gifts unto the Brahmanas of whatever articles they solicit, one attains to such means of subsistence as one desires, and becomes rescued from hell and every calamity that visits a sinner after death.  This is the certain conclusion of the scriptures.  By making gifts, under the constellation Anuradha of embroidered cloth and other vestments and of food, observing a fast the while, one becomes honoured in heaven for a hundred Yugas.  By making a gift under the constellation Jyeshtha, of the potherb called Kalasaka with the roots, one attains to great prosperity as also to such an end as is desirable.  By making unto Brahmanas a gift under the constellation Mula, of fruits and roots, with a restrained soul, one gratifies the Pitris and attains to a desirable end.  By making under the constellation Purvashadha, a gift, unto a Brahmana conversant with the Vedas and of good family and conduct, of cups filled with curds, while one is in the observance of a fast, one takes birth in one’s next life in a family possessed of abundant kine.  One obtains the fruition of every wish, by making gifts, under the constellation Uttarashadha, of jugs full of barley-water, with ghee and inspissated juice of sugarcane in abundance.  By making a gift under the conjunction called Abhijit, of milk with honey and ghee unto men of wisdom, a righteous person attains to heaven and becomes an object of attention and honour there.  By making under the conjunction Sravana, a gift of blankets or other cloth of thick texture, one roves freely through every region of felicity, riding on a white car of pure resplendence.  By making with a restrained soul, under the constellation Dhanishtha, a gift of a vehicle with bulls yoked thereto, or heaps of cloths and wealth, one at once attains to heaven in one’s next life.  By making gifts, under the constellation Satabhisha, of perfumes with Aquilaria Agallocha and sandalwood, one attains in the next world to the companionship of Apsaras as also eternal perfumes of diverse kinds.  By making gifts, under the constellation Purva-Bhadrapada, or Rajamasha, one attains to great happiness in the next life and becomes possessed of an abundant stock of every kind of edibles and fruits.[339] One who makes, under the constellation Uttara, a gift of mutton, gratifies the Paris by such an act attains to inexhaustible merit in the next world.  Unto one who makes a gift, under the constellation Revati, of a cow with a vessel of white copper for milking her, the cow so given away approaches in the next world, ready to grant the fruition of every wish.  By making a gift, under the constellation Aswini, of a car with steeds yoked thereto, one is born in one’s next life in a family possessed of numerous elephants and steeds and cars, and becomes endued with great energy.  By making, under the constellation Bharani, a gift unto the Brahmanas of kine and sesame, one acquires in one’s next life great fame and an abundance of kine.’

“Bhishma continued, ’Even thus did Narada discourse unto Devaki upon the subject of what gifts should be made under what constellations.  Devaki herself, having listened to this discourse, recited it in her turn unto her daughters-in-law (viz., the spouses of Krishna).’”