Chapter 88
“Vaisampayana said, ‘Alter this Indra again asked Yayati, ‘Thou didstretire into the woods, O king, after accomplishing all thy duties. OYayati, son of Nahusha, I would ask thee to whom thou art equal inascetic austerities.’
Yayati answered, ‘O Vasava, I do not, in the matterof ascetic austerities, behold my equal among men, the celestials, theGandharvas, and the great Rishis.’ Indra then said, ‘O monarch, becausethou disregardest those that are thy superiors, thy equals, and even thyinferiors, without, in fact, knowing their real merits, thy virtues havesuffered diminution and thou must fall from heaven.’ Yayati then said, ‘OSakra, if, indeed, my virtues have really sustained diminution and I muston that account fall down from heaven, I desire, O chief of thecelestials, that I may at least fall among the virtuous and the honest.’Indra replied, ‘O king, thou shall fall among those that are virtuous andwise, and thou shall acquire also much renown. And after this experienceof thine, O Yayati, never again disregard those that are thy superiors oreven thy equals.’
“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Upon this, Yayati fell from the region of thecelestials. And as he was falling, he was beheld by that foremost ofroyal sages, viz., Ashtaka, the protector of his own religion. Ashtakabeholding him, enquired, ‘Who art thou, O youth of a beauty equal to thatof Indra, in splendour blazing as the fire, thus falling from on high?Art thou that foremost of sky-ranging bodies–the sun–emerging from,dark masses of clouds? Beholding thee falling from the solar course,possessed of immeasurable energy and the splendour of fire or the sun,every one is curious as to what it is that is so falling, and is,besides, deprived of consciousness! Beholding thee in the path of thecelestials, possessed of energy like that of Sakra, or Surya, or Vishnu,we have approached thee to ascertain the truth. If thou hast first askedus who we were, we would never have been guilty of the incivility ofasking thee first. We now ask thee who thou art and why thou approachesthither. Let thy fears be dispelled; let thy woes and afflictions cease.Thou art now in the presence of the virtuous and the wise. Even Sakrahimself–the slayer of Vala–cannot here do thee any injury. O thou ofthe prowess of the chief of the celestials, the wise and the virtuous arethe support of their brethren in grief. Here there are none but the wiseand virtuous like thee assembled together. Therefore, stay thou here inpeace. Fire alone hath power to give heat. The Earth alone hath power toinfuse life into the seed. The sun alone hath power to illuminateeverything. So the guest alone hath power to command the virtuous and thewise.'”
