damsel who was the daughter of Duryodhana. The god Agni himself courted
the beautiful princess Sudarsana, and taking the shape of a Brahmana, O
monarch, sought her hand from the king. The king was unwilling to give
his daughter in marriage to the Brahmana who was poor and not of the same
rank with himself. Thereupon Agni vanished from his great sacrifice. The
king, grieved at heart, then addressed the Brahmanas, saying,--Of what
sin have I, ye excellent Brahmanas, or you, been guilty, that Agni should
disappear from this sacrifice, even as good done unto wicked men
disappears from their estimation. Great, indeed, must that sin of ours be
for which Agni has thus disappeared. Either must the sin be yours, or, it
must be mine. Do you fully investigate the matter.--Then hearing the
king's words, O foremost prince of Bharata's race, the Brahmanas,
restraining speech, sought with concentrated faculties the protection of
the god of fire. The divine carrier of oblations, resplendent as the
autumnal Sun, appeared before them, enveloping his self in glorious
refulgence. The high-souled Agni then addressed those excellent
Brahmanas, saying,--I seek the daughter of Duryodhana for my own self. At
this all those Brahmanas were struck with wonder, and rising on the
morrow, they related to the king what had been said by the fire-god. The
wise monarch, hearing the words of those utterers of Brahma, was
delighted at heart, and said,--Be it so.--The king craved a boon of the
illustrious fire-god as the marriage dower,--Do thou, O Agni, deign to
remain always with us here.--Be it so--said the divine Agni to that lord
of Earth. For this reason Agni has always been present in the kingdom of
Mahismati to this day, and was seen by Sahadeva in course of his
conquering expedition to the south. Then the king gave his daughter,
dressed in new garments and decked with jewels, to the high-souled deity,
and Agni too accepted, according to Vedic rites, the princess Sudarsana
as his bride, even as he accepts libations of clarified butter at
sacrifices, Agni was well pleased with her appearance, her beauty, grace,