O foremost of
Brahmanas, avarice and lust I have none, and neither fear nor pride nor
vanity. I shall, therefore, O lord, follow all that thou hast told me.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "Having listened to the words of the intelligent
Markandeya, the sons of Pandu, O king, along with the wielder of the bow
called _Saranga_, and all those bulls among Brahmanas, and all others
that were there, became filled with joy. And having heard those blessed
words appertaining to olden time, from Markandeya gifted with wisdom,
their hearts were filled with wonder."
SECTION CLXLI
Janamejaya said, "It behoveth thee to narrate to me in full the
greatness of the Brahmanas even as the mighty ascetic Markandeya had
expounded it to the sons of Pandu."
Vaisampayana said, "The eldest son of Pandu had asked Markandeya saying,
'It behoveth thee to expound to me the greatness of Brahmanas.'
Markandeya answered him saying, 'Hear, O king, about the behaviour of
Brahmanas in days of old.'
"And Markandeya continued, 'There was a king, by name Parikshit in
Ayodhya and belonging to the race of Ikshvaku. And once upon a time
Parikshit went a-hunting. And as he was riding alone on a horse chasing
deer, the animal led him to a great distance (from the habitations of
men). And fatigued by the distance he had ridden and afflicted with
hunger and thirst he beheld in that part of the country whither he had
been led, a dark and dense forest, and the king, beholding that forest,
entered it and seeing a delightful tank within the forest, both the
rider and the horse bathed in it, and refreshed by the bath and placing
before his horse some stalks and fibres of the lotus, the king sat by
the side of the tank.
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