p. 1887

Arrer the conversation between R&ma and Bharata had been over, Lakshmana, with reasonable words, said to the former .—“O worshipful Sir, amongst sacrifices Aswamedha . is the best and the remover of all sins ; it is my prayer therefore that thy desire might be turned towards this great and highly purifying sacrifice. It is said in this Puranas, that Purandara, sullied by the sin consequent upon slaying a Brahmana, was again purified by celebrating a horse sacrifice. O thou having long arms, formerly, during the war between gods and demons there flourished a highly honored Asura under the name of Vitra. The breadth of his body was a hundred Yoyanas and the height thereof was three hundred Yoyanas. Considering all under his subjection he used to regard them with affection. He was pious, grateful and used to perform nothing without proper deliberation. And treading pious tracks he used to govern his subjects very carefully. During his administration earth produced all wished-for objects; roots and fruits were tasteful and _ flowers were fragrant. Without being cultivated earth used to yield crops. In this wise for many long years he governed a prosperous and wonderful kingdom. Thereupon he determind upon performing a hard penance. He considered asceticism as the best of all and regarded all other things as mere illusions. Having resolved thus and placed his son Madhureswara on the throne Vitra engaged in austerities creating terror unto all deities. He being thus engaged in asceticism, Indra, greatly terrified, approached Vishnu and said :—O thou having long arms, by virtue of his asceticism: Vitra is about to conquer all the worlds. He is pious, so I

p. 1888

cannot subdue him. O illustrious Sir, if his ascetic powers grow more’ we shall be constrained to live under his control for ever from the creation. Do thou therefore not neglect any longer this highly generous Asura. Thyself being enraged, O lord of deities, Vitra shall not live even fora moment. O Vishnu, from the time he succeeded in propitiating thee, he hath obtained the sovereignty of the three worlds. Do thou, therefore, be propitiated now; save thee none can free this world from thorns and bring it at rest. O Vishnu, all the deities are waiting for thee ; do thou help them by slaying Vitra. O thou having a large mind, thou art always the help of these high-souled deities. It is impossible for any one else to accomplish the present work. Thou art the refuge of the helpless.”