joy and hundreds of occasions for
fear. These affect only him that is ignorant but never him that is wise.
With uplifted arms I am crying aloud but nobody hears me. From
Righteousness is Wealth as also Pleasure. Why should not Righteousness,
therefore, be courted? For the sake neither of pleasure, nor of fear, nor
of cupidity should any one cast off Righteousness. Indeed, for the sake
of even life one should not cast off Righteousness. Righteousness is
eternal. Pleasure and Pain are not eternal. Jiva is eternal. The cause,
however, of Jiva's being invested with a body is not so.

"That man who, waking up at dawn, reads this Savittri of the Bharata,
acquires all the rewards attached to a recitation of this history and
ultimately attains to the highest Brahma. As the sacred Ocean, as the
Himavat mountain, are both regarded as mines of precious gems, even so is
this Bharata (regarded as a mine of precious gems). The man of learning,
by reciting to others this Veda or Agama composed by (the Island-born)
Krishna, earns wealth. There is no doubt in this that he who, with rapt
attention, recites this history called Bharata, attains to high success.
What need has that man of a sprinkling of the waters of Pushkara who
attentively listens to this Bharata, while it is recited to him? It
represents the nectar that fell from the lips of the Island-born. It is
immeasurable, sacred, sanctifying, sin-cleansing, and auspicious."

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 Bharata's race, are to be seen in one
place the eternal Rudras, t