others.  He that pricketh as if with thorns men by means of hard and cruel words, thou must know, ever carrieth in his mouth the Rakshasas.  Prosperity and luck fly away at his very sight.  Thou shouldst ever keep the virtuous before thee as thy models; thou shouldst ever with retrospective eye compare thy acts with those of the virtuous; thou shouldst ever disregard the hard words of the wicked.  Thou shouldst ever make the conduct of the wise the model upon which thou art to act thyself.  The man hurt by the arrows of cruel speech hurled from one’s lips, weepeth day and night.  Indeed, these strike at the core of the body.  Therefore the wise never fling these arrows at others.  There is nothing in the three worlds by which thou canst worship and adore the deities better than by kindness, friendship, charity and sweet speeches unto all.  Therefore, shouldst thou always utter words that soothe, and not those that scorch.  And thou shouldst regard those that deserve, thy regards, and shouldst always give but never beg!"’

SECTION LXXXVIII

(Sambhava Parva continued)

“Vaisampayana said, ’Alter this Indra again asked Yayati, ’Thou didst retire into the woods, O king, after accomplishing all thy duties.  O Yayati, son of Nahusha, I would ask thee to whom thou art equal in ascetic austerities.’  Yayati answered, ’O Vasava, I do not, in the matter of ascetic austerities, behold my equal among men, the celestials, the Gandharvas, and the great Rishis.’  Indra then said, ’O monarch, because thou disregardest those that are thy superiors, thy equals, and even thy inferiors, without, in fact, knowing their real merits, thy virtues have suffered diminution and thou must fall from heaven.’  Yayati then said, ’O Sakra, if, indeed, my virtues have really sustained diminution and I must on that account fall down from heaven, I desire, O chief of the celestials, that I may at least fall among the virtuous and the honest.’  Indra replied, ’O king, thou shall fall among those that are virtuous and wise, and thou shall acquire also much renown.  And after this experience of thine, O Yayati, never again disregard those that are thy superiors or even thy equals.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ’Upon this, Yayati fell from the region of the celestials.  And as he was falling, he was beheld by that foremost of royal sages, viz., Ashtaka, the protector of his own religion.  Ashtaka beholding him, enquired, ’Who art thou, O youth of a beauty equal to that of 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 the celestials, possessed of energy