minded king, having roved for sometime at pleasure and according to bis will, at last entered his inner appartment. Thus waking at midnight and remembering his promise, he summoned bis cook and told him of his promise unto the Brahmana staying in the forest. And he commanded bim, saying. Hie thee to that forest. A Brahmana waiteth for me in hope of food. Go and entertain him with food with meat!
"The Gandharva continued.--"Thus commanded, the cook went out in search of meat. Distressed at not having found any, he informed the king of his failure. The monarch, however, possessed as he was by the Rakshasa, repeatedly said, without scruple of any kind. Feed him with human meat. The cook, saying.-So be it went to the place where the (king's) executioners were, and thence taking human flesh and washing and cooking it duly and covering it with boiled rice offered it unto that bungry Brahmana devoted to ascetic penances. But that best of Brahmanas, seeing with his spiritual sight that the food was unholy and, therefore, unworthy of being eaten, said these words with eyes red with anger.-Because that worst of kings offereth me food that is unholy and unworthy of being taken, therefore that wretch shall have himself a fondness for such food! And becoming fond of human flesh as Cursed by Saktri of old, the wretch shall wander over the earth, alarming and otherwise troubling all creatures ! The curse. therefore, on that king, thus repeated a second time, became very strong, and the king, possessed by a Raksbasa disposition, soon lost all his senses.'
"'A little while after, O Bharata, that best of monarchs, deprived of all his senses by the Rakshasa within him, beholding Saktri who had cursed him, said.-Because thou hast pronounced on me this extraordinary curse, therefore, I shall begin my life of cannibalism by devouring thee Having said this, the king immediately slew Saktri and ate him up, like a tiger eating animal it was fond of, Beholding Saktri thus slain and devoured, Viswamitra repeatedly urged that Rakshasa (who was within the monarch) against the other sons of Vasistha. Like a wrathful lion devouring small animals, that Rakshasa soon devoured the other sons of the illustrious Vasistha that were junior to Saktri in age. But Vasistha, learning that all his sons had been caused to be slain by Viswamitra, patiently bore bis griet like the great mountain that bears the Earth. That best of Munis, that foremost of intelligent men, was resolved rather to sacrifice his own life than exterminate (in anger) the race of Kusikas. The illustrious Rishi threw himself down from the summit of Meru, but he descended on the stony ground as though on a heap of cotton). And, O son of Pandu, when the illustrious one found that death did not
