Parva 18

18.1.1 Janamejaya said: Having reached heaven, the threefold celestial realm, what abodes did my forefathers attain—the Pāṇḍavas and the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra alike?

18.1.2 This I wish to hear, for I hold you to be one who knows all things, sanctioned as you are by the great sage Vyāsa of wondrous deeds.

18.1.3 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Hear, then, what your forefathers did—Yudhiṣṭhira and the rest—once they had reached heaven, the threefold celestial realm.

18.1.4 Having reached heaven, the threefold celestial realm, the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira beheld Duryodhana seated upon a throne, attended by splendor.

18.1.5 Blazing like the sun, encompassed by the glory of heroes, surrounded by the radiant gods and the Sādhyas of holy deeds.

18.1.6 Then Yudhiṣṭhira, seeing Duryodhana, grew indignant, and at once turned back when he beheld such splendor upon Suyodhana.

18.1.7 Speaking aloud to them, he said: I have no wish to share these worlds in the company of Duryodhana, that greedy and short-sighted man.

18.1.8 For whose sake the whole earth, and our friends and kinsmen too, were slain by us in furious battle—we who had first been tormented in the great forest.

18.1.9 And Draupadī, the Pāñcāla princess, devoted to righteousness, our blameless-limbed wife, was sorely abused in the midst of the assembly, in the presence of our elders.

18.1.10 Farewell, O gods! I have no desire to look upon Suyodhana. I wish to go to where my brothers are.

18.1.11 Not so, said Nārada to him, smiling as it were: In heaven, O lord of kings, where one dwells, all enmity perishes.

18.1.12 Mighty-armed Yudhiṣṭhira, speak not so by any means concerning King Duryodhana; and hear these words of mine.

18.1.13 This King Duryodhana is honored together with the thirty gods and with those virtuous, foremost kings who dwell here in heaven.

18.1.14 He has attained the realm of heroes, having offered up his own body in battle—that battle in which all of you, godlike men, were arrayed against him.

18.1.15 By the law of the warrior he has won this station, this lord of the earth who remained fearless in the midst of great peril.

18.1.16 You must not take to heart, my son, what was brought about by the dicing; nor ought you to dwell upon the abuse of Draupadī.

18.1.17 And whatever other torments were inflicted upon you through the dicing, whether in battles or elsewhere, you ought not to recall them.

18.1.18 Meet King Duryodhana in due courtesy. This is heaven, O lord of men; here no enmities exist.

18.1.19 Thus addressed by Nārada, the Kuru king Yudhiṣṭhira, wise as he was, asked after his brothers and spoke these words.

18.1.20 If these are the eternal worlds of heroes for Duryodhana—a wicked man, ignorant of righteousness, a betrayer of the earth and of his friends—

18.1.21 for whose sake the earth was laid waste with its horses, chariots, and elephants, and we ourselves were burned by wrath, seeking to repay our feud—

18.1.22 then where are those heroes, those great-souled brothers of mine, men of mighty vows, true to their pledges, the world's brave and truthful champions?

18.1.23 What worlds are theirs now? I wish to behold them—and the great-souled Karṇa, the son of Kuntī, true to his battle-pledge.

18.1.24 Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Sātyaki, and the sons of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and those kings who met their death by weapons according to the warrior's law.

18.1.25 Where then are those kings, O brāhmaṇa? I do not see them here, Nārada—Virāṭa and Drupada, and those led by Dhṛṣṭaketu.

18.1.26 And Śikhaṇḍin the Pāñcāla, and all the sons of Draupadī, and the unassailable Abhimanyu—these I wish to behold, Nārada.

18.2.1 Yudhiṣṭhira said: Here, O gods, I do not see Rādheya of measureless might, nor the two great-souled brothers Yudhāmanyu and Uttamaujas.

18.2.2 those great warriors who offered their bodies into the fire of battle—the kings and princes who were slain in war for my sake.

