Indra said: -
1. O king, O son of Nahusha, O Yayati, after accomplishing all your duties, you went to the forest, leaving your home. I ask you, tell me like whom you are in ascetic merits.
Yayati said: -
2. O Vasava (Indra), I do not find among men, the celestials, the Gandharvas and great Rishis, any one equal to me in ascetic merits.
Indra said: -
3. O king, as you disregard those that are your superiors, those that are your equals and those that are your inferiors, your virtues, therefore, suffer a diminution and thus you must fall from heaven.
Yayati said: -
4. O king of the celestials, if my virtues have really been diminished (by my pride), let me fall at least among men who are virtuous and honest.
Indra said: -
5. O king, you shall fall among those that are virtuous and honest. You shall also gain great renown. O Yayati, after your this experience, never again disregard any one, your superiors, your equals or even your inferiors.
Vaishampayana said: -
6. Thereupon Yayati fell from the region of the holy. And he was seen when thus falling by that royal sage, Ashtaka, the protector of religion. Seeing him he asked.
Ashtaka said: -
7. Who are you, young as you are, as handsome as Indra, as prominent by your own splendour as that of fire? Who are you falling like the foremost ranger of the sky, the sun, driving away the dark masses of clouds?
8. Seeing you fall from the region of the sun, as effulgent as the fire or the sun, all men are asking themselves, “What is this that falls?” They are deprived of their consciousness.
9. Seeing you in the path of the celestials, as effulgent as Surya, Indra or Vishnu, we have all come to you to ascertain the truth.
10. O enviably handsome one, we would not have been guilty of incivility by first asking you who you are, if you would have asked us first who we are. We ask you, (tell us) who you are and why you come here?
11. O Indra-like great one, let your fears be dispelled, let your woes and afflictions cease. You are now in the presence of the virtuous and the wise. Even Indra, the slayer of Bala, cannot do you any harm.
12. O Indra-like great one, the honest and the virtuous are the support of their brethren. Here are assembled the protectors of the movable and the immovables of the world, the honest and the virtuous. You are now with such ones.
13. As Agni is the lord that gives heat, as earth is the lord that holds the seed (and produces com), as sun is the lord that dispels darkness, so is a guest the lord of the honest and the virtuous.
Thus ends the eighty eighth chapter, the history of Yayati, in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.