I do not now see that Vali. Indeed, tell me, O Brahmana,
where I may find that chief of the Asuras now.'
"Brahman said, 'It is not becoming in thee, O Maghavat, to thus enquire
after Vali now. One should not, however, speak an untruth when one is
questioned by another. For this reason, I shall tell thee the whereabouts
of Vali. O lord of Sachi, Vali may now have taken his birth among camels
or bulls or asses or horses, and having become the foremost 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.
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