05173001a sA niSkramantI nagarAc cintayAmAsa bhArata 'Issuing out of the city, ambA reflected sorrowfully in this strain.
05173001c pRthivyAnM nAsti yuvatir viSamasthatarA mayA 'There is not in the whole world a young woman in such a miserable plight as I!
05173001e bAndhavair viprahInAsmi zAlvena ca nirAkRtA Alas, destitute of friends, I am rejected by zAlva also!
05173002a na ca zakyamM punar gantumM mayA vAraNasAhvayam I cannot go back to %hAstinapura,
05173002c anujJAtAsmi bhISmeNa zAlvam uddizya kAraNam for I was permitted by bhISma to leave that city, expectant of zAlva!
05173003a kinM nu garhAmy athAtmAnam atha bhISmanM durAsadam Whom then shall I blame? Myself? Or, the invincible bhISma?
05173003c Ahosvit pitaramM mUDhaM yo me 'kArSIt svayaMvaram Or, that foolish father of mine who made arrangements for my self-choice?
05173004a mamAyaM svakRto doSo yAhamM bhISmarathAt tadA Perhaps, it is my own fault! Why did I not leap down before from bhISma's car,
05173004c pravRtte vaizase yuddhe zAlvArthanM nApatamM purA when that fierce battle took place, for coming to zAlva?
05173004e tasyeyamM phalanirvRttir yad ApannAsmi mUDhavat That I am so afflicted now, as if deprived of my senses, is the fruit of that omission of mine!
05173005a dhig bhISmanM dhik ca me mandamM pitaramM mUDhacetasam Cursed be bhISma! Cursed be my own wretched father of foolish understanding,
05173005c yenAhaM vIryazulkena paNyastrIvat praveritA who had arranged prowess to be my dower, sending me out as if I were a woman (disposed) for a consideration!
05173006a dhiG mAnM dhik zAlvarAjAnanM dhig dhAtAram athApi ca Cursed be myself! Cursed be king zAlva himself and cursed be my creator too!
05173006c yeSAnM durnItabhAvena prAptAsmy Apadam uttamAm Cursed be they through whose fault such great misery hath been mine!
05173007a sarvathA bhAgadheyAni svAni prApnoti mAnavaH Human beings always suffer what is destined for them.
05173007c anayasyAsya tu mukhamM bhISmazH zAnMtanavo mama The cause, however, of my present affliction is bhISma, the son of zantanu;
05173008a sA bhISme pratikartavyam ahamM pazyAmi sAmMpratam I, therefore, now see that my vengeance should fall upon him,
05173008c tapasA vA yudhA vApi duHkhahetuH sa me mataH either through ascetic austerities or by battle, for he is the cause of my woe!
05173008e ko nu bhISmaM yudhA jetum utsaheta mahIpatiH But what king is there that would venture to vanquish bhISma in battle?
05173009a evaM sA parinizcitya jagAma nagarAd bahiH Having settled this, she issued out of the city
05173009c AzramamM puNyazIlAnAnM tApasAnAmM mahAtmanAm for repairing to an asylum of the high-souled ascetics of virtuous deeds.
05173009e tatas tAm avasad rAtrinM tApasaiH parivAritA That night she stayed there, surrounded by those ascetics.
05173010a Acakhyau ca yathA vRttaM sarvam Atmani bhArata And that lady of sweet smiles told those ascetics, O bharata, all that had happened to herself
05173010c vistareNa mahAbAho nikhilena zucismitA with the minutest details, O mighty-armed one,
05173010e haraNaJM ca visargaJM ca zAlvena ca visarjanam about her abduction, and her rejection by zAlva.'
05173011a tatas tatra mahAn AsId brAhmaNasH saMzitavrataH 'There lived in that asylum an eminent brAhmaNa of rigid vows,
05173011c zaikhAvatyas tapovRddhazH zAstre cAraNyake guruH and his name was Saikhavatya. Endued with ascetic merit of a high order, he was a preceptor of the scriptures and the Aranyakas.
05173012a ArtAnM tAm Aha sa munizH zaikhAvatyo mahAtapAH And the sage Saikhavatya, of great ascetic merit, addressed that afflicted maiden,
05173012c nizHzvasantIM satImM bAlAnM duHkhazokaparAyaNAm that chaste girl sighing heavily in grief, and said,
05173013a evaGM gate kinM nu bhadre zakyaGM kartunM tapasvibhiH 'If it hath been so, O blessed lady, what can high-souled ascetics
05173013c Azramasthair mahAbhAgais taponityair mahAtmabhiH residing in their (woody) retreats and engaged in penances do?'
05173014a sA tv enam abravId rAjan kriyatAmM madanugrahaH That maiden, however, O king, answered him, saying, 'Let mercy be shown to me;
05173014c pravrAjitum ihecchAmi tapas tapsyAmi duzcaram I desire a life in the woods, having renounced the world. I will practise the severest of ascetic austerities.
05173015a mayaivaitAni karmANi pUrvadeheSu mUDhayA Those sins that I had committed from ignorance in my former life,
05173015c kRtAni nUnamM pApAni teSAm etat phalanM dhruvam all that I now suffer is certainly their result!
05173016a notsaheyamM punar gantuM svajanamM prati tApasAH I do not venture to go back to my relatives, ye ascetics,
05173016c pratyAkhyAtA nirAnandA zAlvena ca nirAkRtA rejected and cheerless that I am knowing that I have been humiliated by zAlva!
05173017a upadiSTam ihecchAmi tApasyaM vItakalmaSAH Ye that have washed away your sins, I desire that ye should instruct me in ascetic penance!
05173017c yuSmAbhir devasaGMkAzAH kRpA bhavatu vo mayi Godlike as ye are, show mercy to me!'
05173018a sa tAm AzvAsayat kanyAnM dRSTAntAgamahetubhiH Thus addressed, that sage then comforted the maiden by examples and reasons borrowed from the scriptures.
05173018c sAntvayAmAsa kAryaJM ca pratijajJe dvijaisH saha And having consoled her thus, he promised, with the other brAhmaNas, to do what she desired.''
