"Listen to the words of wisdom that have come to us from the sages, without whom all life a desert would be. Well thou knowest that a man's actions do follow him from body to body even as in walking he leaveth the imprint of each step behind the other, yet with each step doth he carry the dust on his feet from the ground whereon he did walk. "Man hath many existences, each one portraying a character which is the outcome of his past self. As the present is the fulfilment of the threatening past, so man is the unfoldment and fulfilment of his previous existences. "So seek not to blacken thy soul by the slaying of one of thine own blood, but seek rather to add new glory to thy light by preserving her who, all guiltless, thou dost seek to slay. Heap not thou upon thyself a dark and evil Karma to confront thee and blight thee in thy other lives. "It is but the chill breath of suspicion and the dread tremor of fear that surges heavy and dark through thy mind. Be warned by me, O prince; desist from thy unjust act and speedily thy heart shall glow again, warmed by the embers of hope. A man too fearful of threatening danger, in torment of that danger ever dwelleth. Even calamity may be turned aside by the smile of distrust, and fatality may forget thee quite while passing thy door. "But when the soil of thy heart has been made fertile for fear, be sure its seed therein will thrive, finding sustenance for sprouting and its fruit it will bear. "Stand valiant, O prince, and be not like the timorous woman who runneth away from the shadow of danger but to flee into the arms of the foe. Thy Karma that counteth up the reckonings cannot be cheated. So be not, O prince, of timid heart; and each son that cometh from the womb of thy sister, Devaki, shall be given to thee." Listening to the wise counsels of Vāsudeva, the prince gave over his mad desire to slay his sister with his own hand, and the newly wedded ones proceeded to the home of Vāsudeva. CHAPTER III. True to his promise, Vāsudeva brought unto the prince his first-born, a son. The prince, on seeing that Vāsudeva was true to his compact to deliver his son as it was born, gave it back, saying: "It is not this son that I fear, but he who will be born thine eighth one it is ordained shall slay me. So take back thy first-born, Vāsudeva. Of him there is naught to fear." Vāsudeva took the little one, and putting it in the glad arms of the young mother, said: "O princess! It is with joy and yet with great foreboding that I return to thee the babe, for there is that in my heart which tells me that the prince, thy brother, spoke not the truth when thy boy he gave back unto me, for fear lodged in his eye and anger vibrated in his voice even as he said, 'From thy first-born no harm will come unto me.' Yet clasp him to thy heart, young mother, and bathe him in thy glad tears of love while he resteth on thy breast."