That head fell in the deep forest. That head, coursing at will (through
the welkin) fell upon the thigh of Mahodara while the latter was
wandering through the woods. Piercing his thigh, O king, it struck to it
and remained there. In consequence of that head thus sticking to his
thigh, the Brahmana (Mahodara) of great wisdom could not (with ease)
proceed to tirthas and other sacred spots. Afflicted with great pain and
with putrid matter flowing from his thigh, he went to all the tirthas of
the Earth (one after another), as heard by us. He went to all the rivers
and to the ocean also. (Not finding any relief) the great ascetic spoke
of his sufferings to many Rishis of cleansed souls about his having
bathed in all the tirthas without having found the relief he sought. That
foremost of Brahmanas then heard from those sages words of high import
about this foremost of tirthas situate on the Sarasvati, and known by the
name of Usanasa, which was represented as competent to cleanse from every
sin and as an excellent spot for attaining to (ascetic) success. That
Brahmana, then, repairing to that Usanasa tirtha, bathed in its waters.
Upon this, the Rakshasa's head, leaving the thigh, fell into the water.
Freed from that (dead) head, the Rishi felt great happiness. As regards
the head itself, it was lost in the waters. Mahodara then, O king, freed
from the Rakshasa's head, cheerfully returned, with cleansed soul and all
his sins washed away, to his asylum after achieving success.
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