BHISHMA'S VOW

WITH joy the king received to his heart and his kingdom the resplendent and youthful prince Devavrata and crowned him as the yuvaraja, the heir apparent.

Four years went by. One day as the king was wandering on the banks of the Yamuna, the air was suddenly filled with a fragrance so divinely sweet that the king sought for its cause, and he traced it to a maiden so lovely that she seemed a goddess. A sage had conferred on her the boon that a divine perfume should emanate from her, and this was now pervading the whole forest.

From the moment the goddess Ganga left him, the king had kept his senses under control, but the sight of this divinely beauti- ful maiden burst the bonds of restraint and filled him with an overmastering desire. He asked her to be his wife.

The maiden said: "I am a fisherwoman, the daughter of the chief of the fishermen. Mail it please you to ask him and get his consent." Her voice was sweet as her form.

The father was an astute man.

He said: "O king, there is no doubt that this maiden, like every other, has to be married to someone and you are indeed worthy of her. Still you have to make a promise tome before you can have her."

Santanu replied: "If it is a just promise I shall make it."

The chief of the fisherfolk said: "The child born of this maiden should be the king after you."

Though almost mad with passion, the king could not make this promise, as it meant setting aside the godlike Devavrata, the son of Ganga, who was entitled to the crown. 

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