Insensate on the ground. Ye gods of heaven!
Tell me, I pray you, has this noble king,
Equal to gods in rank, committed sin
Against you, that he lies thus overcome
With woe?" Then fell the queen, bereft of sense
Upon the earth, o'erwhelmed with grief and pain,
Seeing her husband's misery. When the boy
Beheld his parents lying on the ground,
He cried in terror: "Father! give me food!
Mother! my tongue is parched with thirst!" Meanwhile
Upon the scene the mighty Brahman came;
And when he saw the king lie senseless, "King!"--
Sprinkling cold water on his face--he said,
"Rise up! rise up! Pay me the promised vow;
For this thy misery from day to day
Increases, and will yet increase, until
The debt be paid." The water's cooling touch
Refreshed the king; his consciousness returned;
But when he saw the Brahman, faintness seized
His limbs again. Then overpowering rage
Seized Visvamitra; but before he left,
The best of Brahmans said: "If what is just,
Or right, or true, enters thy mind, O king!
Give me the present. Lo! by truth divine
The sun sends forth his vivifying rays
Upon the earth. By truth this mighty world
Stands firm and steadfast. Truth all law excels.
By truth the very heaven itself exists.
Wert thou to weigh the truth, and in the scale
Opposing, wert to place burnt-offerings,