the fall

While that king of kings dwelt in heaven--the home of the celestials, he was reverenced by the gods, the Sadhyas, the Maruts, and the Vasus. Of sacred deeds and mind under complete control, the monarch used to repair now and then from the abode of the celestials unto the region of Brahman. And it has been heard by me that he dwelt for a long time in heaven.

"One day that best of kings, Yayati, went to Indra and there in course of conversation the lord of Earth was asked by Indra as follows:

'What do you say, O king, when your son Puru took your decrepitude on Earth and when you gave him your kingdom?'

Yayati answered, 'I told him that the whole country which has the rivers Ganga and Yamuna was his. That is, indeed, the central region of the Earth, while the out-lying regions are to be the dominions of your brothers. I also told him that those without anger were ever superior to those under its sway, those disposed to forgive were ever superior to the unforgiving.

Man is superior to the animals becauseof his intelligence. Among men again the learned are superior to the unlearned. If wronged, you should not wrong in return. One's wrath, if disregarded, burneth one's own self; but he that regardes it not takes away all the virtues of him that exhibits it. Never should you pain others by cruel speeches.

Never subdue your 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, you must know, ever carrieth in his mouth the Rakshasas.

Prosperity and luck fly away at his very sight. You should ever keep the virtuous before you as your models; you should ever with retrospective eye compare thy acts with those of the virtuous; you should ever disregard the hard words of the wicked.

You should ever make the conduct of the wise the model upon which you are to act yourself. The man hurt by the arrows of cruel speech hurled from one's lips, weeps 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 you can worship and adore the God better than by kindness, friendship, charity and sweet speeches unto all.

Therefore, should you always utter words that soothe and not those that scorch. And you shouldst regard those that deserve, your regards and shouldst always give but never beg without need!"

After this Indra again asked Yayati, 'you did retire into the woods, O king, after accomplishing all your duties. O Yayati, son of Nahusha, I would ask you to whom you are 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 you disregardest those that are your superiors, your equals, and even your inferiors without, in fact, knowing their real merits, your virtues have suffered diminution and you 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, you shall fall among those that are virtuous and wise and you shall acquire also much renown. And after this experience of thine, O Yayati, never again disregard those that are your superiors or even your inferiors.'

Upon this, Yayati fell from the region of the celestials. And as he was falling, he was beheld by that foremost of royal sages, viz., Ashtaka, the protector of his own dharma. Ashtaka beholding him, enquired, 'Who are you, O youth of a beauty equal to that of Indra in splendour blazing as the fire thus falling from on high? Are you that foremost of sky-ranging bodies--the sun-- emerging from, dark masses of clouds? Beholding you falling from the solar course possessed of immeasurable energy and the splendour of fire or the sun

every one is curious as to what it is that is so falling, and is, besides, deprived of consciousness! Beholding you in the path of the celestials, possessed of energy like that of Sakra, or Surya, or Vishnu we have approached you to ascertain the truth.

If you had first asked us who we were, we would never have been guilty of the incivility of asking you first. We now ask you who you are and why you approach hither.

Let your fears be dispelled; let your woes and afflictions cease. You are now in the presence of the virtuous and the wise. Even Sakra himself--the slayer of Vala--cannot here do you any injury. O thou of the prowess of the chief of the celestials, the wise and the virtuous are the support of their brethren in grief. Here there are none but the wise and virtuous like you assembled together. Therefore, stay thou here in peace. Fire alone has power to give heat. The Earth alone hath power to infuse life into the seed. The sun alone has power to illuminate everything. So the guest alone has power to command the virtuous and the wise.'

Yayati said, 'I am Yayati, the son of Nahusha and the father of Puru. Cast off from the region of the celestials and of Siddhas and Rishis for having disregarded every creature, I am falling down, my righteousness having sustained diminution. In years I am older than you; therefore, I have not saluted you first. Indeed, the Brahmanas always reverence him who is older in years or superior in learning or in ascetic merit.'

Ashtaka then replied, 'you say, O monarch, that he who is older in years is worthy of regard. But it is said that he is truly worthy of worship who is superior in learning and ascetic merit.'

Yayati replied to this, 'It is said that sin destroys the merits of four virtuous acts. Vanity contains the element of that which leads to hell. The virtuous never follow in the footsteps of the vicious. They act in such a way that their dharmic merit always increase. I myself had great dharmic merit, but all that, however, is gone. I will scarcely be able to regain it even by my best exertions.

