Ashtaka said: 'O king, of these two — the householder and the ascetic — racing as it were toward the goal, like the sun and the moon, which one attains oneness with the nature of the gods sooner?' Yayati said: 'The homeless mendicant, restrained amid householders who indulge in the enjoyment of desired things, even while dwelling in a village, of those two attains the goal earlier. But one who, without having reached a long life, falls into the frailty of old age and lives thus in renunciation — if, having acted so, he later repents, let him perform another austerity. O king, what is cruel is called unwholesome; one who with a perverse mind serves an illusory dharma is not good; but when even one who is destitute and powerless keeps to uprightness — that is true concentration, that is noble.' Ashtaka said: 'O king, by whom have you been sent today as a messenger, young, garlanded, comely, radiant? Where have you come from, in what direction do you dwell? Or is there here a royal abode of yours?' Yayati said: 'I, my merit spent, cast down from heaven, am falling to enter this earthly hell — the earth; having told you this, I shall fall at once; the brahmins and the guardians of the world are hastening me. O lord of men, I have asked to fall near the virtuous; they have all gathered here, and all are endowed with good qualities; and this boon I have received from Shakra — for me, ready to fall upon the surface of the earth.'