it. Now that I know what your wishes are, I shall certainly strive after that end, I think that asked by me she will not refuse.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "After this, Pandu addressed Kunti in private, saying, 'O Kunti, grant me some more offspring for the expansion of my race, and benefit thou the world! O blessed one, provide thou that I myself, my ancestors, and thine also, may always have offered to us the funeral cake! O, do what is beneficial to me, and grant me and the world what, indeed, is the best of benefits! O, do what, indeed, may be difficult for thee, moved by the desire of achieving undying fame! Behold, Indra, even though he hath obtained the sovereignty of the celestials, doth yet, for fame alone, perform sacrifices! O handsome one, Brahmanas, well acquainted with the Vedas, and having achieved high ascetic merit, do yet, for fame alone, approach their spiritual masters with reverence! So also all royal sages and Brahmanas possessed of ascetic wealth have achieved, for fame only, the most difficult of ascetic feats! Therefore, O thou blameless one, rescue thou this Madri as by a raft (by granting her the means of obtaining offspring,) and achieve thou imperishable fame by making her a mother of children!'
"Thus addressed by her lord, Kunti readily yielded, and said unto Madri, 'Think thou, without loss of time, of some celestial, and thou shalt certainly obtain from him a child like unto him.' Reflecting for a few moments, Madri then thought of the twin Aswinas. Those celestials coming unto her with speed begat upon her two sons that were twins named Nakula and Sahadeva, unrivalled on earth for personal beauty. And as soon as they were born, an incorporeal voice said, 'These twins in energy and beauty shall transcend even the twin Aswinas themselves.' Indeed, possessed of great energy and wealth of beauty they illumined the whole region.
"O king, after all the children were born, the Rishis dwelling on the mountain of hundred peaks, uttering blessings on them and affectionately performing the first rites of birth, bestowed appellations on them. The eldest of Kunti's children was called Yudhish-thira, the second Bhima-sena, and the
