egan to conciliate both. And as he
was young, by singing and dancing and playing on different kinds of
instruments, he soon gratified Devayani who was herself in her youth.
And, O Bharata, with his whole heart set upon it, he soon gratified the
maiden Devayani who was then a young lady, by presents of flowers and
fruits and services rendered with alacrity. And Devayani also with her
songs and sweetness of manners used, while they were alone, to attend
upon that youth carrying out his vow. And when five hundred years had
thus passed of Kacha's vow, the Danavas came to learn his intention. And
having no compunctions about slaying a Brahmana, they became very angry
with him. And one day they saw Kacha in a solitary part of the woods
engaged in tending (his preceptor's) kine. They then slew Kacha from
their hatred of Vrihaspati and also from their desire of protecting the
knowledge of reviving the dead from being conveyed by him. And having
slain him, they hacked his body into pieces and gave them to be devoured
by jackals and wolves. And (when twilight came) the kine returned to the
fold without him who tended them. And Devayani, seeing the kine returned
from the woods without Kacha, spoke, O Bharata, unto her father thus:

'Thy evening-fire hath been kindled. The Sun also hath set, O father! The
kine have returned without him who tendeth them. Kacha is, indeed, not to
be seen. It is plain that Kacha hath been lost, or is dead. Truly do I
say, O father, that without him I will not live.'

"Sukra hearing this said, I will revive him by saying, 'Let this one
come.' Then having recourse to the science of reviving the dead, Sukra
summoned Kacha. And summoned by his preceptor, Kacha appeared before him
in the gladness of heart tearing by virtue of his preceptor's science the
bodies of the wolves (that had devoured him). And asked about the cause
of his delay, he thus spoke unto Bhargava's daughter. Indeed, asked by
that Brahman's daughter, he told her, 'I was dead. O thou of pure
manners, burdened with sacrificial fuel, Kusa grass, and logs of wood, I
was coming towards our abode. I sat under a banian tree. The kine also,
having been brought together, were staying under the shade of that same
banian tree. The Asuras, beholding me, asked 'Who art thou?' They heard
me answer, 'I am the son of Vrihaspati.' As soon as I said this, the
Danavas slew me, and hacking my body into pieces gave my remains to
jackals and wolves. And they t