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way in both the summer and the winter seasons, becomes freed from every sin. Cleansed of every sin, one acquires a splendour |
of complexion for all time. Such a man blazes with energy like the Sun or shines in beauty like the Moon!' After this, the chief |
of the deities, viz., he of a hundred sacrifices, seated in the midst of the gods, then sweetly addressed Vrihaspati, saying these |
excellent words, 'O holy one, do thou duly discourse on what those mysteries of religion are that are fraught with happiness to |
human beings, and what the faults are which they commit, together with the mysteries that attach to them!' |
"Vrihaspati said, 'They who pass urine, facing the sun, they who do not show reverence for the wind, they who do not pour |
libations on the blazing fire, they who milk a cow whose calf is very young, moved by the desire of obtaining from her as much |
milk as possible, commit sins. I shall declare what those faults are, O lord of Sachi! Do thou listen to me. The Sun, Wind, the |
bearer of sacrificial oblations, O Vasava, and kine who are the mothers of all creatures, were created by the Self born himself, |
for rescuing all the worlds, O Sakra! These are the deities of human beings. Listen all of ye to the conclusions of religion. |
Those wicked men and wicked women who pass urine facing the sun, live in great infamy for six and eighty years. That man, |
O Sakra, who cherishes no reverence for the wind, gets children that fall away prematurely from the womb of his spouse. |
Those men who do not pour libations on the blazing fire find that the fire, when they do ignite it for such rites as they wish to |
perform, refuses to eat their libations[544]. Those men who drink the milk of kine whose calves are very young, never get |
children for perpetuating their races.[545] Such men see their children, die and their races shrink. Even these are the |
consequences of the acts referred to, as observed by regenerate persons venerable for age in their respective races. Hence, one |
should always avoid that which has been interdicted, and do only that which has been directed to be done, if one is desirous of |
achieving prosperity. This that I say unto thee is very true.' After the celestial preceptor had said this, the highly blessed deities, |
with the Maruts, and the highly blessed Rishis questioned the Pitris, saying, 'Ye Pitris, at what acts of human beings, who are |
generally endued with little understanding, do ye become gratified? What gifts, made in course of such rites as are gone |
through for improving the position of deceased persons in the other world, become inexhaustible in respect of their |
efficacy?[546] By performing what acts can men become freed from the debt they owe to the Pitris? We desire to hear this. |
Great is the curiosity we feel.' |
"The Pitris said, 'Ye highly blessed ones, the doubt existing in your minds has been properly propounded. Listen as we declare |
what those acts are of righteous men that gratify us. Bulls endued with blue complexion should be set free. Gifts should be |
made to us, on the day of the new moon, of sesame seeds and water. In the season of rains, lamps should be lighted. By these |
acts of men, they can free themselves from the debt they owe to the Pitris.[547] Such gifts never become vain. On the other |
hand, they become inexhaustible and productive of high fruits. The gratification we derive from them is regarded to be |
inexhaustible. Those men who, endued with faith, beget offspring, rescue their deceased ancestors from miserable Hell'. |
Hearing these words of the Pitris, Vriddha-Gargya, possessed of wealth of penances and high energy, became filled with |
wonder so that the hair on his body stood erect. Addressing them he said, 'Ye that are all possessed of wealth of penances, tell |
us. what the merits are that attach to the setting free of bulls endued with blue complexion. What merits, again, attach to the |
gift of lamps in the season of rains and the gift of water with sesame seeds?' |
"The Pitris said, 'If a bull of blue complexion, upon being set free, raises a (small) quantity of water with its tail, the Pitris (of |
the person that has set that bull free) become gratified with that water for full sixty thousand years. The mud such a bull raises |
with its horns from the banks (of a river or lake), succeeds, without doubt, in sending the Pitris (of the person that sets the |
animal free) to the region of Soma. By giving lamps in the season of rains, one shines with effulgence like Soma himself. The |
man who gives lamps is never subject to the attribute of Darkness. Those men who make gifts, on the day of the new moon, of |
sesame seeds and water, mixed with honey and using a vessel of copper, O thou that art possessed of wealth of penances, are |
regarded as duly performing a Sraddha with all its mysteries. These men get children of sound health and cheerful minds. The |
merit acquired by the giver of the Pinda (to the Pitris) takes the form of the growth of his race. Verily, he who performs these |
acts with faith, becomes freed from the debt he owes to the Pitris. Even thus has been laid down the proper time for the |
performance of the Sraddha, the ordinance in respect of the rites to be observed, the proper person that should be fed at the |
