a, men in hunger lost their senses and began to eat
one another. The very Rishis, giving up their vows and abandoning their
fires and deities, and deserting their retreats in woods, began to wander
hither and thither (in search of food). The holy and great Rishi
Viswamitra, possessed of great intelligence, wandered homeless and
afflicted with hunger. Leaving his wife and son in some place of shelter,
the Rishi wandered, fireless[429] and homeless, and regardless of food
clean and unclean. One day he came upon a hamlet, in the midst of a
forest, inhabited by cruel hunters addicted to the slaughter of living
creatures. The little hamlet abounded with broken jars and pots made of
earth. Dog-skins were spread here and there. Bones and skulls, gathered
in heaps, of boars and asses, lay in different places. Cloths stripped
from the dead lay here and there, and the huts were adorned with garlands
of used up flowers.[430] Many of the habitations again were filled with
sloughs cast off by snakes. The place resounded with the loud crowing of
cocks and hens and the dissonant bray of asses. Here and there the
inhabitants disputed with one another, uttering harsh words in shrill
voices. Here and there were temples of gods bearing devices of owls and
other birds. Resounding with the tinkle of iron bells, the hamlet
abounded with canine packs standing or lying on every side. The great
Rishi Viswamitra, urged by pangs of hunger and engaged in search after
food, entered that hamlet and endeavoured his best to find something to
eat. Though the son of Kusika begged repeatedly, yet he failed to obtain
any meat or rice or fruit or root or any other kind of food. He then,
exclaiming, 'Alas, great is the distress that has overtaken me!' fell
down from weakness in that hamlet of the Chandalas. The sage began to
reflect, saying to himself, 'What is best for me to do now?' Indeed, O
best of kings, the thought that occupied him was of the means by which he
could avoid immediate death. He beheld, O king, a large piece of flesh,
of a dog that had recently been slain with a weapon, spread on the floor
of a Chandala's hut. The sage reflected and arrived at the conclusion
that he should steal that meat. And he said unto himself, 'I have no
means now of sustaining life. Theft is allowable in a season of distress
for even an eminent person. It will not detract from his glory. Even a
Brahmana for saving his life may do it. This is certain. In the first
pla