known with the aid of the eye of knowledge alone. It was thus that, aided
by the eye of Knowledge, I beheld in days of yore that foremost of
deities. Asked by you, I have told you everything in detail, ye
disciples, and do you act according to my words and dutifully serve the
Supreme Lord called Hari. Do you hymn His praises in Vedic words and
adore and worship Him also according to due rites!"'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'It was thus that the arranger of the Vedas,
endued with great intelligence, discoursed to us, questioned by us on
that occasion. His son, the highly righteous Suka, and all his disciples
(viz., ourselves) listened to him while he delivered that discourse. Our
preceptor, with ourselves, O king, then adored the great Deity with Richs
extracted from the four Vedas. I have thus told thee everything about
what thou hadst asked me. It was thus, O king, that our Island-born
preceptor discoursed to us. He who, having uttered the words--I bow unto
the holy Lord,--frequently listens, with concentrated attention, to this
discourse or reads or recites it to others, becomes endued with
intelligence and health, and possessed of beauty and strength. If ill, he
becomes freed from that illness, bound, freed from his bonds. The man who
cherishes desires obtains (by this) the fruition of all his desires, and
easily attains to a long life also. A Brahmana, by doing this, becomes
conversant with all the Vedas, and a Kshatriya becomes crowned with
success. A Vaisya, by doing it, makes considerable profits, and a Sudra
attains to great felicity. A sonless man obtains a son. A maiden obtains
a desirable husband. A woman that has conceived brings forth a son. A
barren woman conceives and attains to wealth of sons and grandsons. He
who recites this discourse on the way succeeds in passing happily and
without impediments of any kind along his way. In fact, one attains to
whatever objects one cherishes, if one reads or recites this narrative.
Hearing these words of the great Rishi, fraught with certainty of
conclusion, and embodying a recital of the attributes of that high-souled
one who is the foremost of all beings, hearing this narrative of the
great conclave of Rishis and other denizens of heaven,--men who are
devoted to the supreme Deity derive great happiness."'

SECTION CCCXLII

"Janamejaya said, 'O holy one, it behoveth thee to tell me the
significance of those diverse names uttering which the great Rishi Vyasa
with