18.2.3 Where are all those great warriors, valiant as tigers? Has this world been won by them too, those most excellent of men?

18.2.4 If all those great warriors have attained these worlds, then know, O gods, that I shall abide here only in the company of those great-souled ones.

18.2.5 Surely this imperishable, blessed world has been gained by those kings? Without them—my kinsmen and brothers—I will not dwell here.

18.2.6 For having heard my mother's words at the time of the water-rites—'Let the libation of water be made for Karṇa'—it is by that I am tormented even now.

18.2.7 And this too torments me again and again, O gods: that his feet were like my mother's, that man of measureless might.

18.2.8 Yet even on seeing this I did not go over to Karṇa, the crusher of enemy hosts—for with Karṇa at our side not even Śakra could have vanquished us in battle.

18.2.9 Wherever he may be, I long to see him, the son of Sūrya—he who, unknown to me, was slain by Savyasācin.

18.2.10 And Bhīma of terrible prowess, dearer to me than life itself; and Arjuna, like unto Indra; and those two twins, the equals of the Aśvins.

18.2.11 And I wish to behold the Pāñcāla princess, devoted to righteousness. I do not wish to remain here—this truth I tell you.

18.2.12 What is heaven to me, bereft of my brothers, O best of the gods? Where they are, there is my heaven; this is no heaven in my eyes.

18.2.13 The gods said: If your heart is set on going there, then go, my son, without delay; for we act to please you, by command of the king of the gods.

18.2.14 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having spoken thus to him, the gods then instructed a divine messenger: Show Yudhiṣṭhira his friends, O scorcher of foes.

18.2.15 Then the king, the son of Kuntī, and the divine messenger went forth together, O tiger among kings, to where those bulls among men were.

18.2.16 The divine messenger went in front and the king behind, along a foul and difficult path frequented by evildoers.

18.2.17 shrouded in darkness, terrible, its grass and moss made of hair, reeking with the stench of those who had done evil, a mire of flesh and blood;

18.2.18 swarming with gadflies and crickets, covered with flies and gnats, hemmed in on every side, here and there, with corpses;

18.2.19 strewn with bones and hair, teeming with worms and insects, and on all sides girdled with blazing fire;

18.2.20 overrun by iron-beaked ravens and vultures, and beset by needle-mouthed ghosts as huge as the Vindhya mountains;

18.2.21 and with severed arms, thighs, and hands smeared with marrow and blood, and bellies and feet cut off, flung about here and there.

18.2.22 Through the midst of that corpse-stinking place, inauspicious and hair-raising, the righteous king passed, pondering much.

18.2.23 He saw a river filled with scalding water and hard to cross, and a forest whose leaves were swords, hedged about with sharp razors.

18.2.24 He saw burning sands of gravel, and slabs of iron set apart, and cauldrons of iron with oil seething on every side.

18.2.25 And the son of Kuntī beheld the thorny śālmali tree, untouchable with its sharp spikes, and the torments of those who had done evil.

18.2.26 Marking that foul stench, he spoke to the divine messenger: How far must we travel along such a road as this?

18.2.27 And where are my brothers? This you ought to tell me. And what region of the gods is this? This I wish to know.

18.2.28 Hearing the words of the Dharma-king, the divine messenger turned back and said to him: Thus far does your journey go.

18.2.29 For I must turn back, so I was told by the dwellers in heaven. If you are weary, O lord of kings, then you may return.

18.2.30 But Yudhiṣṭhira, sickened and faint from that stench, set his mind on returning and turned back, O Bhārata.

18.2.31 As the righteous one turned back, filled with grief and sorrow, he heard piteous voices speaking all around him there.

18.2.32 O son of Dharma, royal sage, Pāṇḍava of holy lineage! For our sake, in mercy, stay but a moment longer.

18.2.33 As you, unassailable one, draw near, a holy breeze blows, bearing your fragrance, dear lord, by which ease has come to us.

