through Karma. Good and evil acts do not give adequate results.
Righteousness is the refuge of the gods, and by righteousness is
everything attained. Destiny thwarts not the man that has attained to
virtue and righteousness.

In olden times, Yayati, falling from his high estate in heaven descended
on the Earth but was again restored to the celestial regions by the good
deeds of his virtuous grandsons. The royal sage Pururavas, celebrated as
the descendant of Ila, attained to heaven through the intercession of the
Brahmanas. Saudasa, the king of Kosala, though dignified by the
performance of Aswamedha and other sacrifices, obtained the status of a
man-eating Rakshasa, through the curse of a great Rishi. Aswatthaman and
Rama, though both warriors and sons of Munis, failed to attain to heaven
by reason of their own actions in this world. Vasu, though he performed a
hundred sacrifices like a second Vasava, was sent to the nethermost
regions, for making a single false statement. Vali, the son of Virochana,
righteously bound by his promise, was consigned to the regions under the
Earth, by the prowess of Vishnu. Was not Janamejaya, who followed the
foot-prints of Sakra, checked and put down by the gods for killing a
Brahmana woman? Was not the regenerate Rishi Vaisampayana too, who slew a
Brahmana in ignorance, and was polluted by the slaughter of a child, put
down by the gods? In olden times the royal sage Nriga became transmuted
into a lizard. He had made gifts of kine unto the Brahmanas at his great
sacrifice, but this availed him not. The royal sage Dhundhumara was
overwhelmed with decrepitude even while engaged in performing his
sacrifices, and foregoing all the merits thereof, he fell asleep at
Girivraja. The Pandavas too regained their lost kingdom, of which they
had been deprived by the powerful sons of Dhritarashtra, not through the
intercession of the fates, but by recourse to their own valour. Do the
Munis of rigid vows, and devoted to the practice of austere penances,