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The Eleventh Chapter
231. In Ayodhya city, Yayaati, the ornament of the Ikshvaku dynasty, was the king, and his queen was Surakanta. ||13|| They had a son named Vasu. When he was fit for learning, he was entrusted to the guru, Kshirakadambaka. Kshirakadambaka's wife was named Svastimati. ||14|| One day, Kshirakadambaka, who was well-versed in all the scriptures, was teaching the Aranyakashastra to his disciples, Narada and others, in the forest. ||15|| At that time, a group of Charanas, who were traveling through the sky, were present there. One of them, a compassionate Muni, said, "One of these four beings will go to hell." Hearing this, Kshirakadambaka was greatly frightened. ||16-17|| Then, he sent his three disciples, Narada, Parvata, and Vasu, to their respective homes. They were happy to go, like calves released from their tethers. ||18|| When Parvata reached home alone, his mother, Svastimati, asked him, "Son, where is your father? Why have you come alone?" ||19|| Parvata replied to his mother, "He said he would come later." Svastimati waited for her husband's arrival, and the day passed. ||20|| When the day ended and darkness enveloped everything, he still did not come. Svastimati, overwhelmed with grief, fell to the ground. ||21|| She lamented like a cuckoo, "Alas, I am unfortunate, abandoned by my husband!" ||22|| "Has my husband been killed by some wicked person? Or has he gone to a foreign land for some reason?" ||23|| "Or, being skilled in all the scriptures, has he embraced renunciation, abandoned all attachments, and taken to the life of a mendicant?" ||24|| As she lamented, the night passed. In the morning, Parvata went to search for his father. ||25|| After searching for several days, Parvata saw his father, a Muni, in a garden on the bank of a river. He was sitting humbly near his guru, surrounded by his disciples. ||26|| Seeing him from afar, Parvata was overjoyed. He approached his father and said, "Father, my mother, Nivritti, is waiting for you." ||27||