18.2.34 We, O Pārtha, bull among men, after so long a time shall find relief at the sight of you, O best of kings.

18.2.35 Stay, mighty-armed one, even for a moment, O Bhārata; for while you remain, O Kaurava, the torment does not afflict us.

18.2.36 Such manifold pitiful voices of those in agony did he hear, O king, as they cried out on every side in that place.

18.2.37 Hearing those words of the wretched speakers, the compassionate Yudhiṣṭhira cried, Alas, what misery! and halted where he stood.

18.2.38 Those voices of the faint and the suffering, heard before now again and again, the Pāṇḍava could not recognize.

18.2.39 Not understanding those voices, Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, said: Who are you, and why do you remain here?

18.2.40 Thus addressed, they all then cried out from every side: I am Karṇa, I am Bhīmasena, I am Arjuna, O lord!

18.2.41 I am Nakula, I am Sahadeva, I am Dhṛṣṭadyumna; I am Draupadī, and we are the sons of Draupadī—thus they cried aloud.

18.2.42 Hearing those voices, fitting to that place, O king, the king then reflected: What is this, brought about by fate?

18.2.43 What sinful deed can have been done by these great-souled ones—by Karṇa, or by the sons of Draupadī, or by the fair-waisted Pāñcāla princess—

18.2.44 that they should be in this dreadful, evil-smelling region? For I know of no misdeed in all these doers of holy works.

18.2.45 What has the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra done, King Suyodhana, the wicked one, that he should be endowed with such splendor, together with all his followers,

18.2.46 and sit there glorious as great Indra, supremely honored? Whose doing now is this perversion, that these have gone to hell?

18.2.47 They who knew every law, brave men devoted to truth and scripture, intent on the warrior's duty, wise, performers of sacrifice with abundant gifts—

18.2.48 Am I asleep or awake? I am conscious, yet I do not comprehend. Ah, this must be some disorder of my mind, or some delusion of my senses.

18.2.49 In such manifold ways did King Yudhiṣṭhira reflect, overcome with grief and sorrow, his senses confounded by anguished thought.

18.2.50 And King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, gave way to fierce anger, and reproached both the gods and Dharma himself.

18.2.51 Tormented by that pungent stench, he said to the divine messenger: Go, good sir, into the presence of those whose messenger you are.

18.2.52 For I shall not go there; let it be made known that I remain here. For through my presence, O messenger, these my brothers find ease.

18.2.53 Thus addressed by the wise son of Pāṇḍu, the messenger then went to where the king of the gods, Śatakratu, abode.

18.2.54 And he reported the Dharma-king's resolve, all of it just as the son of Dharma had spoken it, O lord of men.

18.3.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When Pārtha, Yudhiṣṭhira the king of righteousness, had stood there a moment, O Kauravya, the gods came to that place, led by Śakra.

18.3.2 Dharma himself, embodied in form, came there to behold the king, to the very spot where the Kuru lord Yudhiṣṭhira stood.

18.3.3 When those gods of radiant bodies, of holy birth and holy deeds, had assembled, that darkness vanished, O king.

18.3.4 And there the torments of the evildoers were no longer to be seen, neither the river Vaitaraṇī nor the spiked silk-cotton tree.

18.3.5 The iron cauldrons and the dreadful rocks were seen no more; and those mangled bodies which the son of Kuntī had beheld everywhere about him—these too became invisible.

18.3.6 Then a wind, soft to the touch, bearing holy fragrances, auspicious and most cool, blew there near the gods, O Bhārata.

18.3.7 The Maruts with Śakra, the Vasus together with the two Aśvins, the Sādhyas, the Rudras, the Ādityas, and whatever other dwellers of heaven there were—

18.3.8 all of them assembled there, together with the Siddhas and the supreme sages, where the king of great splendour, the son of Dharma, was standing.

