Listen, O king of birds; realizing this state of things, the wise shun the company of the vile; poets and scholars have laid down this precept that it is good neither to quarrel with a bad man nor to make friends with him.

From the wicked, my lord, one should always hold aloof and avoid them as one would a dog. Vicious as I was, with a heart full of falsehood and perversity, the guru’s admonition pleased me not, even though it was for my good.

One day I was repeating Shiva’s name in a temple sacred to Shiva when my guru came in; but in my arrogance I did not rise and do obeisance.

He was too gracious to say anything nor did he feel the least resentment; but the heinous sin of disrespect to a guru was more than Mahadeva (the great Lord Shiva) could tolerate.

A heavenly voice sounded within the temple; “you wretched and conceited fool! Though your guru be not wroth, being so kind-hearted and of such true and perfect wisdom.

Yet, O fool, will I pronounce a curse upon you; for any transgression of propriety is loathsome to me. If, wretch, I were not to punish you, the sanctity of my Vedic ordinance would be set at nought.

The fools who bear malice against their guru are cast for a myriad ages into the lowest hell. After that they take birth in the brute creation and suffer pain for full ten thousand successive existences.