tenance. How
then can the Brahmana be superior to the Kshatriyas? Well, I shall from
today, bring under my subjection, your Brahmanas who are superior to all
creatures but who have mendicancy for their occupation and who are so
self-conceited! What the virgin Gayatri has said from the welkin is not
true. Robed in skins, the Brahmanas move about in independence. I shall
bring those independent wights under my subjection. Deity or man, there
is none in the three worlds who can hurl me from the sovereignty I enjoy.
Hence, I am certainly superior to the Brahmanas. This world that is now
regarded as having Brahmanas for its foremost denizens shall soon be made
such as to have Kshatriyas for its foremost denizens. There is none that
is capable of bearing my might in battle!' Hearing these words of Arjuna,
the welkin-ranging goddess became agitated. Then the god of wind,
addressing the king from the sky, said, 'Cast off this sinful attitude.
Bow unto the Brahmanas. By injuring them thou wilt bring about troubles
on thy kingdom. The Brahmanas will either slay thee, king though thou
art, or, endued with great might that they are, they will drive thee away
from thy kingdom, despoiling thee of thy energy!' The king, hearing this
speech, addressed the speaker, saying, 'Who, indeed, art thou?' The god of
wind answered, 'I am the god of wind and the messenger of the deities! I
say unto thee what is for thy benefit.'

"'"Arjuna said, 'Oh, I see that thou hast today shown thy devotion and
attachment to the Brahmanas. Tell me now what kind of earthly creature is
the Brahmana! Tell me, does a superior Brahmana resemble the Wind in any
respect? Or, is he like Water, or Fire, or the Sun, or the Firmament?'"'"

SECTION CLIII

"'"The god of wind said, 'Hear, O deluded man, what the attributes are that
belong to Brahmanas all of whom are endued with high souls. The Brahmana
is superior to all those which, O king, thou hast named! In days of yore,
the earth, indulging in a spirit of rivalry with the king of the Angas,
forsook her character as Earth. The regenerate Kasyapa caused destruction
to overtake her by actually paralysing her. The Brahmanas are always
unconquerable, O king, in heaven as also on earth. In days of yore, the
great Rishi Angiras, through his energy, drank off all the waters. The
high-souled Rishi, having drank off all the waters as if they were milk,
did not feel yet his thirst to be slaked. He, therefore, once more ca