At last the God, propitiated by their
devotion, spake thus unto them:--
'I grant a boon unto ye--choose what it shall be.'
'And they, who would have asked dominion, were suddenly minded of
Saraswati--who reigns over the hearts and thoughts of men--to seek a
forbidden thing.
'If,' said they, 'we have found favor, let the Divinity give us his own
cherished Parvati, the Queen of Heaven!'
'Terribly incensed was the God, but his word had passed, and the boon
must be granted; and Parvati the Divine was delivered up to them. Then
those two world-breakers, sick at heart, sin-blinded, and afire with the
glorious beauty of the Queen of Life--began to dispute, saying one to
another: 'Mine is she! mine is she!' At the last they called for an
umpire, and the God himself appeared before them as a venerable Brahman.
'Master,' said they, 'tell us whose she is, for we both won her by our
might.'
'Then spake that Brahman:--
'Brahmans for their lore have honor; Kshattriyas for their bravery;
Vaisyas for their hard-earned treasure; Sudras for humility,'
Ye are Kshattriyas--and it is yours to fight; settle, then, this
question by the sword.
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