'
"Bhishma said, 'Great is the merit, O monarch, in cherishing a suppliant.
Thou art worthy, O best of the Bharatas, of asking such a question. Those
high-souled kings of old, viz., Sivi and others, O king, attained to
great bliss in heaven by having protected suppliants. It is heard that a
pigeon received with respect a suppliant foe according to due rites and
even fed him with his own flesh.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'How, indeed, did a pigeon in days of old feed a
suppliant foe with his own flesh? What also was the end, O Bharata, that
he won by such conduct?'
"Bhishma said, 'Listen, O king, to this excellent story that cleanses the
hearer of every sin, the story, viz., that Bhrigu's son (Rama) had
recited to king Muchukunda. This very question, O son of Pritha had been
put to Bhrigu's son by Muchukunda with due humility. Unto him desirous of
listening with humility the son of Bhrigu narrated this story of how a
pigeon, O monarch, won success (entitling him to the highest heavenly
bliss).'
"The sage said, 'O mighty-armed monarch, listen to me as I narrate to
thee this story that is fraught with truths connected with Virtue,
Profit, and Pleasure. A wicked and terrible fowler, resembling the
Destroyer himself, used in days of old to wander through the great
forest. He was black as a raven and his eyes were of a bloody hue. He
looked like Yama himself. His legs were long, his feet short, his mouth
large, and his cheeks protruding. He had no friend, no relative, no
kinsman.
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