g, a dispute arose between them.
Indeed, one of them charged the other, saying, 'Thou hast made a quicker
step!' The other answered, 'No, verily', as each maintained his own
opinion obstinately, each, O king, asserted what the other denied, and
denied what the other asserted. While thus disputing with each other with
great assurance, an oath was then heard among them. Indeed, each of them
suddenly named Vipula in what they uttered. The oath each of them took
was even this, 'That one amongst us two who speaketh falsely, shall in
the next world, meet with the end which will be the regenerate Vipula's!'
Hearing these words of theirs, Vipula's face became very cheerless. He
began to reflect, saying unto himself, 'I have undergone severe penances.
The dispute between this couple is hot. To me, again, it is painful. What
is the sin of which I have been guilty that both these persons should
refer to my end in the next world as the most painful one among those
reserved for all creatures?' Thinking in this strain, Vipula, O best of
monarchs, hung down his head, and with a cheerless mind began to
recollect what sin he had done. Proceeding a little way he beheld six
other men playing with dice made of gold and silver. Engaged in play,
those individuals seemed to him to be so excited that the hair on their
bodies stood on end. They also (upon a dispute having arisen among them)
were heard by Vipula to take the same oath that he had already heard the
first couple to take. Indeed, their words had reference in the same way
to Vipula, 'He amongst us who, led by cupidity, will act in an improper
way, shall meet with that end which is reserved for Vipula in the next
world!' Hearing these words, however, Vipula, although he strove
earnestly to recollect failed to remember any transgression of his from
even his earliest years, O thou of Kuru's race. Verily he began to burn
like a fire placed in the midst of another fire. Hearing that curse, his
mind burnt with grief. In this state of anxiety a long time elapsed. At
last he recollected the manner in which he had acted in protecting his
preceptor's wife from the machinations of Indra. 'I had penetrated the
body of that lady, placing limb within limb, face within face, Although I
had acted in this way, I did not yet tell my preceptor the truth!' Even
this was the transgression, O thou of Kuru's race which Vipula
recollected in himself. Indeed, O blessed monarch, without doubt that was
the trans