e
ordinances or hears them read, becomes freed from sins of every kind. Not
only is such a person freed from every calamity, but his mind becomes
incapable of being touched by any kind of fault. Such a person succeeds
in understanding the sounds of all creatures other than human, and
acquiring eternal fame, become foremost of his species."'"

SECTION CVII

"'Yudhishthira said, "O high-souled grandsire, thou hast duly discoursed
to us on the subject of Sacrifices, including the merits in detail that
attach to them both here and hereafter. It should be remembered, however,
O grandsire, that Sacrifices are incapable of being performed, by people
that are poor, for these require a large store of diverse kinds of
articles. Indeed, O grandsire, the merit attaching to Sacrifices can be
acquired by only kings and princes. That merit is incapable of being
acquired by those that are destitute of wealth and divested of ability
and that live alone and are helpless. Do thou tell us, O grandsire, what
the ordinances are in respect of those acts that are fraught with merit
equal to what attaches to sacrifices and which, therefore, are capable of
being performed by persons destitute of means."[490]

"'Bhishma said, "Listen, O Yudhishthira! Those ordinances that I have told
thee of,--those, viz., that were first promulgated by the great Rishi
Angiras, and that have reference to meritorious fasts for their
soul,--are regarded as equal to Sacrifices (in respect of the fruits they
bring about both here and hereafter). That man who takes one meal in the
forenoon and one at night, without taking any food or drink during the
interval, and who observes this regulation for a period of six years in
succession, abstaining all the while from injuring any creature and
regularly pouring libations on his sacred fire every day, attains,
without doubt, to success. Such a man acquires hereafter a car of the
complexion of heated gold, and attains to a residence, for millions of
years, in the region of Prajapati, in the company of celestial damsels,
that ever echoes with the sound of music and dance, and blazes with the
effulgence of fire. He who passes three years, confining himself every
day to one meal and abstaining all the while from congress with any other
woman save his own wedded wife, attains to the merit of the Agnishtoma
sacrifice. Such a man is regarded as having performed a Sacrifice, with
plenty of gifts in gold, that is dear to Vasava