33. He wished to retire to some far distant forest, and prayed his ministers to support his realm; but he declined to take the charge, though the state was free from all its enemies (_i.e._ though it was a peaceful realm). 34. He then remained in the company of wisemen, and was enlightened by their discourses; as the sesame seeds became odorous by being placed amidst a heap of flowers. 35. Then from his inquiries into the mysteries of his life and birth, and into the causes of his confinement in this world, he obtained the knowledge of his liberation from it. 36. It was thus by means of his continued inquiries into truth, and his continual association with the wise and good, that the soul of Sindhu attained a holy sanctity in comparison with which, the prosperity of Brahma even, is as a straw or the dried leaf of a withered tree, which the winds of the sky toss about to and fro. CHAPTER CLVIII. FALL OF THE HUGE BODY OF THE HUNTER. Argument:--The aerial body of the Hunter, and its downfall from the high heaven. The sage resumed and said:--I have thus related these future events, as if they were past accounts unto thee; do now, O huntsman what thou wishest and thinkest best for thyself. 2. Agni the god of fire said:--Hearing these words of the sage, the huntsman remained aghast in wonder for a while; and then rising with the sage, went to bathe themselves to the nearest pool. 3. In this manner they continued together, to conduct their religious austerities and discussions at the same spot; and remained in terms of disinterested friendship with one another. 4. After some time the muni met with his final extinction--_nirvána_, and by casting off his mortal body, obtained his last repose in the state of transcendent tranquility. 5. In course of time and the lapse of ages, it pleased the god Brahma to give him a call, in order to confer upon him the object of his desire. 6. The huntsman being unable to resist the impulse of his longing, begged to obtain the very same boon of his god which the sage had predicted to him. 7. Be it so, said the god, and he repaired to his favourite abode; and the huntsman flew aloft into the open air, in order to enjoy the fruition of his austere devotion. 8. He flew with incredible velocity, to the extensive vacuous space, which lies beyond the spheres of worlds; and it was in course of an incalculable duration, that the ever expanding bulk of his body, filled the regions of the upper sky, as a mountainous range is stretched along and across this lower world. 9. He fled with the force and swiftness of the great Garuda (the eagle of Jove), up and down and to all sides of heaven: until the huge bulk of his body, occupied the whole area of the open air, in the process of an indefinite period of time. 10. Thus increasing in his size with the course of time, and infatuated in the maze of his delusion, began to grow uneasy in himself.