beast of his own species before him, became terrified.  The Rishi’s lion began to dwell in that hermitage within the forest.  Through fear of that animal, the other animals no longer ventured to approach the hermitage.  Indeed, they all seemed to be inspired with fear about the safety of their lives.  Some time after one day, a slayer of all animals, possessed of great strength inspiring all creatures with fright, having eight legs and eyes on the forehead, viz., a Sarabha, came to that spot.  Indeed he came to that very hermitage for the object of slaying the Rishi’s lion.  Seeing this, the sage transformed his lion into a Sarabha of great strength.  The wild Sarabha, beholding the Rishi’s Sarabha before him to be fiercer and more powerful, quickly fled away, from that forest.  Having been thus transformed into a Sarabha by the sage, the animal lived happily by the side of his transformer.  All the animals then that dwelt in the vicinity became inspired with the fear of that Sarabha.  Their fear and the desire of saving their lives led them all to fly away from that forest.  Filled with delight, the Sarabha continued every day to slay animals for his food.  Transformed into a carnivorous beast, he no longer affected fruit and roots upon which he had formerly lived.  One day that ungrateful beast who had first been a dog but who was now transformed into a Sarabha, eagerly thirsting for blood, wished to slay the sage.  The latter, by ascetic power, saw it all by his spiritual knowledge.  Possessed of great wisdom, the sage, having ascertained the intentions of the beast, addressed him in these words.’

“The sage said, ’O dog, thou wert first transformed into a leopard.  From a leopard thou wert then made a tiger.  From a tiger thou wert next transformed into an elephant with the temporal juice trickling down thy cheeks.  Thy next transformation was into a lion.  From a mighty lion thou wert then transformed into a Sarabha.  Filled with affection for thee, it was I that transformed thee into these diverse shapes.  Thou didst not, and dost not, belong by birth, to any of those species.  Since, however, O sinful wretch, thou desirest to stay me who have done thee no injury, thou shalt return to thy own species and be a dog again.’  After this, that mean and foolish animal of wicked soul, transformed into a Sarabha once more assumed, in consequence of the Rishi’s curse, his own proper form of a dog.’”

SECTION CXVIII

“Bhishma said, ’Having once more assumed his proper form, the dog became very cheerless.  The Rishi, reproving him, drove the sinful creature from his hermitage.  An intelligent king should, guided by this precedent, appoint servants, each fit for the office assigned to him, and exercise proper supervision over them, having first ascertained their qualifications in respect of truthfulness and purity, sincerity, general disposition, knowledge of the scripture,