Beholding my fate, he that is bent upon (achieving) his own good, will certainly suppress vanity. He who having acquired great wealth performes meritorious sacrifices, who having acquired all kinds of learning remained humble and who having studied the entire Vedas devotes himself to asceticism with a heart withdrawn from all mundane enjoyments, goes to heaven.

None should exult in having acquired great wealth. None should be vain of having studied the entire Vedas. In the world men are of different dispositions. Destiny is supreme. Both power and exertion are all fruitless. Knowing Destiny to be all-powerful, the wise, whatever their portions may be, should neither exult nor grieve.

When creatures know that their weal and woe are dependent on Destiny and not on their own exertion or power, they should neither grieve nor exult, remembering that Destiny is all powerful.

The wise should ever live contented, neither grieving at woe nor exulting at weal. When Destiny is supreme both grief and exultation are unbecoming.

O Ashtaka, I never suffer myself to be overcome by fear, nor do I ever entertain grief, knowing for certain that I shall be in the world what the great disposer of all has ordained. Insects and worms, all oviparous creatures, vegetable existences, all crawling animals, vermin, the fish in the water, stones, grass, wood--in fact, all created things, when they are freed from the effects of their acts are united with the Supreme Soul.

Happiness and misery are both transient. Therefore, O Ashtaka, why should I grieve? We can never know how we are to act in order to avoid misery.

Therefore, none should grieve for misery.'"Possessed of every virtue, king Yayati who was the maternal grandfather of Ashtaka, while staying in the welkin, at the conclusion of his speech, was again questioned by Ashtaka.

The latter said, 'O king of kings, tell me, in detail, of all those regions that you have visited and enjoyed, as well as the period for which you have enjoyed each. You speak of the precepts of dharma even like the clever masters acquainted with the acts and sayings of great beings!'

Yayati replied, 'I was a great king on Earth, owning the whole world for my dominion. Leaving it, I acquired by dint of dharmic merit many high regions. There I dwelt for a full thousand years and then I attained to a very high region the abode of Indra of extraordinary beauty having a thousand gates and extending over a hundred yojanas all round.

There too, I dwelt a full thousand years and then attained to a higher region still. That is the region of perfect beatitude, where decay never exists, the region, viz., that of the Creator and the Lord of Earth, so difficult of attainment. There also I dwelt for a full thousand years and then attained to another very high region viz., that of the god of gods (Vishnu) where, too, I had lived in happiness.

Indeed, I dwelt in various regions, adored by all the celestials, and possessed of prowess and splendour equal unto those of the celestials themselves. Capable of assuming any form at will, I lived for a million years in the gardens of Nandana sporting with the Apsaras and beholding numberless beautiful trees clad in flowery vesture and sending forth delicious perfume all round.

And after many, many years had elapsed, while still residing there in enjoyment of perfect beatitude, the celestial messenger of grim visage, one day, in a loud and deep voice, thrice shouted to me--Ruined! Ruined! Ruined!--O lion among kings, this much do I remember.

I was then fallen from Nandana, my dharmic merits gone! I heard in the skies, O king, the voices of the celestials exclaiming in grief,--Alas! What a misfortune! Yayati, with his dharmic merits destroyed, though virtuous and of sacred deeds, is falling!--And as I was falling, I asked them loudly, 'Where, ye celestials, are those wise ones amongst whom I am to fall?'

They pointed out to me this sacred sacrificial region belonging to you. Beholding the curls of smoke blackening the atmosphere and smelling the perfume of clarified butter poured incessantly upon fire and guided thereby, I am approaching this region of yours, glad at heart that I come amongst you.'

"Ashtaka said, 'Capable of assuming any form at will, thou hast lived for a million years in the gardens of Nandana. For what cause, O foremost of those that flourished in the Krita age, have you been compelled to leave that region and come hither?'

Yayati answered, 'As kinsmen, friends, and relatives forsake, in this world, those whose wealth disappears so, in the other world, the celestials with Indra as their chief, forsake him who has lost his righteousness.'

Ashtaka said, 'I am extremely anxious to know how in the other world men can lose virtue. Tell me also, O king, what regions are attainable by what courses of action. You are acquainted, I know, with the acts and sayings of great beings."

