together nine hundred and seven years, six months, and three days. The Muni sees now that the nymph must have been sent by Indra purposely to interrupt his devotions, and deprive him of the divine knowledge he had desired. And though very angry with her at first, he bids her depart in peace, as he says, "The sin is wholly mine."

"Thus addressed by the Muni, Pramlocha stood trembling, whilst big drops of perspiration started from every pore, till he angrily cried to her, 'Begone, begone!' She then, reproached by him, went forth from his dwelling, and, passing through the air, wiped the perspiration from her person with the leaves of the trees. The nymph went from tree to tree, and as with dusky shoots that crowned their summits she dried her limbs, which were covered with moisture, the child she had conceived by the Rishi came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration. The trees received the living dews, and the winds collected them into one mass. 'This,' said Soma, 'I matured by my rays, and gradually it increased in size, till the exhalation that had rested on the tree-tops became the lovely girl named Marisha. The trees will give her to you, Prachetasas; let your indignation be appeased. She is the progeny of Kandu, the child of Pramlocha, the nursling of the trees, the daughter of the wind and moon.'"

Soma then informs the Prachetasas that Marisha, in her previous birth, was the widow of a prince, but left childless. She therefore earnestly worshipped Vishnu, who told her to desire some boon. She replied, "I pray thee that in succeeding births I may have honourable husbands, and a son equal to a patriarch among men, . . . . and may I be born out of the ordinary course." Vishnu promised her: "In another life you

shall have ten husbands of mighty prowess, and renowned for glorious acts; and you shall have a son magnanimous and valiant, distinguished by the rank of a patriarch, from whom the various races of men shall multiply, and by whose posterity the universe shall be filled. You, virtuous lady, shall be of marvellous birth, and delighting the hearts of men." Thus having spoken, the deity disappeared, and Soma informs his hearers that it was this princess who was born as Marisha.