( Sambhava Parva continued. )
Vaisampayana continued, "Sometime after, Bhisma the intelligent son of Shantanu set his heart upon marrying Pandu, to a second wife. And accompanied by an army composed of four kinds of force, and also by aged councillors and Brahmanas and great Rishis, he went to the capital of the king of Madra. And that bull of the Valhikas—the king of Madra—hearing that Bhisma had arrived, went out to receive him. And having received him with respect, he caused him to enter his palace. And arrived there, the king of Madra gave unto Bhisma a white carpet for seat, water for washing his feet, and the usual oblations of various ingredients indicative of respect. And when he was seated at his ease, the king asked him the reason of his visit. Then Bhisma—the supporter of the dignity of the Kurus—addressed the king of Madra and said, 'O thou oppressor of all foes, know that I have come for the hand of a maiden. It hath been heard by us that thou bast a sister named Madri celebrated for her beauty and endued with every virtue. I would choose her for Pandu. Thou art, O king, every way worthy of an alliance with us, and we also are worthy of thee! Reflecting upon all this, O king of Madra, accept us duly.' The ruler of Madra, thus addressed by Bhisma, then replied, 'To my mind, there is none else than one of thy family a better one to make alliance with. But there is a custom in our family acted upon by our ancestors, which, be it good or be it evil, I am incapable of transgressing. It is well-known, and therefore is known to thee as well, I doubt not. Therefore, it is not proper for thee to tell me,—Bestow thy sister.—The custom to which I allude is our family custom. That with us is virtue and worthy of observance. It is for this only, O thou slayer of all foes, I cannot give thee any assurance in the matter of thy request.' Hearing this, Bhisma answered the king of Madra, saying, 'O king, this, no doubt, is virtue. The Self-create himself hath said it. Thy ancestors have observed the custom. There
