05.119

Nārada said:

Then, having moved from his place and fallen from his seat, his heart trembling, afflicted by the fire of sorrow… (5-119-1)

His garlands wilted, his consciousness lost, crown and armlets fallen, reeling, all his limbs slackened, his ornaments and garments falling off... (5-119-2)

While unable to see, yet seeing them and not seeing them again and again, empty, with an empty mind, he was about to fall to the ground. (5-119-3)

What unlucky or dharma-defiling thing have I contemplated in my mind, by which I have fallen from my place?—so the king pondered. (5-119-4)

But right there, the kings, siddhas, and apsarases saw Yayati, fallen and unsupported. (5-119-5)

Then, a certain man, the agent who brings about the fall of those whose merit is exhausted, approached and addressed Yayati, O king, by the command of the king of the gods. (5-119-6)

You are excessively intoxicated with pride and respect no one. Because of your pride, heaven is lost to you—you do not deserve it, prince—nor do you comprehend this. Go, fall!—so he said to him. (5-119-7)

Having uttered the words, 'I should fall in the presence of the virtuous,' three times, the son of Nahusha, as he was about to fall, thought of the highest destination of those who are accomplished. (5-119-8)

Just at that very moment, the king saw four foremost kings at Naimisha, and he fell among them. (5-119-9)

Pratardana, Vasumanas, Shibi, Ushinara, and Ashtaka honor the lord of the gods with the Vajapeya sacrifice. (5-119-10)

Yayati, as he tried to inhale the smoke that arose from their sacrifice—a smoke that had appeared as the gate to heaven—fell down to the earth. (5-119-11)

The king, grasping the river made of smoke that connected earth and heaven—going like the Ganga, the lord of the earth— (5-119-12)

Amid his four splendid foremost bathing ceremonies, surrounded by his kinsmen who were like guardians of the world, the king fell in their midst. (5-119-13)

When his merit was exhausted, the royal sage Yayāti fell in the middle of the four great lion-like royal fires arrayed like sacrificial altars. (5-119-14)

All the princes said to him, who looked like the very embodiment of fortune, 'Who are you? Whose kinsman are you, of which land or which city?' (5-119-15)

Are you a yakṣa, or perhaps a god, a gandharva, or even a rākṣasa? For you surely are not in a human form. What purpose do you seek here? (5-119-16)

Yayāti said:

I am Yayāti, a royal sage. My merit exhausted, I fell from heaven. Wishing to fall among the virtuous, thinking thus, I have therefore fallen among you. (5-119-17)

The kings said:

Truly, O best of men, may this which you desire be fulfilled; let the reward of our sacrifice and our religious merit be accepted. (5-119-18)

Yayāti said:

I am not a Brāhmaṇa who lives on gifts; indeed, I am a Kṣatriya. And my mind is not inclined toward destroying another's merit. (5-119-19)

Nārada said:

At that very moment, seeing Mādhavī return from hunting, those kings greeted her and said this: (5-119-20)

What is the reason for your coming? What command of yours shall we carry out? We are indeed all your sons, O ascetic sage, and to be commanded by you. (5-119-21)

Hearing those words of theirs, Madhavi, filled with great joy, approached her father Yayati and bowed to him. (5-119-22)

Seeing her sons bowing with their heads, the female ascetic spoke these words: "O king, these grandsons of yours are my sons, not others—they will save you from this ancient fate." (5-119-23)

I am your daughter, O king—Madhavi, a forest-dweller. Righteous merit has also been accumulated by me; therefore, let half be accepted. (5-119-24)

O king, because all men share in the fruit of their children, therefore they desire grandsons through their daughters, just as you do, O lord of the earth. (5-119-25)

Then all the kings, having bowed their heads to their mother and paid her respect, next greeted their maternal grandfather and spoke to him. (5-119-26)

With loud, matchless, affectionate voices filling the earth, the kings raised up their grandfather, who had fallen from heaven. (5-119-27)

Then, having come there, Gālava also said to the king, "With one-eighth of my austerity, may you ascend to heaven." (5-119-28)