When the noble queen conceived, the venerable sage, having been respectfully greeted by the king, departed for his hermitage. Time passed, and though the queen carried the child for a long while, she did not give birth. At last, in her distress, she took a stone and split her own womb. Thus, in the twelfth year, a son was born—a royal sage named Ashmaka, the foremost among princes, who would go on to establish the city of Paudanya. Meanwhile, in the hermitage, Adrushyanti gave birth to another son, the upholder of Shakti’s lineage, who shone like a second Shakti himself. This child, Parāśara, was born after his father had departed, and so the sage Vasiṣṭha became his guardian. Vasiṣṭha himself performed all the sacred rites for his grandson, beginning with the birth ceremony. From his earliest days, Parāśara regarded Vasiṣṭha as his father and behaved toward him with all a son’s devotion and respect. In the presence of his mother, Adrushyanti—who was often unseen—he would address Vasiṣṭha as “Father.” One day, when Parāśara called Vasiṣṭha “Father” with deep sincerity, Adrushyanti, her eyes brimming with tears, heard his sweet words. She gently said, “My child, do not call him father. Your true father was devoured by a Rākṣasa in the forest. The one you address as father is not your sire, O sinless one. He is a noble man—the father of your illustrious father.” Hearing this, Parāśara, truthful and noble, was overwhelmed by grief. In his sorrow, he resolved in his mind to destroy all the worlds. Perceiving his determination, Vasiṣṭha, the great-souled ascetic and foremost knower of Brahman, intervened with wise reasoning to restrain him. Vasiṣṭha spoke of the Bhṛgus, who were honored in the world as foremost among the Veda-knowers and worthy of sacrifice. The lord of the people, at the end of the great Soma sacrifice, had satisfied them with abundant gifts. But after that king ascended to heaven, a need for wealth arose in that lineage. Knowing of the Bhṛgus’ riches, all the kings came as supplicants. Some Bhṛgus, fearing danger from the kṣatriyas, hid their inexhaustible wealth in the earth. Others gave it away to other twice-born or as they wished. Yet, because of another reason involving the kṣatriyas, some of the wealth hidden in the earth by a kṣatriya was discovered when someone dug in the house of a Bhṛgu. All the assembled kṣatriya chiefs saw this wealth. Then, scorning the Bhṛgus who had sought refuge with them, the mighty archers, out of anger, slew them all with sharp arrows. They even cut the Bhargavas from the womb and roamed the earth, destroying them out of fear. The wives of the Bhargavas fled to the inaccessible heights of Mount Himavat. One among them, out of terror, bore a mighty child in her womb and concealed him in her thigh to preserve her husband’s lineage. Another Brahmin woman, perceiving this pregnancy and filled with fear, reported it to the kṣatriyas in secret. The kṣatriyas then set out, intent on killing the unborn child. But when they found the Brahmin woman, radiant with her own splendor, the child broke forth from her thigh and emerged into the world. The newborn sage, by his divine energy, robbed the kṣatriyas of their sight, dazzling them like the midday sun. Thus blinded, they wandered lost in the mountain fastnesses. Stricken by fear and their efforts fruitless, the kṣatriyas again approached the blameless Brahmin woman, begging for the return of their sight. In their distress, they spoke to her as fires whose flames have died down speak in their weakness: “By your grace, O blessed one, may we be restored unharmed. Having ceased from evil deeds, let us all depart together. With your son, show us favor, O beautiful one, and by restoring our sight, protect the kings.” Then, a Gandharva spoke: “It is clear your sight was taken by that great soul, out of anger for his slain kin and the wrongs done. When you slew even the unborn children of the Bhargavas, I bore this child in my thigh for a hundred years. The entire Veda, with its six branches, entered this child while he was still in the womb, wishing to do good to the Bhargava line. Because of the slaughter of his ancestors, he wishes, in his wrath, to destroy you. By his divine power, your sight was taken. You should approach Aurva, my excellent son; if you bow before him, he will be pleased and restore your sight.” Thus instructed, all the kings approached Aurva, asking for his favor. The sage Aurva, bursting from the thigh, was moved and granted them his grace, restoring their sight. By this very event, he became renowned throughout the worlds as Aurva, the one who emerged from the thigh.