18.3.9 Then Śakra, lord of the gods, endowed with supreme majesty, spoke to Yudhiṣṭhira these soothing words:

18.3.10 "Yudhiṣṭhira, mighty-armed one, the hosts of the gods are pleased with you. Come, come, O tiger among men; enough has been done, O lord. Perfection has been attained by you, O king, and yours are the imperishable worlds.

18.3.11 You should harbour no anger; and hear these words of mine. Hell must of necessity be seen, dear son, by every king.

18.3.12 There are two heaps, O bull among men, of good deeds and of evil. He who first enjoys the fruit of his good deeds goes afterward to hell; but he whose lot is hell first attains heaven afterward.

18.3.13 He whose deeds are mostly evil enjoys heaven first; and therefore, O king, I, seeking your good, led you there in this manner.

18.3.14 For by a deception you deceived Droṇa concerning his son; and so by a deception, O king, hell was shown to you.

18.3.15 As you did, so did Bhīma, so Pārtha, so the twins, and so too Kṛṣṇā Draupadī—through deception they went to hell.

18.3.16 Come, O tiger among men; they are freed from their sin. And those kings of your own side who were slain in battle for you have all attained heaven—behold them, O bull among men.

18.3.17 And Karṇa, the great archer, the foremost of all who bear weapons—he for whose sake you grieve has gone to the supreme perfection.

18.3.18 Behold him, that tiger among men, the son of the Sun, O lord, established in his own station, mighty-armed one; cast off your grief, O bull among men.

18.3.19 Behold too your brothers and the other kings of your own side, each arrived at his own proper station; let the fever of your mind depart.

18.3.20 Having endured hardship before, from this point onward, O Kaurava, sport with me, free of grief and free of affliction.

18.3.21 Reap now, dear son, the fruit of your holy deeds, won by your own austerity, and of your gifts, O mighty-armed son of Pāṇḍu.

18.3.22 This day let the gods and Gandharvas and the celestial Apsarases, clad in spotless garments, attend upon you in your blessedness in heaven.

18.3.23 Attain, O mighty-armed one, the worlds won by your Rājasūya and increased by the Aśvamedha, and the great fruit of your austerity.

18.3.24 Far above the worlds of other kings are your worlds, Yudhiṣṭhira—equal to those of Hariścandra, O Pārtha—in which you shall take your delight.

18.3.25 Where the royal sage Māndhātṛ is, where King Bhagīratha is, where Bharata the son of Duḥṣanta is—there shall you take your delight.

18.3.26 This is the holy river of the gods, O Pārtha, that purifies the three worlds—the heavenly Gaṅgā, O lord of kings; bathing therein you shall go forward.

18.3.27 When you have bathed here your human nature will pass away; rid of grief and of toil, freed from enmity you shall become."

18.3.28 While the lord of the gods was thus speaking to Yudhiṣṭhira, lord of the Kurus, Dharma, visibly embodied in form, addressed his own son:

18.3.29 "Ho, O king of great wisdom, I am pleased with you, my son, by your devotion to me, by your truthful speech, by your forbearance and your self-restraint.

18.3.30 This is the third test of you, O king, that I have made; you cannot be moved from your nature by any inducements, O Pārtha.

18.3.31 Earlier you were tested in the Dvaita forest, over the matter of the fire-drill and its kindling-stick, and you passed that trial.

18.3.32 When your own brothers had fallen, and Draupadī too, there, O Bhārata, you were tested by me again, my son, in the form of a dog.

18.3.33 This is the third—that you wished to remain here for your brothers' sake. You are wholly pure, O greatly fortunate one, happy and free from all stain.

18.3.34 And your brothers, O Pārtha, are not in hell, O lord of peoples; this was an illusion employed by the king of the gods, the great Indra.

18.3.35 Hell must of necessity be seen, dear son, by all kings; and so for this brief moment you received this extreme of suffering.

18.3.36 Neither Savyasācin nor Bhīma, nor the twins, those bulls among men, nor the truthful, heroic Karṇa deserve to remain long in hell, O king.

