taketh away all the virtues of him that
exhibiteh it. Never shouldst thou pain others by cruel speeches. Never
subdue thy foes by despicable means; and never utter such scorching and
sinful words as may torture others. He that pricketh as if with thorns
men by means of hard and cruel words, thou must know, ever carrieth in
his mouth the Rakshasas. Prosperity and luck fly away at his very sight.
Thou shouldst ever keep the virtuous before thee as thy models; thou
shouldst ever with retrospective eye compare thy acts with those of the
virtuous; thou shouldst ever disregard the hard words of the wicked. Thou
shouldst ever make the conduct of the wise the model upon which thou art
to act thyself. The man hurt by the arrows of cruel speech hurled from
one's lips, weepeth day and night. Indeed, these strike at the core of
the body. Therefore the wise never fling these arrows at others. There is
nothing in the three worlds by which thou canst worship and adore the
deities better than by kindness, friendship, charity and sweet speeches
unto all. Therefore, shouldst thou always utter words that soothe, and
not those that scorch. And thou shouldst regard those that deserve, thy
regards, and shouldst always give but never beg!"'

SECTION LXXXVIII

(Sambhava Parva continued)

"Vaisampayana said, 'Alter this Indra again asked Yayati, 'Thou didst
retire into the woods, O king, after accomplishing all thy duties. O
Yayati, son of Nahusha, I would ask thee to whom thou art equal in
ascetic austerities.' Yayati answered, 'O Vasava, I do not, in the matter
of ascetic austerities, behold my equal among men, the celestials, the
Gandharvas, and the great Rishis.' Indra then said, 'O monarch, because
thou disregardest those that are thy superiors, thy equals, and even thy
inferiors, without, in fact, knowing their real merits, thy virtues have
suffered diminution and thou must fall from heaven.' Yayati then said, 'O
Sakra, if, indeed, my virtues have really sustained diminution and I must
on that account fall down from heaven, I desire, O chief of the
celestials, that I may at least fall among the virtuous and the honest.'
Indra replied, 'O king, thou shall fall among those that are virtuous and
wise, and thou shall acquire also much renown. And after this experience
of thine, O Yayati, never again disregard those that are thy superiors or
even thy equals.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Upon this, Yayati fell from the region of the
cel