"'"Renuka, proceeding to where those elephants are, addressed them, saying, 'Ye mighty creatures, I have been commanded by the deities and the Pitris to question you about the mysteries of religion and duty. I desire to hear you discourse on that subject in detail. Ye highly blessed ones, do ye discourse on the subject as your wisdom may dictate.'
"'"The (eight) elephants standing in the eight quarters said, 'On the auspicious eighth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Karttika when the constellation Aslesha is in the ascendant, one should make gifts of treacle and rice. Casting aside wrath, and living on regulated diet, one should make these offerings at a Sraddha, uttering these mantras the while—"Let Valadeva and other Nagas possessed of great strength, let other mighty snakes of huge bodies that are indestructible and eternal, and let all the other great snakes that have taken their birth in their race, make Vali offerings to me for the enhancement of my strength and energy. Verily, let my strength be as great as that of the blessed Narayana when he raised the submerged Earth!"—Uttering these mantras, one should make Vali offerings upon an ant-hill. When the maker of day retires to his chambers in the west, upon the ant-hill selected should offerings be made of raw sugar and rice. The ant-hill should previously be scattered with Gajendra flowers. Offerings should also be made of blue cloths and fragrant unguents. If offerings are made in this way, those beings that live in the nether regions, bearing the weight of the upper regions upon their heads or shoulders, become well-pleased and gratified. As regards ourselves, we also do not feel the labour of upholding the Earth, in consequence of such offerings being made to us. Afflicted with the burden we bear, even this is what we think (beneficial for men), without the slightest regard for selfish concerns. Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and Sudras, by observing this rule for a full year, fasting on each occasion, acquire great merits from such gifts. We think that the making of such Vali offerings on the ant-hill is really fraught with very superior merits. By making such offerings, one is regarded as doing the duties of hospitality for a hundred years to all the mighty elephants that exist in the three worlds.' Hearing these words of the mighty elephants, the deities and the Pitris and the highly blessed Rishis, all applauded Renuka."'"
SECTION CXXXIII
"'"Maheswara said, 'Searching your memories, excellent are the duties ye all have recited. Listen all of you now to me as I declare some mysteries relating to religion and duty. Only those persons whose understanding has been set on religion and who are possessed of faith, should be instructed in respect of those mysteries of duty and religion that are fraught with high merits. Hear what the merits are that become his who, with heart free from anxiety, gives food everyday, for a month, to kine and contents himself with one meal a day throughout such period. The kine are highly blessed. They are regarded as the most sacred of all sacred things. Verily, it is they that are upholding the three worlds with the deities, the Asuras, and human beings. Respectful services rendered to them are fraught with high merit and grave consequences. That man who every day gives food to kine advances every day in religious merit. Formerly, in the Krita age I had expressed my approval of these creatures. Afterwards Brahman, born of the primeval lotus, solicited me (to show kindness towards kine).[558] It is for this reason that a bull to this day stands as the device on my standard overhead. I always sport with kine. Hence should kine be worshipped by all. Kine are possessed of great power. They are givers of boons. If worshipped, they would grant boons. That person who gives food to kine even for a single day receives from those beneficent creatures for that act a fourth part of the merits he may win by all his good acts in life.'"'"
SECTION CXXXIV
"'"Skanda said, 'I shall now declare a duty that is approved of by me. Do ye listen to it with concentrated attention. That person who takes a little earth from the horns of a bull of blue complexion, smears his body therewith for three days, and then performs his ablutions, acquires great merits. Hear what those merits are. By such an act he would wash away every stain and evil, and attain to sovereign sway hereafter. As many times he takes his birth in this world, so many times does he become celebrated for his heroism. Listen now to another mystery unknown to all. Taking a vessel of copper and placing therein some cooked food after having mixed it with honey, one should offer it as Vali unto the rising moon on the evening of the day when that luminary is at full. Do ye learn, with faith, what the merits are of the person that acts in this way. The Sadhyas, the Rudras, the Adityas, the Viswedevas, the twin Aswins, the Maruts, and the Vasus, all accept that offering. By such an offering Soma increases as also the ocean, that vast receptacle of waters. This duty that is declared by me and that is unknown to all, if performed, is certainly fraught with great happiness.'
"'"Vishnu said, 'That person who, endued with faith and freed from malice, listens every day with concentrated attention to the mysteries in respect of religion and duty that are preserved by the high-souled deities and those mysteries also of the same kind that are preserved by the Rishis, has never to succumb to any evil. Such a person becomes also freed from every fear. That man who, with his senses under thorough control, reads these sections which treat of these auspicious and meritorious duties, together with their mysteries,—duties that have been declared (by the previous speakers), acquires all the merits that attach to their actual performance. Sin can never overmaster him. Verily, such a man can never be stained with faults of any kind. Indeed, one wins abundant merits by reading these mysteries (as declared), or by reciting them to others, or by hearing them recited. The deities and the Pitris eat forever the Havya and the Kavya offered by such a creature. Both these, in consequence of the virtues of the offerer become inexhaustible. Even such is the merit that attaches to the person who, with concentrated attention, recites these mysteries to foremost of Brahmanas on days of the full moon or the new moon. Such a person, in consequence of such an act, becomes steady in the observance of all duties. Beauty of form and prosperity also become his. He succeeds, besides this, in becoming the favourite, for all time, of the Rishis and the deities and the Pitris. If a person becomes guilty of all sins save those which are classed as grave or heinous, he becomes cleansed of them all by only listening to the recitation of these mysteries about religion and duty.'"
"'Bhishma continued, "Even these, O king of men, are the mysteries in respect of religion and duty dwelling in the breasts of the deities. Held in high respect by all the gods and promulgated by Vyasa, they have now been declared by me for thy benefit. One who is conversant with religion and duty thinks that this excellent knowledge is superior (in value) to even the whole earth full of riches and wealth. This knowledge should not be imparted to one that is bereft of faith, or to one that is an atheist, or to one that has fallen away from the duties of his order, or to one that is destitute of compassion, or to one that is devoted to the science of empty disputations, or to one that is hostile to one's preceptors, or to one that thinks all creatures to be different from oneself."'"
SECTION CXXXV
"'Yudhishthira said, "Who are those persons, O Bharata, from whom a
Brahmana in this world may accept his food? From whom may a Kshatriya, a
Vaisya, and a Sudra take their food respectively?"