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Sleeping with his head on the laps of such women of transcendent beauty, he awakes profoundly refreshed. |
At the ninth Parana, he acquires, O Bhaarata, the fruits of that greatest of all sacri ces, the Aswamedha yagna. |
Flying into Swarga in an even more splendid vimana, with a grand chamber covered with a canopy supported by columns of gold, furnished with a throne made of the purest lapis lazuli, with windows on all sides framed with pure gold, and attended by throngs of Apsaras, Gandharvas and other celestials, he blazes forth in splendour. |
Clad in divine garlands and robes, and adorned with celestial pastes, he sports in bliss, the gods his companions, like a Deva himself. |
Reaching the tenth Parana and gratifying Brahmanas, he gains a vimana t for the dwelling of the most righteous, tinkling with innumerable bells and decked with ags and banners, furnished with a throne of precious gems with arches of lapis lazuli encased in nets of ligreed gold, with turrets of coral, and accompanied by Gandharvas and Apsaras skilled in singing and dancing. |
Crowned with a diadem the colour of re, adorned with ornaments of gold, anointed with celestial sandalwood paste, draped in garlands made from unfading owers plucked from the Nandana, he roves through all realms of Heaven, enjoying every transcendent pleasure and resplendent in person by the grace of the Devas. |
Thus accoutred and blessed, he receives high honour in Swarga for many long years. |
With Gandharvas in his company, for full twentyone thousand years of the Devas, he sports in utmost bliss with Indra himself in the palace of Sakra. |
He ranges at his pleasure through the countless lokas of the Gods, riding on wondrous chariots and magni cent carriages, and surrounded by Apsaras of surpassing beauty. |
He is able to travel to the abode of Surya Deva, of Soma, and even of Siva, O king. |
Indeed, he comes to Vishnuloka and spends his time with Narayana himself! |
A person listening with faith becomes even so, O monarch, do not doubt it. |
I was told this by my guru Vyasa. |
Upon the Suta who recites the Mahabharata, the listener must bestow everything that he might wish for elephants and horses, chariots and carriages, and vehicles drawn by animals, a bracelet of gold, a pair of earrings, sacred threads, beautiful robes and perfumes. |
By worshipping as a God one who recounts the Mahabharata, one attains to the realm of Vishnu. |
Now I will tell you about what should be given away to Brahmanas, as each Parva is arrived at of the Mahabharata during its recitation, after ascertaining their birth, country, truthfulness as well as their greatness and devotion and to Kshatriyas, too, O King, after similar ascertainment of their origins, qualities and greatness. |
The actual recitation should commence after the Brahmanas have been prompted to utter the prescribed blessings. |
When a Parva is nished, the Brahmanas should be worshipped to the best of one s capacity. |
At rst, the narrator, the Suta, clad in ne robes and anointed with fragrant sandalwood paste, should be duly fed with honey and payasa of the best kind, O King. |
When the Astika Parva is being recited, Brahmanas should be entertained with fruits and roots, payasa, honey and ghee, and rice boiled with raw sugar. |
When the Sabha Parva is being recited, Brahmanas should be fed havishya along with apupas and pupas and modakas, O Rajan. |
While the Aranyaka Parva is being recited, Brahmanas should be fed with fruits and roots. |
When the Arani Parva is reached, waterpots full of water should be given away. |
Many superior kinds of food, rice and fruits and roots, and a variety of other delicacies should be given to the Brahmanas. |
During the recitation of the Virata Parva, O Lord of the Bharatas, diverse kinds of robes should be given away and during that of the Udyoga Parva, the Dvijas, adorned with perfumes and garlands, should again be entertained with food of the nest avour. |
During the recitation of the Bhishma Parva, O King of kings, after the Brahmanas have been given ne chariots and conveyances, they should be fed the purest and best sattvik fare. |
During the Drona Parva, again, food of the most superior kind must be given to learned Brahmanas, as well as choice beds and mattresses, bows and ne swords. |
During the recitation of the Karna Parva, also, food of the foremost sort, always pure and delicious, should be given by the grihasta with a rapt mind to the Brahmanas present. |
During the recitation of the Shalya Parva, Rajadhiraja, more ne dishes, along with the nest sweets and rice payasa boiled with raw sugar, as well as cakes of wheat and other soothing and nutritious food and drink should be served. |
During the recitation of the Gada Parva, Brahmanas should be entertained with food mixed with mudga. |
During the recitation of the Stri Parva, the foremost of Brahmanas must be gifted precious jewels and gemstones during the recitation of the Astika Parva, rice boiled in ghee should be served rst, and then more pure and excellently prepared dishes, of both superlative taste and nutrition. |
During the recitation of the Shanti Parva, the Brahmanas should be fed with havishya. |
When the Aswamedhika Parva is reached, again ne fare is served and when the Asramavasika is reached, the Brahmanas should be entertained with havishya. |
When the Mausala is arrived at, superb perfumes and the garlands should be given. |
During the Mahaprasthanika, similar presents should be made, agreeable and gratifying in every way. |
When the Swarga Parva is reached, the Brahmanas should be fed with havishya. |
Upon the conclusion of the Harivamsa, a thousand Brahmanas should be fed generously. |
Each of them should be gifted with a cow and a fair amount of gold. |
Half of this same offering, apart from the cow, should be given to every poor man who comes to the grand narration of the Mahabharata, O King. |
