he hath been lost, or has died. I tell thee truly, I would not live
without him.'

"Sukra hearing this said, 'O daughter, the son of Vrihaspati hath gone to
the region of the dead. Though revived by my science, he is thus slain
frequently. What, indeed, am I to do? O Devayani, do not grieve, do not
cry. One like thee should not grieve for one that is mortal. Thou art
indeed, O daughter, in consequence of my prowess, worshipped thrice a day
during the ordained hours of prayer, by Brahmanas, the gods with Indra,
the Vasus, the Aswins, the Asuras, in fact, by the whole universe. It is
impossible to keep him alive, for revived by me he is often killed.' To
all this Devayani replied, 'Why shall I, O father, not grieve for him
whose grandfather is old Angiras himself, whose father is Vrihaspati who
is an ocean of ascetic merit, who is the grandson of a Rishi and the son
also of a Rishi? He himself too was a Brahmacharin and an ascetic; always
wakeful and skilled in everything. I will starve and follow the way Kacha
has gone. The handsome Kacha is, O father, dear unto me.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'The great Rishi Kavya, then, afflicted by what
Devayani said, cried in anger, 'Certainly, the Asuras seek to injure me,
for they slay my disciple that stayeth with me. These followers of Rudra
desire to divest me of my character as a Brahmana by making me
participate in their crime. Truly, this crime hath a terrible end. The
crime of slaying a Brahmana would even burn Indra himself.' Having said
this, the Brahmana Sukra, urged by Devayani, began to summon Kacha who
had entered the jaws of Death. But Kacha, summoned with the aid of
science, and afraid of the consequence to his preceptor, feebly replied
from within the stomach of his preceptor, saying, 'Be graceful unto me, O
lord! I am Kacha that worshippeth thee. Behave unto me as to thy own
dearly-loved son.'