" said,--Listen to me, O child, as I tell thee you of the assembly house of the Grandsire, that house which none can describe, saying it is such. In the Krita (golden) age of old, O king, the exalted deity Aditya (once) came down from heaven into the world of men. Having seen before the assembly-house of the Self-created, Aditya was cheerfully wandering over the Earth in human form, desirous of beholding what could be seen here. It was on that occasion, O son of , that the god of day spoke unto to me, O bull of the Bharata race, of that celestial Sabha (assembly) of the Grandsire, immeasurable and immaterial and indescribable, as regards form and shape, and capable of delighting the heart of every creature by its splendour. Hearing, O bull of the Bharata race, of the merits of that Sabha, I became, O king, desirous of beholding it. I then asked Aditya, saying,--O exalted one, I desire to behold the sacred Sabha of the . O lord of light, tell me, O exalted one, by what ascetic penances, or by what acts, or by what charms or by what rites, I may be enabled to behold that excellent sin-cleaning Sabha."--Hearing these words of mine, Aditya the god of day, the deity of a thousand rays, answered me, O chief of the Bharata race, thus: Observe thou you, with mind rapt in meditation, the vow extending for a thousand years. Repairing then to the breast of the Himavat, I commenced that great vow, and after I had completed it the exalted and sinless deity endued with great energy, and knowing no fatigue, took me with him to the Sabha of the Grandsire. O king, it is impossible to describe that Sabha, saying--it is such, for within a moment it assumes a different form that language fails to paint. O Bharata, it is impossible to indicate its dimensions or shape. I never saw anything like it before. Ever contributing to the happiness of those within it, its atmosphere is neither cold nor warm. Hunger and thirst or any kind of uneasiness disappear as soon as one goeth goes thither there. It seems to be made up of brilliant gems of many kinds. It doth does not seem to be supported on columns, it knoweth knows no deterioration, being eternal. That self effulgent mansion, by its numerous blazing, celestial indications of unrivalled splendour, seems to surpass the moon, the sun and the fire in splendour. Stationed in heaven, it blazes forth, censuring as it were the maker of the day. In that mansion O king, the Supreme Deity, the Grand-sire of all created things, having himself created everything by virtue of his creative illusion, stayeth stays ever. And , Prachetas, Pulaha, Marichi, the master , , Atri, and Vasistha and Gautama, and also , and , Kraut, , and Kardama, these Prajapatis, and Angirasa of the Atharvan Veda, the Valikhilyas, the Marichipas; Intelligence, Space, Knowledge, Air, Heat, Water, Earth, Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, Scent; Nature, and the Modes (of Nature), and the elemental and prime causes of the world,--all stay in that mansion beside the lord . And Agastya of great energy, and Markandeya, of great ascetic power, and and , and Samvarta, and , and exalted , and the virtuous Rishyasringa, the illustrious Sanatkumara of great ascetic merit and the preceptor in all matters affecting Yoga; Asita and Devala, and Jaigishavya acquainted with truth; Rishava, Ajitasatru, and Mani of great energy; and the Science of healing with its eight branches--all in their personified forms, O Bharata; the moon with all the stars and the stellar conjunctions; Aditya with all his rays; the winds; the Sacrifices, the Declarations of purpose (in sacrifices), the Vital principles,--these illustrious and vow-observing beings in their personified forms, and many others too numerous to mention, attend all upon in that mansion. Wealth and Religion and Desire, and Joy, and Aversion, and Asceticism and Tranquillity--all wait together upon the Supreme Deity in that palace. The twenty tribes of the Gandharvas and Apsaras, as also their seven other tribes, and all the Lokapalas (chief protectors of several regions), and , and , and Vudha, and Angaraka (Mangala), Sani, Rahu, and the other planets; the Mantras (of the Sama Veda), the special Mantras (of the same