o unmoved? Is
it due to thy heroism or thy having waited with reverence upon aged
persons? Is it due to thy mind having been cleansed by penances? To
whatever cause it may be due, this frame of mind is certainly very
difficult of attainment. Hurled from a position that was certainly the
highest, thou art now divested of all thy possessions, and thou hast been
brought under the sway of thy foes. O son of Virochana, what is that by
having recourse to which thou dost not grieve although the occasion is
for grief? Formerly, when thou wert invested with the sovereignty of thy
own order, unrivalled pleasures were thine. Now, however, thou art
divested of thy wealth and jewels and sovereignty. Tell us why thou art
so unmoved. Thou wert before this a god, seated on the throne of thy sire
and grandsires. Beholding thyself stripped today by thy foes, why dost
thou not grieve? Thou art bound in Varuna's noose and hast been struck
with my thunderbolt. Thy wives have been taken away and thy wealth also.
Tell us why thou dost not indulge in grief. Divested of prosperity and
fallen away from affluence, thou indulgest not in grief. This, indeed, is
something that is very remarkable. Who else, O Vali, than one like thee,
could venture to bear the burthen of existence after being shorn of the
sovereignty of the three worlds?' Hearing without any pain these and
other cutting speeches that Indra addressed to him, asserting the while
his own superiority over him, Vali, the son of Virochana, fearlessly
answered his interrogator, saying the following words.

"'"Vali said, 'When calamities have oppressed me, O Sakra, what dost thou
gain by such brag now? Today I behold thee, O Purandara, stand before me
with the thunderbolt upraised in thy hand! Formerly, however, thou
couldst not bear thyself so. Now thou hast by some means gained that
power. Indeed, who else than thou could utter such cruel speeches? That
person who, though able to punish, shows compassion towards a heroic foe
vanquished and brought under his sway, is truly a very superior
individual. When two persons fight, victory in the battle is certainly
dubious. One of the two certainly becomes victorious, and the other
becomes vanquished. O chief of the deities, let not thy disposition be
such! Do not imagine that thou hast become the sovereign of all creatures
after having conquered all with thy might and prowess! That we have
become so is not, O Sakra, the result of any act of ours.[