o them. And the priests
obtained untold wealth counted out to them. And as the sand-grains of the
earth, 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 incapable
of being counted by figures. So untold was the wealth, O great king! that
was given to the ministering priests in all those seven sacrifices that
even the above-mentioned objects might be counted by figures, but the
gratuities bestowed by him whose largeness exceeded all that was known
before were not capable of being counted by figures. And images of the
goddess of speech were made of gold by the sculptor of the gods;--and the
king gratified the members of the sacerdotal caste, who had arrived from
all the cardinal points, by making presents to them of those images, of
gold. O protector of men! when the high-souled Gaya performed his
sacrificial rites, he erected sacrificial piles at so many different
spots that but little space was left on the surface of the earth. And, O
scion of Bharata's race! he by that sacred act attained the regions of
Indra. Whoever should bathe in the river, Payosini, would go to the
regions attained by Gaya. Therefore, O lord of kings! O unswerving
prince! thou and thy brothers should bathe in this river; then, O
protector of the earth, thou wilt be freed from all these sins."

Vaisampayana said, "O most praiseworthy of men! Yudhishthira with his
brothers performed ablutions in the Payosini river. Then, O sinless
prince! the powerful monarch together with his brothers, journeyed to the
hill of sapphires and the great river Narmada. The blessed saint Lomasa
there named to him all the delightful holy spots and all the sacred
shrines of the celestials. Then he with his brothers visited those
places, according to his desire and convenience. And at various places
Brahmanas by thousands received gifts from him."

"Lomasa said, 'O son of Kunti! one who visits the sapphire Hill and
plunges his body in the river Narmada attains the regions inhabited by
the celestials and kings. O most praiseworthy of men! this period is the
junction between the Treta and the Kali age, O Kunti's son! This is the
period when a person gets rid of all his sins. O respected sir! this is
the spot where Saryati performed sacrificial rites, wherein Indra
appeared in a visible form and drank the Soma juice, with the two
celestial physicians. And Bhrigu's son of severe austerities conceive