Veda); (the rites of) Harimat and Vasumat, the Adityas with , the two Agnis mentioned by name (viz. Agnisoma and Indragni), the Marutas, Viswakarman, and the Vasus, O Bharata; the Pitris, and all kinds of sacrificial libations, the four Vedas. viz., Rig, Sama, Yajuh, and Atharva; all Sciences and branches of learning; Histories and all minor branches of learning; the several branches of the Vedas; the planets, the Sacrifices, the , all the deities; (Gayatri), the seven kinds of rhyme; Understanding, Patience, Memory, Wisdom, Intelligence, Fame, Forgiveness; the Hymns of the Sama Veda; the Science of hymns in general, and various kinds of Verses and Songs; various Commentaries with arguments;--all in their personified forms, O king, and various Dramas and Poems and Stories and abridged Glosses--these also, and many others wait upon the Supreme Deity in that Sabha, Kshanas, Lavas, Muhurtas, Day, Night, Fortnights, Months, the six Seasons, O Bharata, Years, Yugas, the four kinds of Days and Nights (viz., appearing to man, to the Pitris, to the gods, and to ) and that eternal, indestructible, undeteriorating, excellent Wheel of Time and also the Wheel of Virtue,--these always wait there. O ; and Aditi, , Danu, Surasa, , Ira, Kalika, Suravi, Devi, Sarama, Gautami and the goddesses Pradha, and ;--these mothers of the celestials, and Rudrani, Sree, Lakshmi, Bhadra, Shashthi, the Earth, , Hri, Swaha, Kriti, the goddess Sura, Sachi Pushti, Arundhati, Samvritti, Asa, Niyati, Srishti, Rati,--these and many other goddesses wait upon of all. The Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Marutas, Aswinas, the Viswadevas Sadhyas, and the Pitris gifted with the speed of the mind; these all wait there upon the . And, O bull amongst men, know thou you that there are seven classes of Pitris, of which four classes have embodied forms and the remaining three without embodied forms. It is well known that the illustrious Vairajas and Agniswattas and Garhapattyas (three classes of Pitris) range in heaven. And those amongst the Pitris that are called the Somapas, the Ekasringras, the Chaturvedas, and the Kalas, are ever worshipped amongst the four orders of men. Gratified with the (juice), first, these gratify afterwards. All these tribes of Pitris wait upon the Lord of the creation and cheerfully worship the Supreme Deity of immeasurable energy. And Rakshasas, Pisachas, the Danavas and Guhyakas; Nagas, Birds, and various animals; and all mobile and immobile great beings;--all worship the Grandsire. And the chief of the celestials, and and and , and accompanied by Uma, always repair thither there. And, O king of kings, Mahasena (Kartikeya) also adoreth adores there the . himself, and the celestial Rishis, and those Rishis called Valakhillyas, and all beings born of females and all those not born of females, and whatever else is seen in the three worlds--both mobile and immobile, were all seen by me there, know O king. And eighty thousand Rishis with vital seed drawn up, and O , fifty thousand Rishis having sons, were all seen by me there. And all the dwellers in heaven repairing thither there behold the Supreme Deity when they please, and worshipping him with a bow of their head return whence from where they came. And, O king of men, created beings, the Soul of the universe, the Self create of immeasurable intelligence and glory, equally kind unto to all creatures, honoureth honours as they deserve, and gratifieth gratifies with sweet speech and gift of wealth and other enjoyable articles, the gods, the Daityas, the Nagas, the Brahmanas, the Yakshas, the Birds, the Kaleyas, the Gandharvas, the Apsaras, and all other exalted beings that came to him as his guests. And that delicious Sabha, O child, is always crowded with persons coming and going. Filled with every kind of energy, and worshipped by Brahmarshis, that celestial Sabha blazes forth with the graceful possessions of and looks extremely handsome, O tiger among kings as this Sabha of yours is unrivalled in the world of men, so is that Sabha of , seen by me unrivalled in all the worlds. I have seen these Sabhas, O Bharata, in regions of the celestials. This thy your Sabha is unquestionably the foremost in the world of men!"
