So ends the eighth section of the Pauloma Parva of the Adi Parva of the
blessed Mahabharata.


SECTION IX

(Pauloma Parva continued)

"Sauti said, 'While those illustrious Brahmanas were sitting around the
dead body of Pramadvara, Ruru, sorely afflicted, retired into a deep wood
and wept aloud. And overwhelmed with grief he indulged in much piteous
lamentation. And, remembering his beloved Pramadvara, he gave vent to his
sorrow in the following words, 'Alas! The delicate fair one that
increaseth my affliction lieth upon the bare ground. What can be more
deplorable to us, her friends? If I have been charitable, if I have
performed acts of penance, if I have ever revered my superiors, let the
merit of these arts restore to life my beloved one! If from my birth I
have been controlling my passions, adhered to my vows, let the fair
Pramadvara rise from the ground.'

"And while Ruru was indulging in these lamentations for the loss of his
bride, a messenger from heaven came to him in the forest and addressed him
thus, 'The words thou utterest, O Ruru, in thy affliction are certainly
ineffectual. For, O pious man, one belonging to this world whose days have
run out can never come back to life. This poor child of a Gandharva and
Apsara has had her days run out! Therefore, O child, thou shouldst not
consign thy heart to sorrow. The great gods, however, have provided
beforehand a means of her restoration to life. And if thou compliest with
it, thou mayest receive back thy Pramadvara.'