said,--"the ever-victorious , the son of , having reached Hastinapura, formally invited and . The elder of the Kuru race with at their head, invited with due ceremonies, came with joyous hearts to that sacrifice, with Brahmanas walking before them. And, O hull of the Bharata race, having heard of king 's sacrifice, hundreds of other Kshatriyas acquainted with the nature of the sacrifice, with joyous hearts came there from various countries, desiring to behold king the son of and his sacrificial mansion, and brought with them many costly jewels of various kinds. And and and of high intelligence; and all Kaurava brothers with at their head; and Suvala the king of Gandhara and endued with great strength; and Achala, and Vrishaka, and that foremost of all charioteers; and endued with great might and the strong ; and , and Bhuri of the Kuru race, and and Sala; and , , , and , the ruler of Sindhu; and with his sons, and that lord of earth and that great car warrior king of Pragjyotisha accompanied by all Mlechcha tribes inhabiting the marshy regions on the sea-shore; and many mountain kings, and king Vrihadvala; and Vasudeva the king of the Paundrayas, and the kings of Vanga and Kalinga; and Akastha and Kuntala and the kings of the Malavas and the Andhrakas; and the Dravidas and the Singhalas and the king of Kashmira, and king of great energy and king Gauravahana, and all the other heroic kings of Valhika; and with his two sons, and Mavella endued with great might; and various kings and princes ruling in various countries; and, O Bharata king endued with great energy and invincible in battle accompanied by his son--all of them came to the sacrifice of the son of . And Rama and Aniruddha and Kanaka and Sarana; and Gada, Pradyumna, Shamva, and Charudeshna of great energy; and Ulmuka and Nishatha and the brave Angavaha; and innumerable other Vrishnis--all mighty car-warriors--came there.
"These and many other kings from the middle country came, O monarch, to that great Rajasuya sacrifice of the son of . And, O king, at the command of king the just, mansions were assigned to all those monarchs, that were full of various kinds of edibles and adorned with tanks and tall trees. And the worshipped all those illustrious monarchs as they deserved. Worshipped by the king they retired to mansions that were assigned to them. Those mansions were (white and high) like the cliffs of Kailasa, and delightful to behold, and furnished with every kind of furniture. They were enclosed on all sides with well-built and high white-washed walls; their windows were covered with net-works of gold and their interiors were furnished with rows of pearls, their flights of stairs were easy of ascent and the floors were all laid over with costly carpets. They were all hung over with garlands of flowers and perfumed with excellent aloes. White as snow or the moon, they looked extremely handsome even from the distance of a yojana. Their doors and entrances were set uniformly and were wide enough to admit a crowd of persons. Adorned with various costly articles and built with various metals, they looked like peaks of the Himavat. Having rested a while in those mansions the monarchs beheld king the just surrounded by numerous Sadasyas (sacrificial priests) and ever performing sacrifices distinguished by large gifts to Brahmanas. That sacrificial mansion wherein in which were present the kings and Brahmanas and great Rishis looked, O king, as handsome as heaven itself crowded with the gods!"
Thus ends the thirty-fourth section in the Rajasuyika Parva of the Sabha Parva.
said,--"then, O king, , having approached and worshipped his grandfather and his preceptor, addressed and and and the son of and and Vivingsati, and said,--'Help me ye you all in the mater of this sacrifice. This large treasure that is here is yours. Consult ye you with one another and guide me as ye you desire.
"The eldest of the sons of , who had been installed at the sacrifice, having said this unto to all, appointed every one of them to suitable offices. He appointed to superintend the department of food and other enjoyable articles. was asked to attend on the Brahmanas. was appointed to offer return-worship unto to the kings. and , both endued with great intelligence, were appointed to see what was done and what was left undone. And the king appointed to look after the diamonds and gold and the pearls and gems, as also after the distribution of gifts to Brahmanas. And so other tigers among men were appointed to similar offices. and and and , brought thither there by , went about, enjoying themselves as lords of the sacrifice. otherwise called , conversant with every rule of morality, became the disburser. became the receiver of the tributes that were brought by the kings. who was himself the centre of all worlds and round whom moved every creature, desirous of acquiring excellent fruits, was engaged at his own will in washing the feet of the Brahmanas.
