"
[_Cantos XXXVII and XXXVIII are omitted._]
CANTO XXXIX
THE SONS OF SAGAR
The saint in accents sweet and clear
Thus told his tale for Rama's ear--
And thus anew the holy man
A legend to the prince began:--
"There reigned a pious monarch o'er
Ayodhya in the days of yore:
Sagar his name:--no child had he,
And children much he longed to see.
His honored consort, fair of face,
Sprang from Vidarbha's royal race--
Kesini, famed from early youth
For piety and love of truth.
Arishtanemi's daughter fair,
With whom no maiden might compare
In beauty, though the earth is wide,
Sumati, was his second bride.
With his two queens afar he went,
And weary days in penance spent,
Fervent, upon Himalaya's hill
Where springs the stream called Bhrigu's rill.
Nor did he fail that saint to please
With his devout austerities,
And, when a hundred years had fled,
Thus the most truthful Bhrigu said:--
'From thee, O Sagar, blameless King,
A mighty host of sons shall spring,
And thou shalt win a glorious name
Which none, O Chief, but thou shall claim.
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