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his crime that he had burnt a Brahman alive. One porringer of barley-meal and one of water was placed inside the dungeon every day for S'akatala and his sons, and thereupon he said to them;—"My sons, even one man alone would with difficulty subsist on this barley-meal, much less can a number of people do so. Therefore let that one of us, who is able to take vengeance on Yogananda, consume every day the barley-meal and the water." His sons answered him, "You alone are able to punish him, therefore do you consume them." For vengeance is dearer to the resolute than life itself. So S'akatala alone subsisted on that meal and water every day. Alas! those whose souls are set on victory are cruel. S'akatala in the dark dungeon, beholding the death agonies of his starving sons, thought to himself, "A man who desires his own welfare should not act in an arbitrary manner towards the powerful, without fathoming their character and acquiring their confidence." Accordingly his hundred sons perished before his eyes, and he alone remained alive surrounded by their skeletons. Then Yogananda took firm root in his kingdom. And Vyadi approached him after giving the present to his teacher, and after coming near to him said, "May thy rule, my friend, last long! I take my leave of thee, I go to perform austerities somewhere." Hearing that, Yogananda, with his voice choked with tears, said to him, "Stop thou, and enjoy pleasures in my kingdom, do not go and desert me." Vyadi answered—"King! Life comes to an end in a moment. What wise man, I pray you, drowns himself in these hollow and fleeting enjoyments? Prosperity, a desert mirage, does not turn the head of the wise man." Saying this he went away that moment resolved to mortify his flesh with austerities. Then that Yogananda went to his metropolis Pataliputra, for the purpose of enjoyment, accompanied by me, and surrounded with his whole army. So I having attained prosperity, lived for a long time in that state, waited upon by Upakosa, and bearing the burden of the office of prime-minister to that king, accompanied by my mother and my preceptors. There the Ganges, propitiated by my austerities, gave me every day much wealth, and Sarasvati present in bodily form told me continually what measures to adopt.
CHAPTER V.
Having said this, Vararuchi continued his tale as follows:—
In course of time Yogananda became enslaved by his passions, and like a mad elephant he disregarded every restraint. Whom will not a sudden access of prosperity intoxicate? Then I reflected with, myself, "The king
