6

Janamejaya said, “O holy one, according to what rites should the learned listen to the Bharata?  What are the fruits (acquirable by hearing it)?  What deities are to be worshipped during the several paranas?  What should be the gifts that one should make, O holy one, at every parva or sacred day (during the continuance of the recitation)?  What should be the qualification of the reciter to be engaged?  Tell me all this!

Vaishampayana said, “Hear, O king, what the procedure is, and what the fruits, O Bharata, are that will spring from ones listening (to a recitation of the Bharata).  Even this, O king of kings, is what thou askest me.  The deities of Heaven, O ruler of Earth, came to this world for sport.  Having achieved their task, they ascended once more to Heaven.  Listen to what I shall tell thee in brief.  In the Mahabharata is to be found the births of Rishis and deities on the Earth.  In this treatise, called Bharata, O foremost one of Bharatas race, are to be seen in one place the eternal Rudras, the Saddhyas, and the Viswedevas; the Adityas, the two deities named the Ashvinis, the regents of the World, the great Rishis, the Guhyakas, the Gandharvas, the Nagas, the Vidyadharas, the Siddhas, the diverse deities, the Self-born visible in a body, with many ascetics; the Hills and Mountains, Oceans and Seas and Rivers, the diverse tribes of Apsaras; the Planets, the Years, the Half-years, and the Seasons; and the whole universe of mobile and immobile entities, with all the gods and Asuras.

“Hearing their celebrity, and in consequence of a recitation of their names and achievements, a man that has committed even terrible sins, will be cleansed.  Having, with a concentrated soul and cleansed body, heard this history duly, from the beginning, and having reached its end, one should make Sraddha offerings, O Bharata, unto those (foremost of persons who have been mentioned in it).  Unto the Brahmanas also, O chief of Bharatas race, should, with due devotion and according to ones power, be made large gifts and diverse kinds of gems, and kine, and vessels of white brass for milking kine, and maidens decked with every ornament, and possessed of every accomplishment suited to enjoyment, as also diverse kinds of conveyances, beautiful mansions, plots of land, and cloths.  Animals also should be given, such as horses and elephants in rage, and beds, and covered conveyances borne on the shoulders of men, and well-decked cars.  Whatever objects occur in the house, of the foremost kind, whatever wealth of great value occurs in it, should be given away unto Brahmanas.  Indeed, one should give away ones own self, wives, and children.

“One desirous of hearing the Bharata, should hear it without a doubting heart, with cheerfulness and joy; and as, he proceeds listening to its recitation, he should according to the extent of his power, make gifts with great devotion.