, and who eats in this
way, becomes as stainless as ether and endued with effulgence like that
of the sun himself.[499] Such a man, O king, proceeding to heaven in even
his own carnal form, enjoys all the felicity that is there like a deity
at his will.

"I have thus told thee, O chief of the Bharatas, what the excellent
ordinances are in respect of sacrifices, one after another, as dependent
upon the fruits of fasts.[500] Poor men, O son of Pritha (who are unable
to perform sacrifices) may, nevertheless, acquire the fruits thereof (by
the observance of fasts). Verily, by observing these fasts, even a poor
man may attain to the highest end, O foremost one of Bharata's race,
attending all the while, besides, to the worship of the deities and the
Brahmanas. I have thus recited to thee in detail the ordinances in respect
of fasts. Do not harbour any doubt in respect of those men that are so
observant of vows, that are so heedful and pure and high-souled, that are
so freed from pride and contentions of every kind, that are endued with
such devoted understandings, and that pursue their end with such
steadiness and fixity of purpose without ever deviating from their path."'"

SECTION CVIII

"'Yudhishthira said, "Do thou tell me, O grandsire, of that which is
regarded as the foremost of all Tirthas. Indeed, it behoveth thee to
expound to me what that Tirtha is which conduces to the greatest
purity."[501]

"'Bhishma said, "Without doubt, all Tirthas are possessed of merit.
Listen, however, with attention to me as I tell thee what the Tirtha, the
cleanser, is of men endued with wisdom. Adhering to eternal Truth, one
should bathe in the Tirtha called Manasa, which is unfathomable (for its
depth), stainless, and pure, and which has Truth for its waters and the
understanding for its lake.[502] The fruits in the form of cleansing,
that one acquires by bathing in that Tirtha, are freedom from cupidity,
sincerity, truthfulness, mildness (of behaviour), compassion, abstention
from injuring any creature, self-restraint, and tranquillity. Those men
that are freed from attachments, that are divested of pride, that
transcend all pairs of opposites (such as pleasure and pain, praise and
blame, heat and cold, etc.), that have no spouses and children and houses
and gardens, etc., that are endued with purity, and that subsist upon the
alms given to them by others, are regarded as Tirthas. He who is
acquainted with the truths of all thi