Upon the conclusion of all the Parvas, the grihasta of wisdom should give to the Suta a copy of the Mahabharata with a bar of gold. |
When the Harivamsa Parva is being recited, Brahmanas should be fed with payasa at each successive Parana. |
Having nished all the Parvas, one versed in the Shastras, robing himself in white, wearing garlands, decked with ornaments, and properly puri ed, should place a copy of the Mahabharata in an auspicious spot and cover it with a piece of silken cloth and worship it, according to the prescribed rites, with perfumes and garlands, offering each at a time. |
Indeed, O King, the several volumes of this Itihasa should be worshipped by one with devotion and concentration. |
Offerings should be made to them of diverse kinds of food and owers and drinks and various other auspicious articles of enjoyment. |
Gold and other precious metals should be given as dakshina. |
The names should be taken of all the Devas, and of Nara and Narayana. |
Then, the bodies of some great Brahmanas should be touched with perfumes and their persons adorned with garlands, and they should be grati ed with a myriad ne and valuable gifts. |
By doing this, one attains to the punya of the Atiratra yagna. |
Indeed, at each successive Parva, the one who causes the Mahabharata to be read acquires the merits that attach to the performance of a great sacri ce. |
The one who recites the sacred Itihasa, O Lord of the Bharatas, should be possessed of learning and blessed with a good voice and clear and pro cient diction and intonation of both letters and words. |
Only such a man should recite the incomparable Bharata. |
After entertaining a number of the best Brahmanas, gifts should be given to them according to the ordinances of the Shastras. |
The reciter also, O Bhaarata, should be decked with the nest ornaments and fed sumptuously. |
By gratifying the reciter, the Grihasta attains to a lofty and auspicious contentment. |
If the Brahmanas are grati ed, all the deities are grati ed. |
After this is done, O King of the Bharatas, Brahmanas should be duly entertained with diverse kinds of items of enjoyments and other exclusive and superior things. |
And so, in answer to your questions, I have told you of all the laws, Purushottama, for the narration of the Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa. |
You must observe them with devotion. |
In listening to a recitation of the Bharata and at each Parana, O best of kings, he that wishes to attain to the highest good should listen with the greatest care and attention. |
One should listen to the Bharata daily and proclaim its merits. |
One in whose house the Bharata is found has in his hands all those scriptures known by the name of Jaya. |
The Bharata is cleansing and sacred. |
In it diverse subjects can be found. |
The Bharata is worshipped by the very gods. |
It is the highest goal and the foremost of all scriptures. |
One attains to Mukti, the nal Emancipation, through the Bharata. |
This that I tell you is certain truth. |
He that proclaims the merits of this Itihasa called the Mahabharata, of the Earth, of the cow, of Saraswati, of Brahmanas and of Krishna, has never to languish in dolour. |
In the Vedas, in the Ramayana, and in the sacred Bharata, O Lord of the Bhaarata vamsa, Hari is sung in the beginning, the middle and at the end. |
Men who want to attain to the highest goal should listen to that which has the most excellent pronouncements relating to Vishnu, and the eternal Srutis. |
This scripture is sanctifying, the highest treatise on dharma, and endued with every merit. |
Indeed, one who wishes for true prosperity should listen to it fervently. |
Sins committed by the body, through words, and by the mind, are all destroyed through listening to the Bharata, even as darkness is banished at sunrise. |
Through this Mahabharata one devoted to Vishnu acquires that punya gained by listening to the eighteen Puranas. |
There is no doubt of this. |
Through listening to the Bharata, both men and women attain to the very condition of Vishnu Narayana. |
Women who wish for children should certainly listen to this holy work which proclaims the fame of Vishnu. |
One who wishes to attain to the fruits that attach to a recitation of the Bharata should, according to his or her means, give dakshina and gold to the Suta who recites it. |
One who wants his own weal should give to the reciter a Kapila cow with horns cased in gold, accompanied by her calf covered with a rich cloth. |
Ornaments for the arms and for the ears should be given. |
Besides these, other kinds of wealth should be gifted, as should generous lands. |
There is no gift like that of land, nor will there be. |
The man who listens to the Mahabharata with devotion, or he that tells it to others, becomes cleansed of all his sins and attains at last to the very condition and status of Vishnu. |
Such a man redeems his ancestors to the eleventh generation, O King of the Bharata vamsa, as well as himself with his wives and sons. |
After concluding a recitation of the Bharata, one should perform a Homa with all its ten angas. |
Vaisampayana said, I have thus in your presence, O Lord of men, recounted in its entirety the Mahabharata of my Guru Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa. |
He that listens with devotion to this Bharata from the beginning is puri ed of every sin, even if he be guilty of Brahmahatya or the violation of his guru s bed, or even if he be a drinker of alcohol or a thief, or even if he be born a Chandala. |
Destroying all his sins as the maker of day destroys darkness, such a man, beyond doubt, sports in felicity and bliss in the world of Vishnu, verily like Vishnu himself. |
The end of the Swargarohanika Parva The eighteen Parvas of the Mahabharata are thus complete. |
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