs in the horse's tail.
"In the meantime, the two co-wives had laid the wager. And having laid the wager, O excellent of Brahmanas, the two sisters, Kadru and Vinata, the daughters of Daksha, proceeded