18.3.37 Nor does the princess Kṛṣṇā deserve hell, Yudhiṣṭhira. Come, come, O best of the Bhāratas; behold the Gaṅgā that flows through the three worlds."

18.3.38 Thus addressed, that royal sage, your forefather of old, went on together with Dharma and with all the dwellers of the threefold heaven.

18.3.39 And having plunged into the Gaṅgā, the holy river of the gods, the purifier praised by the sages, the king cast off his human body.

18.3.40 Then, becoming of celestial form, Yudhiṣṭhira the king of righteousness, free of enmity and free of sorrow, was bathed in that water.

18.3.41 Then the wise Yudhiṣṭhira, king of the Kurus, surrounded by the gods and accompanied by Dharma, went on, being praised by the great sages.

18.4.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, honoured by the gods together with the hosts of sages and Maruts, went on to where those bulls of the Kurus were.

18.4.2 There he beheld Govinda invested with a brahmic form, recognizable by that very likeness he had seen before.

18.4.3 Blazing with his own splendour, attended by celestial weapons—the dread divine ones, the discus and the rest, in human form—and waited upon by the hero Phalguna of fair radiance.

18.4.4 Then in another place the joy of the Kurus beheld Karṇa, the foremost of weapon-bearers, in the company of the twelve Ādityas.

18.4.5 And in yet another place he saw the lordly Bhīmasena, surrounded by the host of the Maruts, invested with that very form.

18.4.6 And in the station of the two Aśvins the joy of the Kurus beheld Nakula and Sahadeva, blazing with their own splendour.

18.4.7 And so he beheld the Pāñcāla princess, garlanded with lotuses and blue lilies, standing with her form filling heaven, radiant as the sun.

18.4.8 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira at once wished to question her; whereupon the lord Indra, king of the gods, told him:

18.4.9 "This is Śrī, in the form of Draupadī, who came into the mortal world for your sake—born of no womb, beloved of the worlds, of holy fragrance, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

18.4.10 Born in the line of Drupada, and shared as your wife, she was fashioned by the trident-bearer for your delight.

18.4.11 These five greatly fortunate ones, Gandharvas radiant as fire, are the sons of Draupadī, O king—yours, of measureless might.

18.4.12 Behold the king of the Gandharvas, the sagacious Dhṛtarāṣṭra; and know him to be the elder brother of your father.

18.4.13 This is your elder brother, the son of Kuntī, of fire-like brilliance, the son of the Sun, your firstborn and foremost, renowned as Rādheya; he goes in the company of the Ādityas—behold him, O bull among men.

18.4.14 Among the hosts of the Sādhyas, the gods, the Vasus, and the Maruts, behold, O lord of kings, the great chariot-warriors of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, the heroes led by Sātyaki, and the Bhojas, the mighty car-warriors.

18.4.15 Behold, in the company of Soma, the unconquered son of Subhadrā—Abhimanyu, the great archer, of splendour like the moon.

18.4.16 This is Pāṇḍu, the great archer, reunited with Kuntī and Mādrī; your father comes ever to my presence by his celestial car.

18.4.17 Behold King Bhīṣma, the son of Śaṃtanu, in the company of the Vasus; and mark this Droṇa, your teacher, at the side of Bṛhaspati.

18.4.18 These and other lords of the earth, and your warriors too, O son of Pāṇḍu, go in the company of the Gandharvas and the Yakṣas, those holy beings.

18.4.19 And some of those best of men have attained the state of the Guhyakas, having cast off the body and won heaven by holy speech, thought, and deeds."

18.5.1 Janamejaya said: The high-souled Bhīṣma and Droṇa, and King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and both Virāṭa and Drupada, and Śaṅkha and Uttara as well,

18.5.2 Dhṛṣṭaketu, Jayatsena, and King Satyajit, and the sons of Duryodhana, and Śakuni the son of Subala,

18.5.3 and the valiant sons of Karṇa, and King Jayadratha, and Ghaṭotkaca and the rest, and the others not here named—

18.5.4 and those other kings of radiant form who were named there—for how long a time did they abide in heaven? Tell me that as well.

