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Mare's mouth that wanders through the ocean. He will have a son of the name of Richika. The whole science of arms, O sinless |
one, in its embodied form will come to him, for the extermination of the entire Kshatriya race, through a decree of Destiny. |
Receiving that science by inward light, he will, by Yoga-puissance, communicate it to his son, the highly-blessed Jamadagni of |
cleansed soul. That tiger of Bhrigu's race will bear that science in his mind. O thou of righteous soul, Jamadagni will wed a |
girl, taking her from thy race, for spreading its glory, O chief of the Bharatas. Having obtained for wife the daughter of Gadhi |
and thy grand-daughter, O king that great ascetic will beget a regenerate son endued with Kshatriya accomplishments. In thy |
race will be born a son, a Kshatriya endued with the virtues of a Brahmana. Possessed of great righteousness, he will be the son |
of Gadhi. Known by the name of Viswamitra, he will in energy come to be regarded as the equal of Vrihaspati himself, the |
preceptor of the celestials. The illustrious Richika will grant this son to thy race, this Kshatriya that will be endued with high |
penances. In the matter of this exchange of sons, (viz., a Kshatriya son in the race of Bhrigu and a Brahamana son in thy race) |
the cause will be two women. All this will happen at the command of the grandsire. It will never be otherwise. Unto one that is |
third in descent from thee, the status of Brahmanahood will attach. Thou shalt become a relative (by marriage) of the |
Bhargavas.' |
"Bhishma continued, 'Hearing these words of the high-souled ascetic Chyavana, king Kusika became filled with joy, and made |
answer in the following words, 'Indeed, O best of the Bharatas', he said, 'So be it!' Endued with high energy, Chyavana once |
more addressed the king, and urged him to accept a boon from himself. The king replied, 'Very well.' From thee, O great |
ascetic, I shall obtain the fruition of my wish. Let my race become invested with the status of Brahmanahood, and let it always |
set its heart upon righteousness.' The ascetic Chyavana, thus solicited, granted the king's prayer, and bidding farewell to the |
monarch, set out on his intended tour to the sacred waters. I have now told thee everything, O Bharata, relating to thy |
questions, viz., how the Bhrigus and the Kusikas became connected with each other by marriage. Indeed, O king, everything |
fell out as the Rishi Chyavana had said. The birth of Rama (of Bhrigu's race) and of Viswamitra (of Kusika's race) happened in |
the way that Chyavana had indicated.'" |
SECTION LVII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Hearing thy words I become stupefied, O grandsire! Reflecting that the earth is now destitute of a very |
large number of kings all of whom were possessed of great prosperity, my heart becomes filled with grief. Having conquered |
the earth and acquired kingdoms numbered by hundreds, O Bharata, I turn with grief, O Grandsire, at the thought of the |
millions of men I have slaughtered. Alas, what will be the plight of those foremost ladies who have been deprived by us of |
husbands and sons and maternal uncles and brothers? Having slain those Kurus--our kinsmen, that is, our friends and well- |
wishers,--we shall have to sink in hell, beads (hanging) downwards. There is no doubt of this. I desire, O Bharata, to address |
my body to severe penances. With that end in view, O king, I wish to receive instructions from thee.' |
"Vaisampayana continued, 'The high-souled Bhishma, hearing these words of Yudhishthira, reflected upon them acutely with |
the aid of his understanding, and addressed Yudhishthira in reply.' |
"Bhishma said, 'Hear what I say unto thee. It is exceedingly wonderful, and constitutes a great mystery. The topic is the object |
that creatures obtain after death as the rewards of particular acts or courses of conduct they follow. One attains to Heaven by |
penances. By penances one attains to fame. By penances, O puissant king, one attains to length of life and all articles of |
enjoyment. By penances one attains to knowledge, to science, to health and freedom from disease, beauty of person, prosperity, |
and blessedness, O chief of Bharata's race. By penances one attains to wealth. By observing the vow of taciturnity one succeeds |
in bringing the whole world under one's sway. By making gifts one acquires all kinds of enjoyable articles. By observing the |
right of Diksha one acquires birth in a good and high family. Those that spend their lives subsisting only upon fruits and roots |
(and avoiding cooked food) succeed in obtaining kingdom and sovereignty. Those that live upon the leaves of plants and trees |
as their food succeed in attaining to heaven. One that subsists upon water only attains to heaven. By making gifts one simply |
increases one's wealth. By serving with reverence one's preceptor one acquires learning. By performing Sraddhas every day in |
honour of one's Pitris (manes), one acquires a large number of children. By observing Diksha upon potherbs and vegetables, |
one acquires a large number of kine. Those that subsist upon grass and straw succeed in attaining to heaven. By bathing thrice |
every day with the necessary rites one acquires a large number of spouses. By drinking water alone one acquires residence in |
the regions of Prajapati. The Brahmana, who bathes every day and recites sacred Mantras in the twilights, becomes possessed |
of the status of Daksha himself. By worshipping the deities in a wilderness or desert, one acquires a kingdom or sovereignty, |
and by observing the vow of casting off the body by a long fast, one ascends to Heaven. One possessed of the wealth of |
