“Mind what you speak, you little monkey. Fool, are you not aware of my being an avowed enemy of the gods? Tell me, young fellow, your own name as well as your father’s. What is the common ground on which you claim fellowship between your father and myself?” “A˘gada is my name: I am VŒli’s son. Did you ever meet him?” RŒva˜a felt uncomfortable when he heard A˘gada’s reply. “Yes, I do remember that there was a monkey, VŒli by name. But, A˘gada, are you VŒli’s son? You have been born as a fire in a cluster of bamboos for the destruction of your own race. Why should you have not perished even in the womb? In vain were you born, who have called yourself with your own mouth a hermit’s envoy. Now tell me if all is well with VŒli and, if so, where is he?” A˘gada laughed at this and then replied. “Ten days hence you shall go to VŒli and embracing your friend personally enquire after his welfare. He will tell you all about the welfare that follows from hostility with Ýr¶ RŒma. Listen, O fool: the seeds of dissension can be sown in the mind of him alone whose heart is closed to the Hero of Raghu’s line.” (1—5)