18.5.5 Or is their station there eternal, O best of the twice-born? Or at the end of their deeds, what destiny did those bulls among men attain? This I wish to hear, told by you, O brahmin.

18.5.6 The Sūta said: Thus addressed, that sage among brahmins, given leave by the high-souled Vyāsa, began to recount it to that king.

18.5.7 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: At the end of his deeds everyone must depart, O lord of men. Hear this secret of the gods, O king, O bull of the Bhāratas, which the one of great splendour, of divine sight, the mighty—

18.5.8 the ancient sage, O Kauravya, the son of Parāśara of great vows, of fathomless intellect, omniscient, knowing the destinies of all deeds—declared.

18.5.9 Bhīṣma of great splendour and great brilliance attained the Vasus themselves; for indeed only eight Vasus are now seen, O bull of the Bhāratas.

18.5.10 Then Droṇa entered into Bṛhaspati, the best of the line of Aṅgiras; and Kṛtavarman the son of Hṛdika entered the host of the Maruts.

18.5.11 Pradyumna entered into Sanatkumāra, whence he had come; and Dhṛtarāṣṭra attained the worlds of the lord of wealth, hard to reach.

18.5.12 And the illustrious Gāndhārī went together with Dhṛtarāṣṭra; and Pāṇḍu, together with his two wives, went to the abode of the great Indra.

18.5.13 Both Virāṭa and Drupada, and King Dhṛṣṭaketu, and Niśaṭha, Akrūra, and Sāmba, and Bhānu, Kampa, and Viḍūratha,

18.5.14 Bhūriśravas and Śala, and Bhūri the lord of the earth, and Ugrasena, and Kaṃsa, and the valiant Vāsudeva,

18.5.15 and Uttara, that bull among men, together with his brother Śaṅkha—these best of men entered into the All-Gods, the Viśvedevas.

18.5.16 The son of Soma, named Varcas, of great splendour and might, became Abhimanyu, the son of Phalguna, that lion among men.

18.5.17 Having fought by the law of the warrior as no other man anywhere had done, that righteous great car-warrior, at the end of his deeds, entered into Soma.

18.5.18 Karṇa entered the Sun, his father, O bull among men; Śakuni attained Dvāpara, and Dhṛṣṭadyumna the fire-god.

18.5.19 All the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, fierce in might, were Rākṣasas; prosperous and high-souled, purified by the weapon, they went to heaven. And the Kṣattṛ (Vidura) entered into Dharma himself, as did King Yudhiṣṭhira.

18.5.20 The blessed god Ananta entered the nether region, Rasātala—he who, by the command of the Grandsire, by his yoga upheld the earth.

18.5.21 The sixteen thousand women who were the consorts of Vāsudeva, O Janamejaya, in time plunged into the Sarasvatī; and they too, becoming apsarases, went to Vāsudeva.

18.5.22 Those heroic mighty warriors who were slain in that great battle—Ghaṭotkaca and all the rest—attained the company of the gods and the yakṣas.

18.5.23 And the rākṣasas who are celebrated as the allies of Duryodhana, O king, in due order attained the most excellent of all the worlds.

18.5.24 Those bulls among men entered the abode of great Indra, and of wise Kubera, and likewise the worlds of Varuṇa.

18.5.25 All this has been recounted to you in full detail, O greatly radiant one—the entire history of the Kurus and of the Pāṇḍavas, O Bhārata.

18.5.26 The Sūta said: Having heard this from the foremost of the twice-born, that king Janamejaya was struck with the utmost wonder there in the intervals of the rites of the sacrifice.

18.5.27 Then his officiating priests brought that rite to completion, and Āstīka was well pleased, having delivered the serpents.

