Chapter 121

“Narada said, ‘Removed from his place and pushed away from his seat withheart trembling in fear, and consumed by burning remorse, with hisgarlands dimmed in lustre and his knowledge clouded, shorn of his crownand bracelets, with head swimming and every limb relaxed divested ofornaments and robes, incapable of being recognised, sometimes not seeingthe other residents of heaven, filled with despair, and his understandinga perfect blank, king Yayati fell headlong towards the earth. And beforethe king fell down, he thought within himself, ‘What inauspicious andsinful thought was entertained by me in consequence of which I am hurledfrom my place?’ And all the kings there, as also the Siddhas and theApsaras, laughed at seeing Yayati losing his hold, and on the point offalling down. And soon, O king, at the command of the king of the gods,there came a person whose business it was to hurl down those whose meritswere exhausted. And coming there, he said unto Yayati, ‘Extremelyintoxicated with pride, there is none whom thou hast not disregarded. Inconsequence of this thy pride, heaven is no longer for thee. Thoudeservest not a residence here, O son of a king. Thou art not recognisedhere, go and fall down.’ Even thus the celestial messenger spoke untohim, Nahusha’s son then said, repeating the words three times, ‘If fall Imust, let me fall amongst the righteous.’ And saying this, that foremostof persons that had won high regions by their acts, began to think of theparticular region whereon he should fall. Beholding meanwhile four mightykings, viz., Pratardana, Vasumanas, Sivi, the son of Usinara, andAshtaka, assembled together in the woods of Naimisha, the king fellamongst them. And those monarchs were then engaged in gratifying the lordof the celestials by performance of the sacrifice known by the name ofVajapeya. And the smoke arising from their sacrificial altar reached thevery gates of heaven. And the smoke that rose thus, looked like a riverconnecting both the earth and the heaven. And it resembled the sacredstream Ganga while descending from heaven to earth. And smelling thatsmoke and guiding his course by it, Yayati, the lord of the universe,descended on the earth. And the king thus fell amongst those four lionsamong rulers, who were all endued with great beauty, who were foremost ofall the performers of sacrifices, who were, indeed, his own relatives,and who resembled the four regents of the four quarters, and looked likefour mighty sacrificial fires. And thus, in consequence of the exhaustionof his merits, the royal sage Yayati fell amongst them. And beholding himblazing with beauty, those kings asked him, saying, “Who art thou? Ofwhat race, country, or city art thou? Art thou a Yaksha, or a god, aGandharva, or a Rakshasa? Thou does not seem to be a human being. Whatobject hast thou in view?’ Thus questioned, Yayati answered, ‘I am theroyal sage Yayati. Fallen am I from heaven in consequence of theexpiration of my virtue. Having desired to fall amongst the righteous, Ihave fallen amongst you.’ The kings then said, ‘O foremost of persons,may that wish of thine, be realized. Accept thou our virtues and thefruits of all our sacrifices.’ Yayati replied saying, ‘I am not aBrahmana competent to accept a gift. On the other hand, I am a Kshatriya.Nor is my heart inclined towards lessening the virtues of others.’

“Narada continued, ‘About this time, Madhavi, in course of herpurposeless wanderings, came there. Beholding her, those monarchs salutedher and said, ‘What object hast thou in coming here? What command ofthine shall we obey? Thou deservest to command us, for all of us are thysons, O thou that art endued with wealth of asceticism!’ Hearing thesewords of theirs, Madhavi was filled with delight and approaching then herfather, she reverentially saluted Yayati. And touching the heads of allher sons, that lady engaged in ascetic austerities said to her father,’Being my sons these all are thy daughter’s sons, O king of kings. Theyare not strangers to thee. These will save thee. The practice is not new,its origin extends to antiquity. I am thy daughter Madhavi, O king,living in the woods after the manner of the deer. I also have earnedvirtue. Take thou a moiety. And because, O king, all men have a right toenjoy a portion of the merits earned by their offspring, it is for thisthat they desire to have daughter’s sons. Even this was the case withthyself, O king (when thou madest me over to Galava).’ At these words oftheir mother, those monarchs saluted her, and bowing down unto also theirmaternal grandsire, repeated those very words in a loud, incomparable,and sweet voice, and making, as it were, the whole earth resoundedtherewith, in order to rescue that maternal grandsire of theirs who hadfallen down from heaven. And at that time Galava also came there, andaddressing Yayati, said, ‘Accepting an eighth part of my asceticausterities, ascend thou to heaven again.'”