Sraddha, and the merits that attach to it. I have declared everything to thee in due order.' |
SECTION CXXVI |
"Bhishma said, 'The chief of the deities, Indra, after the Pitri has ceased to speak, addressed the puissant Hari, saying, 'O Lord, |
what are those acts by which thou becomest gratified? How, indeed, do men succeed in gratifying thee?' |
"Vishnu said, "That which I greatly hate is the detraction of Brahmanas; without doubt, if the Brahmanas are worshipped, I |
regard myself worshipped. All superior Brahmanas should always be saluted with reverence, after feeding them with |
hospitality. One should reverence one's own feet also (in the evening). I am gratified with men who act in this way, as also with |
those who worship and make offerings to the whirl that is noticeable on cowdung (when it first drops from the cow)[548]. They |
who behold a Brahmana that is a dwarf in stature, or a boar that has just risen from water and that bears on his head a quantity |
of mud taken up from the bank, have never to meet with any evil. They become freed from every sin. That man who worships |
every day the Aswattha (Ficus religiosa) and the substance called Gorochana and the cow, is regarded as worshipping the |
whole universe with the deities and Asuras and human beings. Verily, staying within these, I accept, in my own form, the |
worship that is offered to them. The worship that is offered to these is the worship offered to me. This has been so as long as |
the worlds have been created. Those men of little understanding that worship me in a different way worship me in vain, for the |
worship of that kind I never accept. Verily, the worship of other kinds is not at all gratifying to me.' |
"Indra said, 'Why dost thou applaud the circular marks on cowdung, the feet, the boar, the Brahmana that is a dwarf in stature, |
and mud raised up from the soil? It is thou who createst and it is thou who destroyest them. Thou art the eternal nature of all |
mortal or transitory things:' |
"Bhishma continued, 'Hearing these words of Indra. Vishnu smiled a little and then said, 'It was with my circular disc that the |
Daityas were slain. It was with my two feet that the world was covered. Assuming the form of a boar I slew Hiranyaksha. |
Assuming the form of a dwarf I conquered (the Asura) king Vali. Those high-souled men who worship these gratify me. |
Verily, they who worship me in these forms never meet with discomfiture. If one beholding a Brahmana leading the |
Brahmacharya mode of life arrived at one's house, offers unto him the first portion of one's food that belongs as of right to a |
Brahmana, and eats what remains thereafter, one is regarded as eating Amrita. If one, after adoring the morning twilight, stands |
with face directed towards the sun, one reaps the merit that attaches to the performance of ablutions in all tirthas and becomes |
cleansed of all sins. Ye Rishis possessed of wealth of penances, I have told you in details what constitutes a great mystery. On |
what else shall I discourse unto you? Tell me your doubts.' |
"Baladeva said, 'Listen now to another great mystery that is fraught with happiness to men. Ignorant persons, unacquainted |
with it, meet with much distress at the hands of other creatures. That man who, rising at early dawn, touches a cow, ghee, and |
curds, as also mustard seeds and the larger variety thereof called Priyangu, becomes cleansed of all sins. As regards Rishis |
possessed of wealth of penances, they always avoid all creatures both before and behind, as also all that is impure while |
performing Sraddhas.[549] |
"The deities said, 'If a person, taking a vessel of copper, filling it with water, and facing the east, resolves upon a fast or the |
observance of a particular vow, the deities become gratified with him and all his wishes become crowned with success. By |
observing fasts, or vows in any other way, men of little understandings gain nothing.[550] In uttering the resolution about the |
observance of fasts and in making offerings to the deities, the use of a vessel of copper is preferable. In presenting the offerings |
to the deities, in (giving and accepting) alms, in presenting the ingredients of the Arghya and in offering oblations of water |
mixed with sesame seeds to the Pitris, a vessel of copper should be used. By doing these acts in any other way, one acquires |
little merit. Even these mysteries have been laid down relating to how the deities are gratified.' |
"Dharma said, 'The offerings made in all rites in honour of the deities and in those in honour of the Pitris should never be given |
away to a Brahmana that has accepted service under the king, or that rings the bell or attends to subsidiary duties in acts of |
worship or at Sraddhas, or that keeps kine, or that is engaged in trade, or that follows some art as a profession, or that is an |
actor, or that quarrels with friends or that is destitute of Vedic studies, or that marries a Sudra woman[551]. The performer of |
the Sraddha who gives away such offerings unto such a Brahmana falls away from prosperity and multiplies not his race. He |
fails, again, to gratify his Pitris by doing such an act. From the house of that person whence a guest returns unsatisfied, the |
Pitris, the deities, and the sacred fires, all return disappointed in consequence of such treatment of the guest. That man who |
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