“Salya continued, ’Indra having thus spoken, the gods with that host of Rishis repaired to the mighty god Vishnu to place themselves under the-protection of that protector of all.  And afflicted with the dread of Vritra, they said unto the Supreme Lord of the deities.  Thou hadst in former times covered the three worlds with three steps.  Thou hadst procured the ambrosial food, O Vishnu, and destroyed the Asuras in battle.  Thou didst bind the great Asura Vali and hadst raised Indra to the throne of heaven.  Thou art the lord of the gods, and this entire universe is pervaded by thee.  Thou art the God, the mighty Deity, saluted by all persons.  Be thou the refuge of all the celestials together with Indra, O best of gods.  The whole universe, O slayer of Asuras, hath been pervaded by Vritra.  And Vishnu said, ’I am no doubt bound to do what is for your good.  I shall, therefore, tell you of a contrivance whereby he may be annihilated.  Do ye with the Rishis and the Gandharvas repair to the place where Vritra that bearer of a universal form is and adopt towards him a conciliatory policy.  You will thus succeed in overthrowing him.  By virtue of my power, victory, ye gods, will be won by Indra, for, remaining invisible, I shall enter into his thunderbolt, that best of weapons.  O foremost of gods, depart ye with the Rishis and the Gandharvas.  Let there be no delay in effecting a peace between Indra and Vritra.’

“Salya continued, ’When he had thus spoken, the Rishis and the celestials placed Indra at their head, and uniting together, went away.  Approaching Indra they behold Vritra glowing and resplendent as if scorching the ten points, and swallowing all the three worlds, and resembling the sun or the moon.  And then the Rishis, came up to Vritra and spoke to him in conciliatory terms, saying, ’O thou unconquerable being, the whole of this universe hath been pervaded by thy energy.  Thou art not able however to overpower Indra, O best of mighty beings.  A long period hath now elapsed since you began to fight.  All beings, with the gods and the Asuras and men, are suffering from the effects of the fight.  Let there be eternal friendship between thee and Indra.  Thou shalt be happy and shall dwell eternally in Indra’s regions.’  And the mighty Vritra having heard the words of the saints, bowed his head unto them.  And the Asura (thus) spoke, ’What you, O highly-gifted beings, and also all these Gandharvas are saying, I have heard.  Ye stainless beings, hear also what I have got to say.  How can there be peace between us two, Indra and myself?  How can there be friendship, ye gods, between two hostile powers?’ The Rishis said, ’Friendship among righteous persons happens at a single meeting.  It is a desirable object.  Thereafter will happen what is fated to be.  The opportunity of forming friendship with a righteous person should not be sacrificed.  Therefore, the friendship of the righteous should be sought.  The friendship of the righteous is (like) excellent