Her Son

Kardama, full of pity, remembered what the Lord had told him. Do not reproach yourself, princess, he said. The imperishable Lord will soon enter your womb. You have kept your vows. Worship the Lord with self-restraint and observance and austerity and gifts and faith. He will be born of your body and teach you what Brahman is, the one reality behind all things, and cut the knot in your heart.

Devahūti trusted his word and worshipped the Lord. After a long time, the Lord was born of her, as fire comes out of wood. Thunderclouds sounded like music in the sky, the gandharvas, the musicians of heaven, sang and the apsarases, its dancers, danced, flowers fell from heaven, and the quarters and the waters and men's minds all grew clear.

Brahmā came to the hermitage with Marīci and the other sages, and said to Kardama, You have honoured me truly, my son, by doing what I asked. Now give your daughters to the greatest of the sages. I know that the first Person has come down by his own māyā, his power, in the body called Kapila. His hair is golden, his eyes are lotuses, and his feet bear the mark of the lotus. And to Devahūti he said: Daughter of Manu, the one who has entered your womb will cut the knot of ignorance and doubt and go about the earth. He will be the head of the perfected ones, honoured by the teachers of Sāṃkhya, and he will be called Kapila in the world, and he will spread your fame.

So Kardama gave his daughters in marriage: Kalā to Marīci, Anasūyā to Atri, Śraddhā to Aṅgiras, Havirbhū to Pulastya, Gati to Pulaha, Kriyā to Kratu, Khyāti to Bhṛgu, Arundhatī to Vasiṣṭha, and Śānti to Atharvan. Then he took leave of his son and went away into the forest as a silent wanderer.