all their
beauty, and some of which bore flowers of every season. And he noticed
also many mansions that looked like celestial cars or like beautiful
mountains. And at some places, O Bharata, there were tanks and lakes full
of cool water and at others were those that were full of warm or hot
water. And there were diverse kinds of excellent seats and costly beds,
and bedsteads made of gold and gems and overlaid with cloths and carpets
of great beauty and value. Of comestible there were enormous quantities,
well-dressed and ready for use. And there were talking parrots and
she-parrots and Bhringarajas and Kokilas and Catapatras with Koyashtikas
and Kukkubhas, and peacocks and cocks and Datyuhas and Jivajivakas and
Chakoras and monkeys and swans and Sarasas and Chakravakas.[310] Here and
there he beheld bevies of rejoicing Apsaras and conclaves of happy
Gandharvas, O monarch. And he beheld other Gandharvas at other places
rejoicing with their dear spouses. The king sometimes beheld these sights
and sometimes could not see them (for they seemed to disappear from
before his eyes). The monarch heard also melodious strains of vocal music
and the agreeable voices of preceptors engaged in lecturing to their
disciples on the Vedas and the scriptures. And the monarch also heard the
harmonious cackle of the geese sporting in the lakes. Beholding such
exceedingly wonderful sights, the king began to reflect inwardly, saying,
'Is this a dream? Or is all this due to an aberration of my mind? Or, is
it all real? O, I have, without casting off my earthly tenement, attained
to the beatitude of heaven! This land is either the sacred country of the
Uttara-Kurus, or the abode, called Amaravati, of the chief of the
celestials! O, what are these wonderful sights that I behold!' Reflecting
in this strain, the monarch at last saw that foremost of Rishis. In that
palace of gold (endued) with columns (made) of jewels and gems, lay the
son of Bhrigu stretched on a costly and excellent bed. With his wife by
his side the king approached with a delighted heart the Rishi as he lay
on that bed. Chyavana, however, quickly disappeared at this, with the bed
itself upon which he lay. The king then beheld the Rishi at another part
of those woods seated on a mat made of Kusa grass, and engaged in
mentally reciting some high Mantras. By his Yoga-power, even thus did
that Brahmana stupefy the king. In a moment that delightful wood, those
bevies of Apsaras, those