Chapter 121

Lomasa said, “O king! when the Nriga performed a sacrifice here, hegratified Indra, the demolisher of hostile cities, by offering the Somajuice. And Indra was refreshed and was very much pleased. Here the godstogether with Indira, and the protectors of all born beings, celebratedsacrifices of various kinds on a large scale, and paid abundantgratuities to the ministering priests. Here king Amurtarayasa, the lordof the world, satisfied Indra, the holder of the thunderbolt, by theoffer of the Soma juice, when seven horse-sacrifices were performed bythat king. The articles which in other sacrificial rites are uniformlymade of the timber, wood and of earth, were all made of gold in the sevensacrifices performed by him. And it is said that in all those rites,seven sets of stakes, rings for the sacrificial stakes, spots, ladles,utensils, spoons were prepared by him. On each sacrificial stake, sevenrings were fastened at the top. And, O Yudhishthira! the celestialstogether with Indira, themselves erected the sacrificial stakes ofshining gold which had been prepared for his sacred rites. In all thosemagnificent sacrifices instituted by Gaya, the protector of the earth,Indira, was delighted by drinking the Soma juice, and the ministeringpriests were gratified with the gratuities paid to them. And the priestsobtained untold wealth counted out to them. And as the sand-grains of theearth, or as the stars in the sky, or as the rain-drops when it raineth,cannot be counted by anyone, so the wealth Gaya gave away was incapableof being counted by figures. So untold was the wealth, O great king! thatwas given to the ministering priests in all those seven sacrifices thateven the above-mentioned objects might be counted by figures, but thegratuities bestowed by him whose largeness exceeded all that was knownbefore were not capable of being counted by figures. And images of thegoddess of speech were made of gold by the sculptor of the gods;–and theking gratified the members of the sacerdotal caste, who had arrived fromall the cardinal points, by making presents to them of those images, ofgold. O protector of men! when the high-souled Gaya performed hissacrificial rites, he erected sacrificial piles at so many differentspots that but little space was left on the surface of the earth. And, Oscion of Bharata’s race! he by that sacred act attained the regions ofIndra. Whoever should bathe in the river, Payosini, would go to theregions attained by Gaya. Therefore, O lord of kings! O unswervingprince! thou and thy brothers should bathe in this river; then, Oprotector of the earth, thou wilt be freed from all these sins.”

Vaisampayana said, “O most praiseworthy of men! Yudhishthira with hisbrothers performed ablutions in the Payosini river. Then, O sinlessprince! the powerful monarch together with his brothers, journeyed to thehill of sapphires and the great river Narmada. The blessed saint Lomasathere named to him all the delightful holy spots and all the sacredshrines of the celestials. Then he with his brothers visited thoseplaces, according to his desire and convenience. And at various placesBrahmanas by thousands received gifts from him.”

“Lomasa said, ‘O son of Kunti! one who visits the sapphire Hill andplunges his body in the river Narmada attains the regions inhabited bythe celestials and kings. O most praiseworthy of men! this period is thejunction between the Treta and the Kali age, O Kunti’s son! This is theperiod when a person gets rid of all his sins. O respected sir! this isthe spot where Saryati performed sacrificial rites, wherein Indraappeared in a visible form and drank the Soma juice, with the twocelestial physicians. And Bhrigu’s son of severe austerities conceivedanger towards the great Indra; and the mighty Chyavana paralysed Indra,and for his wife obtained the princess, Sukanya.'”

“Yudhishthira said, ‘How was the chastiser of the demon Paka, the godpossessed of the six attributes, paralysed by Chyavana? And for whatreason did the mighty saint conceive wrath towards Indra? And how, OBrahmana! did he raise the celestial physicians to the rank of thedrinkers of Soma? All this, precisely as it happened, thy venerable selfwill be pleased to recount to me.'”