of the Munja grass.  Bow unto Him who is Peace and Tranquillity, and who imparts the religion of Moksha unto all creatures.  Bow unto Him who is the Lord of Penances, of all kinds of energy, and of Fame, who is ever the Lord of Speech and the Lord of all the Rivers also.  Bow unto Him who is called Kaparddin (Rudra), who is the Great Boar, who is Unicorn, and who is possessed of great intelligence:  who is the Sun, who assumed the well-known form with the equine head; and who is always displayed in a four-fold form.  Bow unto Him who is unrevealed, who is capable of being apprehended by knowledge only, who is both indestructible and destructible.  The supreme Deity, who is immutable, pervadeth all things.  He is the Supreme Lord who can be 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 (be 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.’”