fame of his achievements).'"



SECTION LXXXVII

(Sambhava Parva continued)

"Vaisampayana said, 'While that king of kings dwelt in heaven--the home
of the celestials, he was reverenced by the gods, the Sadhyas, the
Maruts, and the Vasus. Of sacred deeds, and mind under complete control,
the monarch used to repair now and then from the abode of the celestials
unto the region of Brahman. And it hath been heard by me that he dwelt
for a long time in heaven.

"One day that best of kings, Yayati, went to Indra and there in course of
conversation the lord of Earth was asked by Indra as follows:

'What didst thou say, O king, when thy son Puru took thy decrepitude on
Earth and when thou gavest him thy kingdom?'

"Yayati answered, 'I told him that the whole country between the rivers
Ganga and Yamuna was his. That is, indeed, the central region of the
Earth, while the out-lying regions are to be the dominions of thy
brothers. I also told him that those without anger were ever superior to
those under its sway, those disposed to forgive were ever superior to the
unforgiving. Man is superior to the lower animals. Among men again the
learned are superior to the un-learned. If wronged, thou shouldst not
wrong in return. One's wrath, if disregarded, burneth one's own self; but
he that regardeth it not taketh away all the virtues of him that