20. Now sir, deign to remove my doubt regarding to your anility, and tell me truly of what family you are born, and how you come to know what is worth knowing (respecting the origin and end of beings, and their good or bad lot afterwards).
21. Tell me sir, if you remember the length of life that you have passed, and if you recollect by your long sightedness how you came to be settled in this lodging. (Lit. who appointed this place for your habitation).
22. Bhusunda replied, I will relate to you all, O great sage! that you ask of me, and your great soul shall have to hear it attentively without any inadvertence of your mind.
23. It is certain, O venerable sir! that the topics, which deserve the attention of great minded souls like yourselves; will prove effective of destroying the evils of the world, as the influence of the clouds and their propitious rains remove the heat of the sun.
[CHAPTER XVII.]
Description of Bhusunda's Person.
Argument.—Vasishtha relates to Ráma of the perfections of Bhusunda's Body and Mind, which entitled him to the enjoyment of his liberation in his living time.
VASISHTHA said:—Now Ráma, know this Bhusunda, who was of a complexion as black as that of a cloud heavy with water in the rainy season; to have a countenance which neither merry nor sorry, and a mind free from guile and cunning.