30. 'I should dare throw myself on a sharp sword or into a fire with blazing flames, but I shall not be able to offend against Righteousness, which I have always observed, and to which I owe my royal bliss.' Abhipâraga said: 'If Your Majesty will not take her, because she is my wife, then myself will command her to lead the life of a harlot, whom no one is forbidden to woo. Then Your Majesty may take her.' The king answered: 'Are you mad? 31. 'If you were to abandon your guiltless wife, you would not only incur punishment from my part, but having become an object of reproach, likewise unavoidable grief in this world and hereafter. 'Desist then; do not enforce a bad action. Rather direct your mind to justice and honesty.' Abhipâraga said: 32. 'And if by persisting, I really were to do an action which might be in any respect a violation of Righteousness and the source of censure among men and of the loss of my happiness--be these consequences whatever they may--I fain shall front them with my breast, owing to the gladness of mind I shall feel for having promoted your happiness. 33. 'No one I know in the world is more worthy than you to be worshipped by a sacrificial offering, O most mighty ruler of the earth. Well then, with the object of increasing my merit, deign to accept, like an officiating priest, Unmâdayantî as your sacrificial fee[114].' [114] Properly speaking, giving the woman into marriage to the officiating priest at the end of a _s_rauta-sacrifice as his fee (dakshi_n_â) is the second of the eight classical forms of wedding, the so-called daivo vivâha_h_. The king said: 'No doubt it is your great affection for me that prompts you to the effort to promote my interest without considering what is right and wrong on your side. But this very consideration induces me the more to prevent you. Verily, indifference as to the censure of men cannot at any rate be approved. Look here! 34. 'Who, neglecting Righteousness, does not mind either the censure of men or the evil consequences in the next world, will attain but this: in this world people will distrust him; and surely, after death he will be destitute of bliss. 'And therefore I press this upon your mind. 35. 'Never delight in injuring Righteousness for the sake of life[115]. The sin you would incur would be great and unquestionable, the advantage trifling and doubtful. [115] The meaning of this seems to be something like this: 'Do not seek after temporal pleasure here at the risk of long-lasting suffering after death.' 'Moreover, you should consider also this. 36. 'The virtuous do not like for themselves a pleasure, procured at the expense of others, whom they have distressed by bringing them into disrepute and the like. For this reason, standing on the ground of Righteousness, I shall bear the charge of my private interests alone without causing pain to others.'