as. Let there be no delay in effecting a peace between Indra and
Vritra."'

"Salya continued, 'When he had thus spoken, the Rishis and the celestials
placed Indra at their head, and uniting together, went away. Approaching
Indra they beheld Vritra glowing and resplendent as if scorching the ten
points, and swallowing all the three worlds, and resembling the sun or
the moon. And then the Rishis, came up to Vritra and spoke to him in
conciliatory terms, saying, "O thou unconquerable being, the whole of
this universe hath been pervaded by thy energy. Thou art not able however
to overpower Indra, O best of mighty beings. A long period hath now
elapsed since you began to fight. All beings, with the gods and the
Asuras and men, are suffering from the effects of the fight. Let there be
eternal friendship between thee and Indra. Thou shalt be happy and shall
dwell eternally in Indra's regions." And the mighty Vritra having heard
the words of the saints, bowed his head unto them. And the Asura (thus)
spoke, "What you, O highly-gifted beings, and also all these Gandharvas
are saying, I have heard. Ye stainless beings, hear also what I have got
to say. How can there be peace between us two, Indra and myself? How can
there be friendship, ye gods, between two hostile powers?" The Rishis
said, "Friendship among righteous persons happens at a single meeting. It
is a desirable object. Thereafter will happen what is fated to be. The
opportunity of forming friendship with a righteous person should not be
sacrificed. Therefore, the friendship of the righteous should be sought.
The friendship of the righteous is (like) excellent wealth, for he that
is wise would give advice when it is needed. The friendship of a good
person is of great use; therefore, a wise person should not desire to
kill a righteous one. Indra is honoured by the righteous, and is the
refuge of magnanimous persons, being veracious and unblamable, and knows
what virtue is, and is possessed of a refined judgment. Let there be
eternal friendship between thee and Indra, as described above. In this
way, have faith (in him); let not thy heart be differently inclined."'

"Salya said, 'Hearing these words of the great Rishis, the illustrious
Asura spoke to them, "No doubt, the Rishis, endued with supernatural
powers, are to be respected by me. Let what I am going to say, ye gods,
be performed in its entirety; then I shall do everything that (these)
best of Brahmanas have said to