Yayati answered, 'O pious one, they that speak of their own merits are doomed to suffer the hell called Bhauma. Though really emaciated and lean, they appear to grow on Earth (in the shape of their sons and grandsons) only to become food for vultures, dogs, and jackals. Therefore, O king, this highly censurable and wicked vice should be repressed. I have now, O king, told you all. Tell me what more I shall say.'

Ashtaka said, 'When life is destroyed with age, vultures, peacocks, insects, and worms eat up the human body. Where does man then reside? How doth he also come back to life? I have never heard of any hell called Bhauma on Earth!'

Yayati answered, 'After the dissolution of the body, man, according to his acts, re-entereth the womb of his mother and stays there in an indistinct form and soon after assuming a distinct and visible shape reappeareth in the world and walketh on its surface. This is that Earth-hell (Bhauma) where he falls, for he beholds not the termination of his existence and acts not towards his emancipation. Some dwell for sixty thousand years, some, for eighty-thousand years in heaven, and then they fall. And as they fall, they are attacked by certain Rakshasas in the form of sons, grandsons, and other relatives that withdraw their hearts from acting for their own emancipation.'

Ashtaka asked, 'For what sin are beings, when they fall from heaven, attacked by these fierce and sharp- toothed Rakshasas? Why are they not reduced to annihilation? How do they again enter the womb, furnished with senses?'

Yayati answered, 'After falling from heaven, the being becometh a subtile substance living in water. This water becomes the semen whence is the seed of vitality. hence entering the mother's womb in the womanly season, it developeth into the embryo and next into visible life like the fruit from the flower. Entering trees, plants and other vegetable substances, water, air, earth, and space, that same watery seed of life assumeth the quadrupedal or bipedal form. This is the case with all creatures that you see.'

Ashtaka said, 'O tell me, I ask you because I have my doubts. Does a being that hath received a human form enter the womb in its own shape or in some other? How doth it also acquire its distinct and visible shape, eyes and ears and consciousness as well? Questioned by me, O, explain it all! Thou art, O father, one acquainted with the acts and sayings of great beings.'

Yayati answered, 'According to the merits of one's acts, the being that in a subtile form co-inheres in the seed that is dropped into the womb is attracted by the atmospheric force for purposes of re-birth. It then developeth there in course of time; first it becomes the embryo, and is next provided with the visible physical organism. Coming out of the womb in due course of time, it becometh conscious of its existence as man, and with his ears becometh sensible of sound; with his eyes, of colour and form; with his nose, of scent; with his tongue, of taste; by his whole body, of touch; and by his mind, of ideas. It is thus, O Ashtaka, that the gross and visible body developeth from the subtile essence.'

Ashtaka asked, 'After death, the body is burnt, or otherwise destroyed. Reduced to nothing upon such dissolution, by what principle is one revived?'

Yayati said, 'O lion among kings, the person that dies assumes a subtil form; and retaining consciousness of all his acts as in a dream, he enters some other form with a speed quicker than that of air itself. The virtuous attain to a superior, and the vicious to an inferior form of existence. The vicious become worms and insects. I have nothing more to say, O thou of great and pure soul! I have told thee how beings are born, after development of embryonic forms, as four-footed, six-footed creatures and others with more feet. What more wilt thou ask me?'

Ashtaka said, 'How, O father, do men attain to those superior regions whence there is no return to earthly life? Is it by asceticism or by knowledge? How also can one gradually attain to felicitous regions? Asked by me, O answer it in full.'

Yayati answered, 'The wise say that for men there are seven gates through which admission may be gained into Heaven. There are asceticism, benevolence, tranquillity of mind, self-command, modesty, simplicity, and kindness to all creatures. The wise also say that a person loses all these in consequence of vanity. That man who having acquired knowledge regardeth himself as learned and with his learning destroyed the reputation of others, never attaineth to regions of indestructible felicity. That knowledge also does not make its possessor competent to attain to Brahman.

Study, taciturnity, worship before fire, and sacrifices, these four remove all fear. When, however, these are mixed with vanity, instead of removing it, they cause fear. The wise should never exult at (receiving) honours nor should they grieve at insults. For it is the wise alone that honour the wise; the wicked never act like the virtuous.

I have given away so much--I have performed so many sacrifices,--I have studied so much,--I have observed these vows,--such vanity is the root of fear. Therefore, thou must not indulge in such feelings. Those learned men who accept as their support the unchangeable, inconceivable Brahma alone that ever showereth blessings on persons virtuous like thee, enjoy perfect peace here and hereafter.'"