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sacrifices with devotion, verity, such men proceed to the region of Sakra. I shall repair to a higher region. Verily, Dhritarashtra |
shall not go there!' |
"Gautama said, 'Above the Heavens are the regions of the Prajapatis of superior felicity abounding in every happiness, and |
divested of sorrow. Belonging to those puissant ones from whom the creation has sprung, they are coveted by all persons. If |
thou repairest thither, even thither shall I go and force thee to yield up this elephant to me!' |
"Dhritarashtra said, 'Those kings that have bathed upon the completion of the Rajasuya sacrifice, that are endued with righteous |
souls, that have protected their subjects properly, and that have washed their limbs with sanctified water upon the completion |
of the horse-sacrifice, repair to such regions. Verily, Dhritarashtra shall not go there!' |
"Gautama said, 'Next to those, blaze in beauty those eternal regions, redolent with delicious perfumes, free from passion, and |
transcending all sorrow. Those are the regions of kine difficult of attainment where oppression can never be. If thou repairest |
thither, I shall proceed even thither and force thee to yield up this elephant to me!' |
"Dhritarashtra said, 'He who, owning thousand kine, gives away a hundred kine every year, or owning a hundred kine gives |
away ten every year to the best of his might, or owning only ten or even five kine gives away therefrom one cow, and they who |
attain to a mature old age practising the vows of Brahmacharya all their days, who obey the declarations of the Vedas, and |
who, endued with energy of mind, betake themselves to pilgrimages to sacred waters and shrines, dwell in felicity in the region |
of kine. They who repair to Prabhasa and Manasa, the lakes of Pushkara, the large lake called Mahatsara, the sacred woods of |
Naimisha, Vahuda, Karatoya, Ganga, Gayasiras, Vipasa, Sthulavaluka, Krishna, the five rivers (of the Punjab), the extensive |
lake called Mahahrada, Gomati, Kausiki, Champa, Saraswati, Drisadwati, and Yamuna,--indeed, those illustrious Brahmanas, |
steady in the observance of vows, who go to these sacred waters,--repair to the regions of which thou speakest. Endued with |
celestial bodies and adorned with celestial garlands those blessed individuals, always emitting the most delightful perfumes, |
repair to those regions of joy and gladness. Verily, Dhritarashtra shall not go there!' |
"Gautama said, 'Next to these are regions where there is no fear of the least cold or heat, no hunger, no thirst, no pain, no |
sorrow, no joy, no one that is agreeable or disagreeable, on friend, and on enemy: where decrepitude and death are not, and |
where there is neither righteousness nor sin. Proceeding even to that region which is freed from passion, which abounds with |
equable happiness, and where there is wisdom and the: tribute of Sattwa,--verily, proceeding to even that sacred abode of the |
self-born Brahman,--I shall force thee to yield up this elephant to me!' |
"Dhritarashtra said, 'They who are freed from all attachments, who are possessed of cleansed souls, who are steady in the |
observance of the foremost vows, who are devoted to the Yoga that depends on tranquillising the mind, and who have (in this |
life) attained to the happiness of heaven,--those persons wedded to the attribute of Sattwa--attain to the sacred region of |
Brahman. O great ascetic, thou shalt not be able to discover Dhritarashtra there!' |
"Gautama said, 'There where the foremost of Rathantaras is sung, where altars are strewn with the sacred Kusa blades, for the |
performance of Pundarika sacrifices, there where Soma-drinking Brahmanas go on vehicles drawn by excellent steeds,[453] |
proceeding even thither I shall force thee to yield up this elephant. I think, thou art the slayer of Vritra, viz., the deity that has |
performed a hundred sacrifices, engaged in roving through all the regions of the universe! I hope, I have not, through mental |
weakness (not recognising thee before) committed any fault by the words I have addressed thee!' |
"The deity of a hundred sacrifices said, 'Yes, I am Maghavat. I came to the world of human beings, for seizing this elephant. I |
bow to thee. Do thou command me! I shall readily accomplish all that thou mayst be pleased to say!' |
"Gautama said, 'Do thou give me, O chief of the deities, this elephant that is of white complexion and that is so young, for it is |
only ten years of age. I have brought it up as a child of my own. Dwelling in these woods, it has grown under my eye and has |
been to me a dear companion. Do thou set free this my child that thou hast seized and wishest to drag away!' |
"The deity of a hundred sacrifices said, 'This elephant that has been a son to thee, O foremost of Brahmanas, cometh to thee |
looking wishfully at thee! Behold, it sniffs thy feet with its nostrils! My salutations to thee! Do thou pray for my welfare!' |
