Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.1639

c9.1639

He had learned no rites or rituals according to the Vedas. He would rise early in the morning, and after cleaning the teeth he would take a dip in the Gangetic waters, without any spells or actions and return to the hut. He would eat anything that came by. He would cause no harm to anybody, though he had no power to do good to anybody. Everybody in the neighbourhood began to realize that he was a boy who would on no account utter falsehood. So all began to call him Satyatapas. Satyatapas had no peace of mind. Life seemed to be a burden to him. He became thoughtful day and night. Thus he spent fourteen years there. People firmly believed in his truthfulness. So they named him Satyavrata. Once a forester came near his hut. He sent an arrow at a hog, which ran into the hermitage with the arrow sticking on its body. Blood was oozing from its wound. The jungle-dweller also came into the hut followlng the hog. Seeing Satyavrata the man asked "Where is the hog that I had shot?" Satyavrata who knew that killing animals was a sin, kept silence to save the beast. Devī was pleased at the moral courage and truthfulness of Satyavrata. It is said that the moment the hog got into the hermitage, the Sārasvata syllable 'Ai' arose from the tongue of Satyavrata. The moment he had pronounced the rootsound of Sarasvatī, 'Ai', by the grace of Devī, he became a poet like Vālmīki. Looking at the forester Satyavrata said: