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confluence of the two holy rivers.
A river or a hill, a tree or a cloud,
indeed any object of beauty may raise one
to contemplation of the Supreme Being
and silent worship of Him. In particular,
sacred rivers, temples or images, which
have for generations been the objects of
devotion and worship, possess this power
in a special degree, in virtue of the sacred
thoughts
they
have
witnessed
and
absorbed as garments retain perfumes.
Having crossed the Ganga, Viswamitra
and the princes made their difficult way
through a dense forest made dreadful by
the reverberating roar of wild beasts.
"This,"
Viswamitra
said,
"is
the
Dandaka forest. What is now a terrible
forest was once a well-peopled country.
Once
upon
a
time,
Indra
was
contaminated by sin, having killed Vritra,
and had therefore to exile himself from
the world of the Devas. The Devas set to
themselves the task of cleansing Indra.
They brought waters from the sacred
rivers
and
bathed
him
to
the
accompaniment of mantras. The waters
which cleansed Indra flowed into the
ground and enriched the earth and the land
be came tremendously fertile."
All dead things, rotting corpse or
stinking garbage, when returned to the
earth are transformed into things of beauty
such as fruits and flowers and the
wholesome things that nourish life. Such
is the alchemy of Mother Earth.
Viswamitra
continued:
"For
long
people lived here happily till Tataka (wife
of Sunda, a Yaksha) and her son Maricha
wrought havoc and changed this into the
dreadful wilderness it now is. They are
still in this forest. And none dare enter it
for fear of Tataka. She is equal in strength
to a score of elephants. I have brought you
here to rid the forest of this great enemy.
There is no doubt that this monster, who is
a source of trouble to the rishis, will be
destroyed by you."
Rama, who listened to this, asked the
sage: "You say she is a Yaksha. I have
never heard that Yakshas are particularly
strong. What is more, how does a woman
happen to possess so much strength?"
Viswamitra replied: "You are asking a
very
pertinent
question.
Her
strength
comes from a boon granted by Brahma.
There lived a Yaksha by name Suketu.
Having no progeny he performed tapas
and won a boon from Brahma thus: 'You
will have a beautiful daughter of great
strength of body, but you will have no
son.' Suketu's daughter, Tataka, beautiful
and strong, was married to Sunda, a
Yaksha, and their child is Maricha. Sunda
at one time incurred Sage Agastya's curse
and died. Provoked by this, Tataka and
Maricha pounced on Agastya who cursed
them to be monsters living on the carcases
of men. So Tataka is now an ugly
monster. Thenceforward, she and Maricha
have been harassing the dwellers in this
region of Agastya. Do not hesitate to
destroy her on the ground that it is against
Kshatriya dharma to kill a woman. Her
atrocities are intolerable. To punish the