Richika Marries Satyavati with Horse Bride Price

There was a king in Kanyakubja named Gadhi, immensely strong and famous throughout the world. He went to dwell in the forest. While he lived there, a daughter was born to him — a girl like an apsara (celestial dancer), radiant and beautiful. Her name was Satyavati. The Bhargava sage Richika wished to marry her. He was a brahmana of rigid vows, learned and ascetic, and he approached the king with his request. Gadhi told him: "There is a custom in our lineage, one that has been established since ancient times. A thousand swift and white horses must be given as a bride price — and they must each possess one black ear. O supreme among brahmanas, you cannot be asked to give this. My daughter should be given to a great-souled one like you." Richika replied without hesitation: "I will give you one thousand swift and white horses, each with one black ear. Let your daughter become my wife." Having made this promise, Richika turned to Varuna, the god of the waters, and asked for the horses as a bride price. Varuna gave him what he asked for — a thousand horses, swift and white, each with one black ear. The place from where the horses arose became famous as the tirtha (sacred ford) of horses. On the banks of the Ganga, in Kanyakubja, King Gadhi bestowed his daughter Satyavati upon Richika. All the gods were present there as witnesses. Having obtained the thousand horses, having seen the inhabitants of heaven, and having obtained a wife according to dharma, Richika — supreme among brahmanas — pleasured with the slender-waisted maiden as he desired.