husband. Rishis observant of excellent vows,
by means of their deeds of righteousness and piety,
and Brahmanas of righteous souls, succeed in repairing
to them in even their fleshy forms. Men that
are observant of excellent vows behold those regions
which resemble the bright creations of dreams, aided
by their cleansed minds and by that (temporary) emancipation
which succeeds the loss of one’s consciousness
of body.[358] Listen, O thou of a thousand eyes, to
me as I tell thee what the attributes are with which
those regions are endued. There the very course
of Time is suspended. Decrepitude is not there,
nor Fire which is omnipresent in the universe.
There the slightest evil does not occur, nor disease,
nor weakness of any kind. The kine that live
there, O Vasava, obtain the fruition of every desire
which they cherish in their hearts. I have direct
experience of what I say unto thee. Capable of
going everywhere at will and actually repairing from
place to place with ease, they enjoy the fruition of
wish after wish as it arises in their minds.
Lakes and tanks and rivers and forests of diverse
kinds, and mansions and hills and all kinds of delightful
objects,—delightful, that is, to all creatures,—are
to be seen there. There is no region of felicity
that is superior to any of these of which I speak.
All those foremost of men, O Sakra, who are forgiving
unto all creatures, who endure everything, who are
full of affection for all things, who render dutiful
obedience unto their preceptors, and who are free
from pride and vanity, repair to those regions of
supreme felicity. He, who abstains from every
kind of flesh, who is possessed of a cleansed heart,
who is endued with righteousness, who worships his
parents with reverence, who is endued with truthfulness
of speech and conduct, who attends with obedience upon
the Brahmanas, who is faultless in conduct, who never
behaves with anger towards kine and towards the Brahmanas,
who is devoted to the accomplishment of every duty,
who serves his preceptors with reverence, who is devoted
for his whole life to truth and to gifts, and who
is always forgiving towards all transgression against
himself, who is mild and self-restrained, who is full
of reverence for the deities, who is hospitable to
all guests, who is endued with compassion,—verily,
he, who is adorned with these attributes,—succeeds
in attaining to the eternal and immutable region of
kine. He, who is stained with adultery, sees not
such a region; nor he, who is a slayer of his preceptor;
nor he, who speaks falsely or indulges in idle boasts;
nor he, who always disputes with others; nor he who
behaves with hostility towards the Brahmanas.
Indeed, that wicked wight, who is stained with such
faults fails to attain even a sight of these regions
of felicity; also he that injures his friends; also
he that is full of guile; also he that is ungrateful;
also he that is a cheat; also he that is crooked in
conduct; also he that is a disregarder of religion;