“The messenger of the gods said, ’O great sage, thou art of simple understanding; since, having secured that celestial bliss which bringeth great honour, thou art still deliberating like an unwise person.  O Muni, that region which is known as heaven, existeth there above us.  Those regions tower high, and are furnished with excellent paths, and are, O sage, always ranged by celestial cars.  Atheists, and untruthful persons, those that have not practised ascetic austerities and those that have not performed great sacrifices, cannot repair thither.  Only men of virtuous souls, and those of subdued spirits, and those that have their faculties in subjection, and those that have controlled their senses, and those that are free from malice, and persons intent on the practice of charity; and heroes, and men bearing marks of battle, after having, with subdued senses and faculties, performed the most meritorious rites, attain those regions, O Brahmana, capable of being obtained only by virtuous acts, and inhabited by pious men.  There, O Mudgala, are established separately myriads of beautiful, shining, and resplendent worlds bestowing every object of desire, owned by those celestial beings, the gods, the Sadhyas, and the Vaiswas, the great sages, Yamas, and the Dharmas, and the Gandharvas and the Apsaras.  And there is that monarch of mountains the golden Meru extending over a space of thirty-three thousand Yojanas.  And there, O Mudgala, are the sacred gardens of the celestials, with Nandana at their head, where sport the persons of meritorious acts.  And neither hunger, nor thirst, nor lassitude, nor fear, nor anything that is disgusting or inauspicious is there.  And all the odours of that place are delightful, and all the breezes delicious to the touch.  And all the sounds there are captivating, O sage, to the ear and the heart.  And neither grief, nor decrepitude, nor labour, nor repentance also is there.  That world, O Muni, obtained as the fruit of one’s own acts, is of this nature.  Persons repair thither by virtue of their meritorious deeds.  And the persons of those that dwell there look resplendent, and this, O Mudgala, solely by virtue of their own acts, and not owing to the merits of father or mothers.  And there is neither sweat, nor stench, nor urine there.  And, there, O Muni, dust doth not soils one’s garments.  And their excellent garlands, redolent of divine fragrance, never fade.  And, O Brahmana, they yoke such cars as this (that I have brought).  And, O mighty sage, devoid of envy and grief and fatigue and ignorance and malice, men who have attained heaven, dwell in those regions happily.  And, O bull among Munis, higher and higher over such regions there are others endued with higher celestial virtues.  Of these, the beautiful and resplendent regions of Brahma are the foremost.  Thither, O Brahmana, repair Rishis that have been sanctified by meritorious acts.  And there dwell certain beings named Ribhus.  They are the gods of the