On the third day, the sage Vyasa, the son of Satyavati, that foremost of eloquent men, approaching Yudhishthira said,—­’From this day, O son of Kunti, do thou begin thy sacrifice.  The time for it has come.  The moment for commencing the rite is at hand.  The priests are urging thee.  Let the sacrifice be performed in such a way that no limb may become defective.  In consequence of the very large quantity of gold that is required for this sacrifice, it has come to be called the sacrifice of profuse gold.  Do thou also, O great king, make the Dakshina of this sacrifice three times of what is enjoined.  Let the merit of thy sacrifice increase threefold.  The Brahmanas are competent for the purpose.[205] Attaining to the merits then of three Horse-sacrifices, each with profuse presents, thou shalt be freed, O king, from the sin of having slain thy kinsmen.  The bath that one performs upon completion of the Horse-sacrifice, O monarch, is highly cleansing and productive of the highest merit.  That merit will be thine, O king of Kuru’s race.  Thus addressed by Vyasa of immeasurable intelligence, the righteous-souled Yudhishthira of great energy underwent the Diksha for performance of the Horse-sacrifice.[206] The mighty-armed monarch then performed the great Horse-sacrifice characterised by gifts of food and presents in profusion and capable of fructifying every wish and producing every merit.  The priests, well conversant with the Vedas, did every rite duly, moving about in all directions.  They were all well-trained, and possessed of omniscience.  In nothing was there a swerving from the ordinances and nothing was down improperly.  Those foremost of regenerate persons followed the procedure as laid down (in the scriptures) and as it should be followed in those points about which no directions are given.[207] Those best of regenerate ones, having first performed the rite called Pravargya, otherwise called Dharma, then duly went through the rite of Abhishava, O king.[208] Those foremost of Soma-drinkers, O monarch, extracting the juice of the Soma, then performed the Savana rite following the injunctions of the scriptures.  Among those that came to that sacrifice none could be seen who was cheerless, none who was poor, none who was hungry, none who was plunged into grief, and none that seemed to be vulgar.  Bhimasena of mighty energy at the command of the king, caused food to be ceaselessly distributed among those that desired to eat.  Following the injunctions of the scriptures, priests, well-versed in sacrificial rites of every kind, performed every day all the acts necessary to complete the great sacrifice.  Amongst the Sadasayas of king Yudhishthira of great intelligence there was none who was not well conversant with the six branches of (Vedic). learning.  There was none among them that was not an observer of vows, none that was not an Upadhyaya; none that was not well versed in dialectical disputations.  When the time came for erecting the sacrificial stake, O chief of Bharata’s