'
"Sahadeva answered, 'Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five sons of Pandu,
had one division of kine numbering eight hundred and ten thousand, and
another, ten thousand, and another, again, twenty thousand, and so on. I
was employed in keeping those cattle. People used to call me Tantripala.
I know the present, the past, and the future of all kine living within
ten Yojanas, and whose tale has been taken. My merits were known to that
illustrious one, and the Kuru king Yudhishthira was well-pleased with me.
I am also acquainted with the means which aid kine in multiplying within
a short time, and by which they may enjoy immunity from disease. Also
these arts are known to me. I can also single out bulls having auspicious
marks for which they are worshipped by men, and by smelling whose urine,
the barren may conceive.'
"Virata said, 'I have a hundred thousand kine divided into distinct
herds. All those together with their keepers, I place in thy charge.
Henceforth my beasts will be in thy keep.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Then, O king, undiscovered by that monarch,
that lord of men, Sahadeva, maintained by Virata, began to live happily.
Nor did anyone else (besides his brothers) recognise him.
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