one individual, however accomplished.  That king who does not protect his subjects, whose passions are ungovernable, who is full of vanity, who is stained with haughtiness and malice, incurs sin and earns the reproach of tyranny.  If the subjects of a king, O monarch, waste away from want of protection and are afflicted by the gods and ground down by robbers, the sin of all this stains the king himself.  There is no sin, O Yudhishthira, in doing an act with heartiness, after full deliberation, and consultation with men capable of offering good advice.  Our tasks fail or succeed through destiny.  If exertion, however, be applied, sin would not touch the king.  I shall recite to thee, O tiger among kings, the story of what happened to an ancient king of the name of Hayagriva, O son of Pandu,—­the story, viz., of the heroic Hayagriva of unstained deeds, who after having slain a large number of his foes in battle, was himself defeated and slain while without a follower by his side.  Having achieved all that should be done for keeping foes under check and adopted all those foremost of means by which men may be protected.  Hayagriva acquired great fame from the battles he fought and is now enjoying great bliss in heaven.  Mangled by robbers with weapons, boldly fighting with them, and casting off his life in battle, the high-souled Hayagriva, ever attentive to his (kingly) duties, achieved the object of his life and is now enjoying great bliss in heaven.  The bow was his (sacrificial) stake and the bowstring was the cord for tying the victims.  Shafts constituted the smaller ladle and the sword the large one, and blood was the clarified butter that he poured.  The car was the altar and the wrath he felt in battle was the fire, and the four foremost of steeds yoked unto his vehicle were the four Hotris.  Having poured upon that sacrificial fire his foes as libations and then his own life-breaths at the completion of the sacrifice, that vigorous lion among kings, viz., Hayagriva, became freed from sin and is now sporting in the regions of the gods.  Having protected his kingdom with policy and intelligence, the high-souled Hayagriva of resigned self and great strength of mind and accustomed to the performance of sacrifices filled all the worlds with his fame and is now sporting in the region of the gods.[72] Having obtained the merit dependent on the performance of sacrifices as also every kind of merit that is connected with human affairs, he wielded the rod of chastisement and ruled the Earth with vigour and without pride.  For this the virtuous and high-souled Hayagriva is sporting in the region of the gods.[73] Possessed of learning, practising renunciation, actuated by faith, and full of gratitude, that king, having performed diverse acts, left this world of men and won the regions that are reserved for the intelligent and the wise and those that are of approved usages and behaviour and prepared to cast off their lives in battle.  Having studied the