remost of his
species may now be staying in an empty apartment.'

"'"Sakra said, 'If, O Brahman, I happen to meet with Vali in an empty
apartment, shall I slay him or spare him? Tell me how I shall act.'

"'"Brahman said, 'Do not, O Sakra, injure Vali, Vali does not deserve
death. Thou shouldst, on the other hand, O Vasava, solicit instruction
from him about morality, O Sakra, as thou pleasest.'"

"'Bhishma continued, "Thus addressed by the divine Creator, Indra roamed
over the earth, seated on the back of Airavata and attended by
circumstances of great splendour. He succeeded in meeting with Vali, who,
as the Creator had said, was living in an empty apartment clothed in the
form of an ass.

"'"Sakra said, 'Thou art now, O Danava, born as an ass subsisting on chaff
as thy food. This thy order of birth is certainly a low one. Dost thou or
dost thou not grieve for it? I see what I had never seen before, viz.,
thyself brought under the sway of thy enemies, divested of prosperity and
friends, and shorn of energy and prowess. Formerly, thou used to make
progress through the worlds with thy train consisting of thousands of
vehicles and thousands of kinsmen, and to move along, scorching everybody
with thy splendour and counting us as nought. The Daityas, looking up to
thee as their protector, lived under thy sway. Through thy power, the
earth used to yield crops without waiting for tillage. Today, however, I
behold thee overtaken by this dire calamity. Dost thou or dost thou not
indulge in grief for this? When formerly thou usedst, with pride
reflected in thy face, to divide on the eastern shores of the ocean thy
vast wealth among thy kinsmen, what was the state of thy mind then?
Formerly, for many years, when blazing with splendour, thou usedst to
sport, thousands of celestial damsels used to dance before thee. All of
them were adorned with garlands of lotuses and all had companions bright
as gold. What, O lord of Danavas, was the state of thy mind then and what
is it now? Thou hadst a very large umbrella made of gold and adorned with
jewels and gems. Full two and forty thousand Gandharvas used in those
days to dance before thee.[835] In thy sacrifices thou hadst a stake that
was very large and made entirely of gold. On such occasions thou wert to
give away millions upon millions of kine. What, O Daitya, was the state
of thy mind then? Formerly, engaged in sacrifice, thou hadst gone round
the whole earth, following the rul