“Vaisampayana continued,—­“Thus addressed by Narada, the high-souled king Yudhishthira the just, with his brothers and all those foremost of Brahmanas (seated around him), joined his hands (in entreaty).  And the monarch then asked Narada, saying,—­’Describe unto us all those assembly rooms.  We desire to listen to thee.  O Brahmana, what are the articles with which each of the Sabhas are made of?  What is the area of each, and what is the length and breadth of each?  Who wait upon the Grandsire in that assembly room?  And who also upon Vasava, the Lord of the celestials and upon Yama, the son of Vivaswana?  Who wait upon Varuna and upon Kuvera in their respective assembly rooms.  O Brahmana Rishi, tell us all about these.  We all together desire to hear thee describe them.  Indeed, our curiosity is great.’  Thus addressed by the son of Pandu, Narada replied, saying,—­’O monarch, hear ye all about those celestial assembly rooms one after another.”

SECTION VII

“Narada said,—­the celestial assembly room of Sakra is full of lustre.  He hath obtained it as the fruit of his own acts.  Possessed of the splendour of the sun, it was built, O scion of the Kuru race, by Sakra himself.  Capable of going everywhere at will, this celestial assembly house is full one hundred and fifty yojanas in length, and hundred yojanas in breadth, and five yojanas in height.  Dispelling weakness of age, grief, fatigue, and fear, auspicious and bestowing good fortune, furnished with rooms and seats and adorned with celestial trees, it is delightful in the extreme.  There sitteth in that assembly room, O son of Pritha, on an excellent seat, the Lord of celestials, with his wife Sachi endowed with beauty and affluence.  Assuming a form incapable of description for its vagueness, with a crown on his head and bright bracelets on the upper arms, attired in robes of pure white and decked with floral wreaths of many hues, there he sitteth with beauty, fame, and glory by his side.  And the illustrious deity of a hundred sacrifices is daily waited upon.  O monarch, in that assembly by the Marutas in a body, each leading the life of a householder in the bosom of his family.  And the Siddhyas, celestial Rishis, the Sadhyas in all, the gods, and Marutas of brilliant complexion and adorned with golden garlands,—­all of them in celestial form and decked in ornaments, always wait upon and worship the illustrious chief of the immortals, that mighty represser of all foes.  And O son of Pritha, the celestial Rishis also, all of pure souls, with sins completely washed off and resplendent as the fire, and possessed of energy, and without sorrow of any kind, and freed from the fever of anxiety, and all performers of the Soma sacrifice, also wait upon and worship Indra.  And Parasara and Parvata and Savarni and Galava; and Sankha, and the Muni, Gaursiras, and Durvasa, and Krodhana and Swena and the Muni Dhirghatamas; and Pavitrapani,