penances and always passing his days in Yoga obtains good beds and seats and vehicles. Casting off the body by entering a |
blazing fire, one becomes an object of reverence in the region of Brahman. Those that lie on the hard and bare ground acquire |
houses and beds. Those that clothe themselves in rags and barks obtain good robes and ornaments. By avoiding the several |
agreeable tastes one succeeds in acquiring great prosperity. By abstaining from meat and fish, one gets long-lived children. |
One who passes some time in that mode of life which is called Udavasa, becomes the very lord of Heaven. The man who |
speaks the truth, O best of men, succeeds in sporting happily with the deities themselves. By making gifts one acquires great |
fame in consequence of one's high achievements. By abstention from cruelty one acquires health and freedom from disease. By |
serving Brahmanas with reverence one attains to kingdom and sovereignty, and the high status of a Brahmana. By making gifts |
of water and other drinks, one acquires eternal fame in consequence of high achievements. By making gifts of food one |
acquires diverse articles of enjoyment. One who gives peace unto all creatures (by refraining from doing them any injury), |
becomes freed from every region. By serving the deities one obtains a kingdom and celestial beauty. By presenting lights at |
places which are dark and frequented by men, one acquires a good vision. By giving away good and beautiful objects one |
acquires a good memory and understanding. By giving away scents and garlands, one acquires fame that spreads over a large |
area. Those who abstain from shaving off their hair and beards succeed in obtaining excellent children.. By observing fasts and |
Diksha and baths, O Bharata, for twelve years (according to the ordinance), one acquires a region that is superior to that |
attainable by unreturning heroes. By bestowing one's daughter on an eligible bridegroom according to the Brahma form, one |
obtains, O best of men, male and female slaves and ornaments and fields and houses. By performing sacrifices and observing |
fasts, one ascends to Heaven, O Bharata. The man who gives away fruits and flowers succeeds in acquiring auspicious |
knowledge. The man who gives a thousand kine with horns adorned with gold, succeeds in acquiring heaven. Even this has |
been said by the very deities in a conclave in heaven. One who gives away a Kapila cow with her calf, with a brazen pot of |
milking with horns adorned with gold, and possessed of diverse other accomplishments, obtains the fruition of all his wishes |
from that cow. Such a person, in consequence of that act of gift, resides in heaven for as many years as there are hairs on the |
body of the cow and rescues in the next world (from the misery of hell) his sons and grandsons and all his race to the seventh |
degree.[314] The regions of the Vasus become attainable to that man who gives away a cow with horns beautifully decorated |
with gold, accompanied with a brazen jar for milking, along with a piece of cloth embroidered with gold, a measure of sesame |
and a sum of money as Dakshina. A gift of kine rescues the giver in the next world then he finds himself falling into the deep |
darkness of hell and restrained by his own acts in this world, like a boat with sails that have caught the air rescuing a person |
from being drowned in the sea. He who bestows a daughter according to the Brahma form upon an eligible person, or who |
makes a gift of land unto a Brahmana, or who gives food (to a Brahmana) according to due rites, succeeds in attaining to the |
region of Purandara. That man who makes a gift of a house, equipped with every kind of furniture, unto a Brahmana given to |
Vedic studies and possessed of every accomplishment and good behaviour, acquires residence in the country of the Uttara- |
Kurus. By making gifts of draft bullocks, a person acquires the region of the Vasus. Gifts of gold lead to heaven. Gifts of pure |
gold lead to greater merit still. By making a gift of an umbrella one acquires a palatial mansion. By making a gift of a pair of |
sandals or shoes one acquires good vehicles. The reward attached to a gift of cloths is personal beauty, and by making gifts of |
scents one becomes a fragrant person in one's next life. One who gives flowers and fruits and plants and trees unto a Brahmana, |
acquires, without any labour, palatial mansion equipped with beautiful women and full of plenty of wealth. The giver of food |
and drink of different tastes and of other articles of enjoyment succeeds in acquiring a copious supply of such articles. The |
giver, again, of houses and cloths gets articles of a similar kind. There is no doubt about it. That person who makes gifts of |
garlands and incense and scents and unguents and the articles needed by men after a bath, and floral wreaths, unto Brahmanas, |
becomes freed from every disease and possessed of personal beauty, sports in joy in the region reserved for great kings. The |
man, O king, who makes unto a Brahmana the gift of a house that is stored with grain, furnished with beds full of much wealth, |
auspicious, and delightful, acquires a palatial residence. He who gives unto a Brahmana a good bed perfumed with fragrant |
scents, overlaid with an excellent sheet, and equipped with pillows, wins without any effort on his part a beautiful wife, |
belonging to a high family and of agreeable manners. The man who takes to a hero's bed on the field of battle becomes the |
equal of the Grandsire Brahman himself. There is no end higher than this. Even this is what the great Rishis have declared.' |
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Hearing these words of his grandfather, Yudhishthira, the delighter of the Kurus, became desirous |
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