Devayānī, delighted by the self-controlled and vow-keeping Brahmin Kaca, would sing along with him and attend to him in private. As Kaca diligently observed his vow for five hundred years, the Dānavas, noticing his severe austerity, began to plot against him. One day, while Kaca was guarding the cows in the forest, the Dānavas, enraged and secretly, killed him out of hatred for Bṛhaspati and for their own protection. After killing him, they ground his remains to bits and fed them to the wolves and jackals. The cowherds returned home without the cows. When the cows eventually returned from the forest without Kaca, Devayānī spoke at the proper time to Bhārgava, her father. She said, “Your fire-offering has been made, the sun has set, master; the cowherds have returned, but Kaca, father, is not to be seen.” With great distress, she insisted, “Surely, father, Kaca has either been killed or captured; without him, I cannot live—I speak the truth.” Then Śukra, her father, declared, “With the words ‘Come, come,’ I shall revive the dead.” Applying his knowledge of resurrection, he called for Kaca. Summoned, Kaca appeared and bowed to Śukra, saying, “I was killed by the Rākṣasas, O son of Dhiṣaṇa.” Once again, at Devayānī’s request to gather flowers, Kaca went to the forest, reciting the eternal Veda. While he was gathering flowers, the Dānavas saw him. They killed him again, burned him to ashes, ground him to powder, and mixed him into the drink prepared by the Brāhmaṇa for the gods. Devayānī again spoke to her father: “Kaca, who was sent to gather flowers, father, is not to be seen.” She pleaded, “Surely, father, whether Kaca is slain or dead, he will be so; without him, I cannot live—this is the truth I tell you.” Śukra replied, “O daughter, Kaca, the son of Brihaspati, has gone to the realm of the dead; even if revived by knowledge, he is thus slain—what can I do?” He tried to comfort her, saying, “Do not grieve for him, do not weep, Devayani; one such as you should not mourn a mortal, for whom Brahma, the Brahmins, Indra, the gods, the Vasus, and the Ashvins all exist.” He continued, “The enemies of the gods, and indeed the whole world, are present because of my ascetic power; this twice-born cannot be revived—one who has been restored to life and then killed again.” Yet, expressing his own grief, he said, “His great-grandfather is Angiras, the eldest; his father is Brihaspati, a treasury of austerity—how could I not grieve or weep for such a sage’s excellent son and grandson?” Devayānī, overcome with sorrow, declared, “He is a celibate, rich in austerity, ever diligent, and skilled in duties; I shall follow Kaca’s path and will not eat, for dear Kaca, handsome and beloved, is gone.” Thus addressed, the great sage Kavya spoke with anger, “Without doubt, the Asuras hate me, for they slay my disciples who come to me. These fierce Danavas wish to make me unbrahminical; this act of theirs is in vain. Even by such a deed, there would be an end here—whom would the sin of Brahmin-murder not burn, even Indra?” Then, though unasked, and summoned by knowledge, Kaca spoke from within Śukra’s belly, and Śukra asked him, “By whom have you been initiated, and why do you remain in my belly? Speak, my child.” Kaca replied, “By your grace, memory does not leave me; I remember everything, what happened and how. Yet, let not my ascetic merit be diminished in this way—therefore, I recall a greater suffering. By the Asuras, I was given to you in the drink, having been killed, burned, and crushed, O Kavya. The Brahmin’s magic is in you, but here the Asuric magic prevails—how can it overpower you while you remain?” Śukra then lamented, “What dear thing shall I do for you today, child? Without you, my life would not remain; Kaca would be seen only by splitting open my belly, for he is within me, O Devayani. Two griefs, like fire, would consume me: the loss of Kaca and your own harm. With Kaca’s loss, I have no peace; with your harm, I am unable to live.” He praised Kaca, “You are perfected, O son of Brihaspati, since Devayani, devoted, cherishes you. Attain this knowledge that grants life; otherwise, today you will become Indra in Kaca’s form. No one else, except a Brahmin, can return to life from my belly; therefore, attain the knowledge. Become my son and emerge from my belly, breaking it open; revive me, dear one, and observe proper conduct. Having obtained knowledge from the teacher, be learned.” Having fully obtained knowledge from his teacher, the Brahmin broke open Śukra’s belly and came forth, like the moon emerging from the peak of the snowy mountain at nightfall on the full moon. Seeing him fallen, the collection of Vedas was raised up; then Kaca, having attained that perfected knowledge, paid homage and spoke to his teacher. He proclaimed, “Those who do not honor the guru, who is to be worshipped, the best among treasures and boons, whose forehead shines like the blazing Himalayan peak—such people, unstable, go to sinful worlds.” Reflecting on the act that had led to his predicament, he said, “By making one drink liquor, by deception, and causing the loss of consciousness and reason, seeing the glass so attractive, one drinks, deluded by the liquor.” Kavya, of great power, rose up in anger, wishing to address the wrong done to Ushanas, and spoke these words, suspecting the act of drinking liquor: “Any Brahmin from this day onward who, out of delusion, drinks liquor, being dull-witted and fallen from dharma, is indeed a slayer of Brahmins, condemned in this world and the next. And I have established this boundary of Brahmin conduct in all the worlds; let all the virtuous Brahmins, attentive to their teachers, and all gods and demons, listen.” Having thus spoken, the sage of immeasurable brilliance, the treasure of ascetics, called together those Danavas of hidden intent and addressed them: “I declare to you, O Danavas, you are childish; Kaca, the disciple, will remain with me. Having obtained the Sanjivani knowledge from me, this Brahmin, equal in power, will become like Brahma.” Having lived near his guru for a hundred years, and with permission, Kaca wished to go to the abode of the gods. When he had completed his vow and was released by his teacher, as he set out for the dwelling of the gods, Devayani spoke to him: “Grandson of the sage Angiras, you shine by conduct, by birth, by knowledge, by austerity, and by self-restraint.