Possessed of great might and great
prowess Baladeva then proceeded to that tirtha where the adorable
Grandsire had created the mountains called Lokaloka, where that foremost
of Rishis, Arshtishena of rigid vows, O thou of Kuru's race, had by
austere penances acquired the status of Brahmanhood, where the royal sage
Sindhudwipa, and the great ascetic Devapi, and the adorable and
illustrious Muni Vishvamitra of austere penances and fierce energy, had
all acquired a similar status."
40
Janamejaya said, "Why did the adorable Arshtishena undergo the austerest
of penances? How also did Sindhudwipa acquire the status of a Brahmana?
How also did Devapi, O Brahmana, and how Vishvamitra, O best of men,
acquire the same status? Tell me all this, O adorable one! Great is my
curiosity to listen to all these."
Vaishampayana said, "Formerly, in the Krita age, O king, there was a
foremost of regenerate persons called Arshtishena. Residing in his
preceptor's house, he attended to his lessons every day. Although, O
king, he resided long in the abode of his preceptor, he could not still
acquire the mastery of any branch of knowledge or of the Vedas. O
monarch! In great disappointment, O king, the great ascetic performed
very austere penances. By his penances he then acquired the mastery of
the Vedas, to which there is nothing superior. Acquiring great learning
and a mastery of the Vedas, that foremost of Rishis became crowned with
success in that tirtha.
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