18.5.28 Then he gratified all those twice-born ones with sacrificial fees; and, honored by the king, they departed as they had come.

18.5.29 And king Janamejaya too, having dismissed those brāhmaṇas, then returned once more from Takṣaśilā to the city named for the elephant.

18.5.30 All this, proclaimed by Vaiśaṃpāyana, has been recounted to you—told by the command of Vyāsa at the snake sacrifice of the king.

18.5.31 Holy is this work called a history, and supremely purifying, O brāhmaṇa—composed by the sage Kṛṣṇa, the disciplined, the speaker of truth,

18.5.32 by the all-knowing, the knower of ordinance, the possessor of knowledge of dharma, the good, the transcender of the senses, the pure, whose soul was perfected by austerity,

18.5.33 who dwelt in sovereign power, who knew Sāṃkhya and Yoga, awakened in many systems of teaching, having beheld it with the divine eye,

18.5.34 spreading abroad in the world the fame of the great-souled Pāṇḍavas and of other kṣatriyas abounding in wealth and splendor.

18.5.35 The learned man who has this recited at every sacred season, his sins shaken off and heaven won, goes on to become one with Brahman.

18.5.36 And whoever has even a quarter of this recited to brāhmaṇas at a śrāddha, for him imperishable food and drink await his ancestors.

18.5.37 Whatever sin one commits by day, whether through the senses or even through the mind, by reciting the Mahābhārata one is afterward freed of it at the twilight prayer.

18.5.38 In dharma, in artha, in kāma, and in mokṣa, O bull of the Bhāratas—whatever is here may be found elsewhere; but what is not here is found nowhere at all.

18.5.39 This history is named Jaya, the Victory, and should be heard by one who desires prosperity—by a king, by princes, and even by a woman with child.

18.5.40 He who longs for heaven may gain heaven; he who longs for victory may gain victory; the woman with child obtains a son, or a daughter of great fortune.

18.5.41 The mighty Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, foreseeing things to come, in three years wrought the composition of this Bhārata out of love for dharma.

18.5.42 Nārada recited it to the gods, Asita Devala to the ancestors, Śuka to the rākṣasas and yakṣas, and Vaiśaṃpāyana indeed to mortals.

18.5.43 This holy history, of great import, equal to the Vedas—whoever recites it to the three varṇas, placing a brāhmaṇa at their head,

18.5.44 that man, freed from sin and gaining renown here, O Śaunaka, will attain the supreme perfection—of this I have no doubt.

18.5.45 By the meritorious study of the Bhārata—even of one who studies but a quarter of it with faith—all sins are wholly purged away.

18.5.46 The great sage, the venerable Vyāsa, having of old composed this collection, in four verses the venerable one instructed his son Śuka.

18.5.47 Thousands of mothers and fathers, and hundreds of sons and wives, experienced in the round of births, have passed away, and others yet will pass.

18.5.48 Thousands of occasions for joy and hundreds for fear, day after day, beset the fool, but not the wise.

18.5.49 With arms upraised I cry aloud, yet no one hears me: from dharma flow both artha and kāma—why then is dharma not pursued?

18.5.50 Never out of desire, nor out of fear, nor out of greed should one forsake dharma, even for the sake of life itself. Dharma is eternal, while pleasure and pain are fleeting; the soul is eternal, but its cause is transient.

18.5.51 He who, rising at dawn, recites this Sāvitrī of the Bhārata, gaining the fruit of the Bhārata attains the supreme Brahman.

18.5.52 As the lordly ocean and as the Himālaya mountain are both renowned as treasuries of jewels, so is the Bhārata declared to be.

18.5.53 Whoever, well-composed in mind, recites the tale of the Mahābhārata will attain the supreme perfection—of this I have no doubt.

18.5.54 For one who attains the Bhārata as it is recited—immeasurable, holy, purifying, sin-removing, and auspicious, sprung from the cradle of Dvaipāyana's lips—what need has he of consecration with the waters of the lotus-pool?