"And desirous of beholding that sacrificial mansion, as also king the just, none came there with tribute less than a thousand (in number, weight or measure). Everyone honoured the king the just with large presents of jewels. And each of the kings made a present of his wealth, flattering himself with the proud belief that the jewels he gave would enable the Kuru king to complete his sacrifice. And, O monarch, the sacrificial compound of the illustrious son of looked extremely handsome--with the multitude of palaces built so as to last for ever and crowded with guards and warriors. These were so high that their tops touched the cars of the gods that came to behold that sacrifice; as also with the cars themselves of the celestials, and with the dwelling of the Brahmanas and the mansions made there for the kings resembling the cars of the celestials and adorned with gems and filled with every kind of wealth, and lastly with crowds of the kings that came there all endued with beauty and wealth. , as though vying with himself in wealth, commenced the sacrifice (of Rajasuya) distinguished by six fires and large gifts to Brahmanas. The King gratified everybody with presents of great value and indeed with every kind of object that one could desire. With abundance of rice and of every kind of food, as also with a mass of jewels brought as tribute, that vast concourse consisted of persons every one of whom was fed to the full. The gods also were gratified at the sacrifice by the Ida, clarified butter, Homa and libations poured by the great Rishis versed in mantras and pronunciation. Like the gods, the Brahmanas also were gratified with the sacrificial gifts and food and great wealth. And all the other orders of men also were gratified at that sacrifice and filled with joy."
(Arghyaharana Parva)
" said,--On the last day of the sacrifice when the king was to be sprinkled over with the sacred water, the great Brahmana Rishis ever deserving of respectful treatment, along with the invited kings, entered together the inner enclosure of the sacrificial compound. And those illustrious Rishis with as their foremost, seated at their ease with those royal sages within that enclosure, looked like the gods seated in the mansion of in the company of the celestial Rishis. Endued with immeasurable energy those Rishis, having obtained leisure, started various topics of conversation. 'This is so,' 'This is not so,' 'This is even so.' 'This cannot be otherwise,'--thus did many of them engage in discussions with one another. Some amongst the disputants, by well-chosen arguments made the weaker position appear the stronger and the stronger the weaker. Some disputants endued with great intelligence fell upon the position urged by others like hawks darting at meat thrown up into the air, while some amongst them versed in the interpretations of religious treatises and others of rigid vows, and well-acquainted with every commentary and gloss engaged themselves in pleasant converse. And, O king, that platform crowded with gods, Brahmanas and great Rishis looked extremely handsome like the wide expanse of the firmament studded with stars. O monarch, there was then no Sudra near that platform of 's mansion, nor anybody that was without vows.
"And , beholding the fortunate 's prosperity that was born of that sacrifice, became highly gratified. Beholding that vast concourse all the Kshatriyas, the Muni , O king of men, became thoughtful. And, O bull amongst men, the Rishi began to recollect the words he had heard of old in the mansion of regarding the incarnation on earth of portions of every deity. And knowing, O son of the Kuru race, that that was a concourse (of incarnate) gods, thought in his mind of with eyes like lotus-petals. He knew that that creator himself of every object one, that exalted of all gods----who had formerly commanded the celestials, saying,--'Be ye you born on earth and slay one another and come back to heaven'--that slayer of all the enemies of the gods, that subjugator of all hostile towns, in order to fulfil his own promise, had been born in the Kshatriya order. And knew that the exalted and holy , also called Sambhu the lord of the universe, having commanded all the celestials thus, had taken his birth in the race of Yadus and that foremost of all perpetuator of races, having sprung from the line of the Andhaka-Vrishnis on earth was graced with great good fortune and was shining like the moon herself among stars. knew that the grinder of foes, whose strength of arm was ever praised by all the celestials with among them, was then living in the world in human form. Oh, the Self-Create will himself take away (from the earth) this vast concourse of Kshatriyas endued with so much strength. Such was the vision of the omniscient who knew or to be that Supreme Lord whom everybody worshipped with sacrifice. And , gifted with great intelligence and the foremost of all persons and conversant with morality, thinking of all this, sat at that sacrifice of the wise king the just with feelings of awe.
"Then , O king, addressing king the just, said, "O Bharata, let Arghya (an article of respect) be offered unto to the kings as each of them deserveth deserves. Listen, O , the preceptor, the sacrificial priest, the relative, the Snataka, the friend, and the king, it hath has been said are the six that deserve Arghya. The wise have said that when any of these dwell with one for full one year he deserveth deserves to be worshipped with Arghya. These kings have been staying with us for some time. Therefore, O king, let Arghyas be procured to be offered unto to each of them. And let an Arghya be presented first of all unto to him among those present who is the foremost.
"Hearing these words of , said--'O , O thou you of the Kuru race, whom thou you deemest the foremost amongst these and unto to whom the Arghya should be presented by us, O tell me.'
" continued,--Then, O Bharata, the , judged it by his intelligence that on earth was the foremost of all. And he said--'As is the sun among all luminous objects, so is the one (meaning ) (who shines like the sun) among us all, in consequence of his energy, strength and prowess. And this our sacrificial mansion is illuminated and gladdened by him as a sunless region by the sun, or a region of still air by a gust of breeze. Thus commanded by , endued with great prowess duly presented the first Arghya of excellent ingredients unto to of the Vrishni race. also accepted it according to the forms of the ordinance. But could not bear to see that worship offered unto to . And this mighty , reproving in the midst of that assembly both and. , censured thereafter."