" said,--'O thou you foremost of eloquent men, as thou you hast have described the different Sabhas unto to me, it appeareth appears that almost all the monarchs of the earth are to be found in the Sabha of . And, O master, almost all the Nagas, and principal Daityas, and rivers, and oceans, are to be found in the Sabha of . And so the Yakshas, the Guhyakas, the Rakshasas, the Gandharvas and Apsaras and the Deity () having the bull for his vehicle, are to be found in the Sabha of the lord of treasures. Thou you hast have said that in the Sabha of the Grandsire are to be seen all the great Rishis, all the gods, all the branches of learning. As regards the Sabha of , however, thou you hast have named, O Muni, all the gods, the Gandharvas, and various Rishis. But, O great Muni, thou you hast have mentioned one and only one king, viz., the royal Rishi as living in the Sabha of the illustrious chief of the gods. What act was performed by that celebrated king, or what ascetic penances with steady vows, in consequence of which he hath has been equal to himself? O Brahmana, how didst did thou you also meet with my father, the exalted , now a guest in the region of the Pitris? O exalted one of excellent vows hath has he told thee you anything? O tell me all as I am exceedingly curious to hear all this from thee you."
" said,--'O king of kings, I shall tell thee you all that thou you askest ask me about Harischandra, I shall presently tell thee you of his high excellence. He was a powerful king, in fact, an emperor over all the kings of the earth. Indeed, all the kings of the earth obeyed his sway. O monarch, mounted alone upon a victorious car adorned with gold, that king by the prowess of his weapons brought the whole earth with her seven islands under his sway. And, O monarch, having subjugated the whole earth with her mountains, forests, and woods, he made preparations for the great sacrifice called the Rajasuya. And all the kings of the earth brought at his command wealth unto to that sacrifice. All of them consented to become distributors of food and gifts unto to the Brahmanas that were fed on the occasion. At that sacrifice king gave away unto to all who asked, wealth that was five times what each had solicited. At the conclusion of the sacrifice, the king gratified the Brahmanas that came from various countries with large presents of various kinds of wealth. The Brahmanas gratified with various kinds of food and enjoyable articles, given away unto to them to the extent of their desires, and with the heaps of jewels distributed amongst them, began to say,--King Harischandra is superior to all kings in energy and renown.--And know, O monarch, O bull of the Bharata race, it was for this reason that Harischandra shone more brightly than thousands of other kings. The powerful Harischandra having concluded his great sacrifice, became installed, O king, in the sovereignty of the earth and looked resplendent on his throne. O bull of the Bharata race, all those monarchs that perform the sacrifice of Rajasuya, (attaining to the region of ) pass their time in felicity in 's company. And, O bull of the Bharata race, those kings also that yield up their lives without turning their backs on the field of battle attain to the mansion of and live in joy with him. Those again that yield up their bodies after severe ascetic penances also attain to the same region and shine brightly there for ages. O king of the Kuru race, O son of , thy your father , beholding the good fortune of Harischandra and wondering much thereat, hath has told thee you something. Knowing that I was coming to the world of men, he bowed unto to me and said,--Thou you shouldst should tell , O Rishi, that he can subjugate the whole Earth inasmuch as his brothers are all obedient to him. And having done this let him commence the grand sacrifice called Rajasuya. He is my son; if he performeth performs that sacrifice, I may, like Harischandra, soon attain to the region of , and there in his Sabha pass countless years in continuous joy. I told him in reply,--O King, I shall tell thy your son all this, if I go to the world of man. I have now told thee you what he said, O tiger among men. Accomplish then, O son of , the desires of thy your father. If thou you performest perform that sacrifice, thou you shall then be able to go, along with thy your deceased ancestors, into the same region that is inhabited by the chief of the immortals. It hath has been said,--O king, that the performance of this great sacrifice is attended with many obstacles. A class of Rakshasas called Brahma Rakshasas, employed in obstructing all sacrifices, always search for loop-holes when this great sacrifice is commenced. On the commencement of such a sacrifice a war may take place destroying the Kshatriyas and even furnishing occasion for the destruction of the whole Earth. A slight obstacle may involve the whole Earth in ruin. Reflecting upon all this, O king of kings do what is for thy your good. Be thou you watchful and ready in protecting the four orders of thy your subjects. Grow, thou you in prosperity, and enjoy thou you felicity. Gratify thou you the Brahmanas with gifts of wealth. I have now answered in detail all that thou you hast have asked me. With thy your leave I will now go to the city (Dwaravati) of that Dasarhas."
said,--'O , having said this unto to the son of , went away, accompanied by those Rishis with whom he had come. And after had gone away, king , O thou you of the Kuru race, began to think, along with his brothers, of that foremost of sacrifices called Rajasuya.'