matter of forest-life, of householding or domesticity, and of renunciation (or Sannyasa).  Similarly, there are others that are called heroes of the intellect, and also heroes of forgiveness.  There are other men, who live in tranquillity and who are regarded as heroes of righteousness.  There are diverse other kinds of heroes that practise diverse other kinds of vows and observances.  There are heroes devoted to the study of the Vedas and heroes devoted to the teaching of the same.  There are, again, men that come to be regarded as heroes for the devotion with which they wait upon and serve their preceptors, as indeed, heroes in respect of the reverence they show to their sires.  There are heroes in respect of obedience to mothers, and heroes in the matter of the life of mendicancy they lead.  There are heroes in the matter of hospitality to guests, whether living as householders.  All these heroes attain to very superior, regions of felicity which are, of course, acquired by them as the rewards of their own acts.  Holding all the Vedas in memory, or ablutions performed in all the sacred waters, may or may not be equal to telling the Truth every day in one’s life.  A thousand horse sacrifices and Truth were once weighed in the balance.  It was seen that Truth weighed heavier than a thousand horse-sacrifices.  It is by Truth that the sun is imparting heat, it is by Truth that fire blazes up, it is by Truth that the winds blow; verily, everything rests upon Truth.  It is Truth that gratifies the deities, the Pitris and the Brahmanas.  Truth has been said to be the highest duty.  Therefore, no one should ever transgress Truth.  The Munis are all devoted to Truth.  Their prowess depends upon Truth.  They also swear by Truth.  Hence, Truth is pre-eminent.  All truthful men, O chief of Bharata’s race, succeed by their truthfulness in attaining to heaven and sporting there in felicity.  Self-restraint is the attainment of the reward that attaches to Truth.  I have discoursed on it with my whole heart.  The man of humble heart who is possessed of self-restraint, without doubt, attains to great honours in heaven.  Listen now to me, O lord of Earth, as I expound to thee the merits of Brahmacharya.  That man, who practises the vow of Brahmacharya from his birth to the time of his death, know, O king, has nothing unattainable!  Many millions of Rishis are residing in the region of Brahma.  All of them, while here, were devoted to Truth, and self-restrained and had their vital seed drawn up.  The vow of Brahmacharya, O king, duly observed by a Brahmana, is sure to burn all his sins.  The Brahmana is said to be a blazing fire.  In those Brahmanas that are devoted to penances, the deity of fire becomes visible.  If a Brahmacharin yields to wrath in consequence of any slight the chief of the deities himself trembles in fear.  Even this is the visible fruit of the vow of Brahmacharya that is observed by the Rishis.  Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, what the merit is that attaches to the worship of the father and the mother.  He, who dutifully serves his father without ever crossing him in anything, or similarly serves his mother or (elder) brother or other senior or preceptor, it should be known, O king, earns a residence in heaven.  The man of cleansed soul, in consequence of such service rendered to his seniors, has never even to behold hell.’”