“Lomasa said ’Then Indra granted boons, as was prayed for by the mighty ascetic, Indra said, “As thou desirest, the Vedas will be manifest unto thee, yea—­even unto thy father.  And all thy other desires will also be fulfilled.  Return home, O Yavakri.”

“’Having thus obtained the object of his desire, Yavakri came unto his father and said, “The Vedas, O father, will be manifest unto thee as well as unto myself and I have obtained boons whereby we shall excel all men.”  Thereat Bharadwaja said, “O my son, as thou hast obtained the objects of thy desire, thou wilt be proud.  And when thou art puffed up with pride and hast also become uncharitable, destruction will soon overtake thee.  O my son, there is a current anecdote narrated by the gods.  In ancient times, O son, there lived a sage named Valadhi, possessed of great energy.  And in grief for the death of a child, he practised the severest penances to have a child that should be immortal.  And he obtained a son even as he desired.  But the gods, though very favourably disposed (towards him), did not yet make his son immortal like unto the gods.  They said, “On condition can a mortal being be made immortal.  Thy son’s life, however, shall depend on some instrumental cause.”  Thereupon, Valadhi said, “O chiefs of the celestials, these mountains have been existing eternally, and indestructible, let them be the instrumental cause of my son’s life.”  Afterwards a son was born to the sage, named Medhavi.  And he was of a very irritable temper.  And hearing of (the incident of his birth), he grew haughty, and began to insult the sages.  And he ranged over the earth, doing mischief to the munis.  And one day, meeting with the learned sage Dhannushaksha endued with energy, Medhavi maltreated him.  Thereupon, the former cursed him, saying, “Be thou reduced to ashes.”  Medhavi, however, was not reduced to ashes.  Then Dhannushaksha caused the mountain which was the instrumental cause of Medhavi’s life, to be shattered by buffaloes.  And the boy perished, with the destruction of the instrumental cause of his life.  And embracing his dead son, Medhavi’s father began to bewail his fate.  Now hear from me, O my son, what was chanted by the sages conversant with the Vedas, when they found the sage mourning. A mortal on no condition whatever can overcome what hath been ordained by Fate.  Lo!  Dhannushaksha succeeded in shattering even the mountain by buffaloes. Thus young ascetics, puffed up with pride for having obtained boons, perish in a short time.  Be thou not one of them.  This Raivya, O my son, is possessed of great energy, and his two sons are like him.  Therefore, be thou vigilant—­so as never to approach him.  O my son, Raivya is a great ascetic of an irritable temper.  When angry, he can do thee harm.”  Yavakri said, “I shall do as thou biddest me.  Oh father, do thou not by any means entertain anxiety for that.  Raivya deserveth my regard even as thou, my father.”  Having replied unto his father in these sweet words, Yavakri, fearing nothing and nobody, began to delight in wantonly offending other munis.’”