Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/471

 and ask him for that excellent horse, for he will certainly give it to you, though you are his enemy, sooner than mar the glory of open-handedness, which he has been accumulating since his birth." When the preceptor of the gods said that to him, great Indra went with the gods and craved as a boon that horse Uchchaihśravas from Namuchi. Then the great-hearted Namuchi reflected, " I never turn back a suppliant, so I will not turn back Indra; and how can I, as long us I am Namuchi, refuse to give him the horse? If the glory of generosity, which I have long been acquiring in the worlds, were to wither, what would be the rise to me of prosperity, or life?" Accordingly he gave the horse to Indra, although Śukra warned him not to do it. Then Indra, after he had given the horse, lulled him to security, and as he could not be slain by any other weapon, killed him with foam of the Ganges, in which he had placed a thunderbolt. Alas ! terrible in the world is the thirst for enjoyment, carried away by which even gods do not shrink from unbecoming and infamous conduct. When Danu, the mother of Namuchi, heard this, being afflicted with grief, she made by virtue of her asceticism a solemn resolve for the allaying of her sorrow, " May that mighty Namuchi be again born in my womb, and may he again become invincible by the gods in battle." Then he was again conceived in her womb, and born as an Asura composed all of jewels, named Prabala on account of his strength. Then he performed asceticism, and satisfying supplicants even with his life, became successful, and as prince of the Dánavas conquered lndra a hundred times. Then the gods took counsel together, and came to him, and said to him: " By all means give us your body for a human sacrifice."* When, he heard that, he gave them his own