Suta said: "The enraged Agni, cursed by Bhrigu, spoke this word to him: 'What audacity, O brahmana, have you now committed? I was zealous for dharma and spoke only the truth; asked, I told the truth — what fault, then, is mine? For a witness who, knowing the truth, answers otherwise destroys seven generations of his own ancestors and descendants. And one who, knowing the truth of a matter, knows but stays silent, is likewise stained by that same sin — of this there is no doubt. I too could curse you, but brahmanas are honoured by me. Though you yourself know this, I shall tell it still — listen. By the power of yoga, having multiplied myself many times over, I abide in many forms: in the agnihotra fires, in the sattras, in rites and in sacrifices. The oblation poured into me according to the rule declared by the Vedas satisfies the gods and the ancestors. The waters are all the hosts of gods, the waters are the hosts of ancestors too; the rites of the new moon and the full moon belong to the gods together with the ancestors. The gods are the ancestors, and the ancestors are gods; they are honoured both jointly and separately on the changing days of the moon. The gods and the ancestors ever offer through me; therefore I am called the mouth of gods and ancestors. At the new moon the ancestors, and at the full moon the gods, partake through my mouth of the oblation poured to them. How then, becoming the all-devourer, shall I remain their mouth?'"