The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,582 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4.

The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,582 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4.
husband.  Rishis observant of excellent vows, by means of their deeds of righteousness and piety, and Brahmanas of righteous souls, succeed in repairing to them in even their fleshy forms.  Men that are observant of excellent vows behold those regions which resemble the bright creations of dreams, aided by their cleansed minds and by that (temporary) emancipation which succeeds the loss of one’s consciousness of body.[358] Listen, O thou of a thousand eyes, to me as I tell thee what the attributes are with which those regions are endued.  There the very course of Time is suspended.  Decrepitude is not there, nor Fire which is omnipresent in the universe.  There the slightest evil does not occur, nor disease, nor weakness of any kind.  The kine that live there, O Vasava, obtain the fruition of every desire which they cherish in their hearts.  I have direct experience of what I say unto thee.  Capable of going everywhere at will and actually repairing from place to place with ease, they enjoy the fruition of wish after wish as it arises in their minds.  Lakes and tanks and rivers and forests of diverse kinds, and mansions and hills and all kinds of delightful objects,—­delightful, that is, to all creatures,—­are to be seen there.  There is no region of felicity that is superior to any of these of which I speak.  All those foremost of men, O Sakra, who are forgiving unto all creatures, who endure everything, who are full of affection for all things, who render dutiful obedience unto their preceptors, and who are free from pride and vanity, repair to those regions of supreme felicity.  He, who abstains from every kind of flesh, who is possessed of a cleansed heart, who is endued with righteousness, who worships his parents with reverence, who is endued with truthfulness of speech and conduct, who attends with obedience upon the Brahmanas, who is faultless in conduct, who never behaves with anger towards kine and towards the Brahmanas, who is devoted to the accomplishment of every duty, who serves his preceptors with reverence, who is devoted for his whole life to truth and to gifts, and who is always forgiving towards all transgression against himself, who is mild and self-restrained, who is full of reverence for the deities, who is hospitable to all guests, who is endued with compassion,—­verily, he, who is adorned with these attributes,—­succeeds in attaining to the eternal and immutable region of kine.  He, who is stained with adultery, sees not such a region; nor he, who is a slayer of his preceptor; nor he, who speaks falsely or indulges in idle boasts; nor he, who always disputes with others; nor he who behaves with hostility towards the Brahmanas.  Indeed, that wicked wight, who is stained with such faults fails to attain even a sight of these regions of felicity; also he that injures his friends; also he that is full of guile; also he that is ungrateful; also he that is a cheat; also he that is crooked in conduct; also he that is a disregarder of religion;
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The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.