"Gautama said, 'O chief of the deities, I do always think of thy good! I always offer thee worship! Do thou also, O Sakra, |
bestow thy blessings on me! Given by thee, I accept this elephant!' |
"The deity of a hundred sacrifices said, 'Amongst all those high-souled and foremost of Rishis that firmly adhere to truth and |
that have the Vedas planted in their heart, thou alone hast been able to recognise me. For this reason I am exceedingly pleased |
with thee! Do thou, therefore, O Brahmana, come with me quickly, accompanied by this thy son! Thou deservest to attain to |
diverse regions of great felicity without the delay of even a single day!' |
"Bhishma continued, 'Having said these words, the wielder of the thunderbolt, taking Gautama with him and placing him |
before, along with his son, viz., that elephant, proceeded to heaven, that is difficult of attainment by even the righteous. He who |
would listen to this history every day or would recite it, restraining his senses the while, proceedeth (after death) to the region |
of Brahman even as Gautama himself.'" |
SECTION CIII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou hast discoursed to us on diverse kinds of gift, on tranquillity of soul, on Truth, on compassion, on |
contentment with one's wedded wife, and the merits of gift. It is known to thee, O grandsire, that there is nothing whose |
puissance is superior to that of penances. It behoveth thee to expound to us what constitutes the highest penances.' |
"Bhishma said, 'I tell thee, O Yudhishthira, that one attains to a region of felicity that corresponds with the kind of penances |
that one observes. This is what I hold, O son of Kunti, that there is no penance that is superior to abstention from food! In this |
connection is recited the ancient narrative of the discourse between Bhagiratha and the illustrious Brahman (the Grandsire of |
the Creation). It has been heard by us, O Bharata, that Bhagiratha attained to that region which transcends that of the deities, of |
kine, and of the Rishis. Beholding this, O monarch, the Grandsire Brahman, addressing Bhagiratha, said, 'How, O Bhagiratha, |
hast thou attained to this region that is so difficult of attainment? Neither the deities, nor Gandharvas, nor human beings, O |
Bhagiratha succeed in coming here without having practised the severest austerities. How, indeed, hast thou attained to this |
region?' |
"Bhagiratha said, 'I used to make gifts of hundreds of thousands of gold coin unto the Brahmanas, observing the Brahmacharya |
vow all the while, it is not through the merit on those gifts, O learned one, that I have attained to this region. I performed the |
Ekaratra sacrifice for ten times, and the Pancharatra sacrifice for as many times. The Ekadasaratra sacrifice was performed by |
me eleven times. The great sacrifice of Jyotishtoma was performed by me a hundred times. It is not, however, through the |
merits of those sacrifices that I have attained to this region of felicity.[454] For a hundred years I lived continuously by the side |
of the holy Jahnavi, all the while practising the severest austerities. There I made gifts unto the Brahmanas of thousands of |
male and female slaves. By the side of the Pushkara lakes I made gifts unto the Brahmanas, for a hundred thousand times, a |
hundred thousand steeds, and two hundred thousand kine. I also gave away a thousand damsels of great beauty, each adorned |
with golden moons, and sixty thousand more decked with ornaments of pure gold. It is not, however, through the merits of |
those acts that I have succeeded in attaining to these regions.[455] O lord of the universe, performing those sacrifices known by |
the name of Gosava, I gave away ten Arvudas of kine, presenting each Brahmana with ten kine, each of whom was |
accompanied with her calf, each of whom yielded milk at the time, and with each of whom were given a vessel of gold and one |
of white brass for milking her. Performing many Soma sacrifices, I gave away unto each Brahmana ten kine each of whom |
yielded milk, and each of whom had brought forth only her first calf, besides making presents unto them of hundreds of kine |
belonging to that species which is known by the name of Rohini. I also gave away unto the Brahmanas twice ten Prayutas of |
other kine, all yielding milk. It is not through the merit of those gifts, O Brahman, that I have succeeded in attaining to this |
region of felicity. I also gave away a hundred thousand horses of the Valhika breed, all white of complexion, and adorned with |
garlands of gold. It is not, however, through the merits of those acts that I have attained to this region. I gave away eight crores |
of golden coins unto the Brahmanas, O Brahman, and then another ten crores also, in each sacrifice that I performed. It is not, |
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