will come of itself.  By penances he attains to purity of soul, and self-restraint, and cessation of aversion and desire.  Freed from attachment and delusion, above the influence of all pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold, joy and sorrow, etc.), he never grieves and never suffers himself to be drawn towards worldly objects.  He does not regard himself as the actor nor as the enjoyer or sufferer of the consequences of his acts.  He never, through selfishness, fixes his mind on anything.  Without being employed in the acquisition of wealth, he abstains also from disregarding or insulting others, but not from work.  The work in which he is employed is that of meditation; he is devoted to meditation, and seeks meditation unalterably.  By meditation he succeeds in bringing about concentrated contemplation, and then gradually leaves off meditation itself.  In that state he enjoys the felicity which attaches to the abandonment of all things.  Having thoroughly mastered the principle of desire he casts off his life-breaths and then enters into the Brahmic body.  Or, if he does not desire to enter into the Brahmic body, he at once goes upwards into the region of Brahma and has never to undergo rebirth.  Having become tranquillity’s self, and being freed from all kinds of calamity, such a person, by depending upon his own intelligence, succeeds in attaining to that Soul which is pure and immortal and which is without a stain.’”

SECTION CXCVII

“Yudhishthira said, ’Thou hast said that as regards Reciters, they obtain this very high end.[627] I beg to enquire whether this is their only end or there is any other to which they attain.’

“Bhishma said, ’Listen with concentrated attention, O puissant monarch, to the end that silent Reciters attain, and to the diverse kinds of hell into which they sink, O bull among men!  That Reciter who does not at first conduct himself according to the method that has been laid down, and who cannot complete the ritual or course of discipline laid down, has to go to hell.[628] That Reciter who goes on without faith, who is not contented with his work, and who takes no pleasure in it, goes to hell, without doubt.  They who follow the ritual with pride in their hearts, all go to hell.  That Reciter who insults and disregards others has to go to hell.  That man who betakes himself to silent recitation under the influence of stupefaction and from desire of fruit, obtains all those things upon which his heart becomes set.[629] That Reciter whose heart becomes set upon the attributes that go by the name of divinity, has to incur hell and never becomes freed from it.[630] That Reciter who betakes himself to recitation under the influence of attachments (to earthly objects such as wealth, wives etc.) obtain those objects upon which their hearts are set.  That Reciter of wicked understanding and uncleansed soul who sets himself to his work with an unstable mind, obtains an unstable