They cannot pour libations upon fire in proper times.  Therefore, I do not like to take thy decrepitude.’  Yayati said to him, ’Thou art sprung from my heart, thou givest not thy youth.  Thou findest so many faults in decrepitude.  Therefore, decrepitude shall overcome thee!  And, O Anu, thy progeny also as soon as they attain to youth, shall die.  And thou shalt also not be able to perform sacrifices before fire.’

“Yayati at last turned to his youngest child, Puru, and addressing him said, ’Thou art, O Puru, my youngest son!  But thou shall be the first of all!  Decrepitude, wrinkles, and whiteness of hair have come over me in consequence of the curse of Kavya called also Usanas.  I have not yet however, been satiated with my youth.  O Puru, take thou this my weakness and decrepitude!  With thy youth I shall enjoy for some years the pleasures of life.  And when a thousand years have passed away, I shall give back to thee thy youth and take back my own decrepitude.’

“Vaisampayana said, ’Thus addressed by the king, Puru answered with humility, ’I shall do, O monarch, as thou bidest me.  I shall take, O king, thy weakness and decrepitude.  Take thou my youth and enjoy as thou listest the pleasures of life.  Covered with thy decrepitude and becoming old, I shall, as thou commandest, continue to live, giving thee my youth.’  Yayati then said, ’O Puru, I have been gratified with thee.  And being gratified, I tell thee that the people in thy kingdom shall have all their desires fulfilled.’

“And having said this, the great ascetic Yayati, then thinking of Kavya, transferred his decrepitude unto the body of the high-souled Puru.’”

SECTION LXXXV

(Sambhava Parva continued)

“Vaisampayana said, ’The excellent monarch Yayati, the son of Nahusha, having received Puru’s youth, became exceedingly gratified.  And with it he once more began to indulge in his favourite pursuits to the full extent of his desires and to the limit of his powers, according to seasons, so as to derive the greatest pleasure therefrom.  And, O king, in nothing that he did, he acted against the precepts of his religion as behoved him well.  He gratified the gods by his sacrifices; the pitris, by Sraddhas; the poor, by his charities; all excellent Brahmanas, by fulfilling their desires; all persons entitled to the rites of hospitality, with food and drink; the Vaisyas, by protection; and the Sudras, by kindness.  And the king repressed all criminals by proper punishments.  And Yayati, gratifying all sections of his subjects, protected them virtuously like another Indra.  And the monarch possessed of the prowess of a lion, with youth and every object of enjoyment under control, enjoyed unlimited happiness without transgressing the precepts of religion.  And the king became very happy in thus being able to enjoy all the excellent objects of his desires.  And he was only sorry when he thought that those thousand