Mahabharata 3.190.8

3.190.8

tataḥ śayāno madhuraṃ gītaśabdamaśṛṇot || 8 ||

"And Markandeya continued, 'There was a king, by name Parikshit in Ayodhya and belonging to the race of Ikshvaku. And once upon a time Parikshit went a-hunting. And as he was riding alone on a horse chasing deer, the animal led him to a great distance (from the habitations of men). And fatigued by the distance he had ridden and afflicted with hunger and thirst he beheld in that part of the country whither he had been led, a dark and dense forest, and the king, beholding that forest, entered it and seeing a delightful tank within the forest, both the rider and the horse bathed in it, and refreshed by the bath and placing before his horse some stalks and fibres of the lotus, the king sat by the side of the tank. And while he was lying by the side of the tank, he heard certain sweet strains of music, and hearing those strains, he reflected, 'I do not see here the foot-prints of men. Whose and whence then these strains?' And the king soon beheld a maiden of great beauty gathering flowers singing all the while, and the maiden soon came before the king, and the king thereupon asked her, 'Blessed one, who art thou and whose?' And she replied, 'I am a maiden.' And the king said, 'I ask thee to be mine.' And the maiden answered, 'Give me a pledge, for then only I can be thine, else not.' And the king then asked about the pledge and the girl answered.