At this a loud noise arose in heaven, made by the denizens thereof.  The Gandharvas and the Rishis also and others that dwelt in that mountain being rent in twain and Suka passing through it.  Indeed, O Bharata, a loud noise was heard everywhere at that moment, consisting of the words—­Excellent, Excellent!—­He was adored by the Gandharvas and the Rishis, by crowds of Yakshas and Rakshasas, and all tribes of the Vidyadharas.  The entire firmament became strewn with celestial flowers showered from heaven at that moment when Suka thus pierced through that impenetrable barrier, O monarch!  The righteous-souled Suka then beheld from a high region the celestial stream Mandakini of great beauty, running below through a region adorned by many flowering groves and woods.  In these waters many beautiful Apsaras were sporting.  Beholding Suka who was bodiless, those unclad aerial beings felt shame.  Learning that Suka had undertaken his great journey, his sire Vyasa, filled with affection, followed him behind along the same aerial path.  Meanwhile Suka, proceeding through that region of the firmament that is above the region of the wind displayed his Yoga-prowess and identified himself with Brahma.[1788] Adopting the subtile path of high Yoga, Vyasa of austere penances, reached within the twinkling of the eye that spot whence Suka first undertook his journey.  Proceeding along the same way, Vyasa beheld the mountain summit rent in twain and through which Suka has passed.  Encountering the Island-born ascetic, the Rishis began to represent to him the achievements of his son.  Vyasa, however, began to indulge in lamentations, loudly calling upon his son by name and causing the three worlds to resound with the noise he made.  Meanwhile, the righteous-souled Suka, who had entered the elements, had become their soul and acquired omnipresence, answered his sire by uttering the monosyllable Bho in the form of an echo.  At this, the entire universe of mobile and immobile creatures, uttering the monosyllable Bho, echoed the answer of Suka.  From that time to this, when sounds are uttered in mountain-caves or on mountain-breasts, the latter, as if in answer to Suka still echo them (with the monosyllable Bho).  Having cast off all the attributes of sound, etc., and showing his Yoga-prowess in the manner of his disappearance, Suka in this way attained to the highest station.  Beholding that glory and puissance of his son of immeasurable energy, Vyasa sat down on the breast of the mountain and began to think of his son with grief.  The Apsaras were sporting on the banks of the celestial stream Mandakini, seeing the Rishi seated there, became all agitated with grave shame and lost heart.  Some of them, to hide their nudity, plunged into the stream, and some entered the groves hard by, and some quickly took up their clothes, at beholding the Rishi. (None of them had betrayed any signs of agitation at sight of his son).  The Rishi, beholding these movements, understood that