Return!
Return! to heaven! O Indra! If thou grant
My friends to rise with me, to heav'n will I
Ascend; if not, with them will I descend
To N??raka." "O king! thy prayer is heard!
Thy people's sins are pardoned: even for them,
Hard though it be, thy toils and pains have gained
A place in heaven." Thus mighty Indra spoke.
Replied the king: "Indra! I will not leave
My kinsmen. By his kinsmen's help a king
His kingdom rules; by them he offers up
The kingly sacrifice, and for himself
Lays up a store of meritorious deeds.
So have my kinsmen too enabled me
To work whate'er I may of righteousness.
My actions virtuous, my granted prayers,
Truly I owe to them, for by their aid
Have these been possible. May the reward
Thou grantest me, I pray, be shared with them.
My kinsmen, though I should ascend to heaven,
I will not leave." "So be it!" Indra said;
"So be it!" said the Br??hman; Dharma, too,
Gave his assent; and then, in countless hosts,
Appeared the heavenly chariots. Indra said:
"Men of Ayodhya, ascend to heaven."
The saintly Br??hman, having heard with joy
The words of Indra, poured the sacred oil
Upon the prince, and with the perfect ones,
The sages, and the gods, anointed him
"Son of the mighty king.
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