Section LXII

"'Bhishma continued, "Thus addressed by the chief of the celestials the preceptor of the deities, viz., Vrihaspati of great energy, said these words in reply unto him of a hundred sacrifices. 'Endued as he is with the merits that attach to the gift of earth, the region of felicity reserved for the person who makes gift of such earth as is auspicious and rich with every taste, never become exhausted. That king, O Sakra, who desires to have prosperity and who wishes to win happiness for himself, should always make gifts of earth, with due rites, unto deserving persons. If after committing numerous sins a person makes gifts of earth unto members of the regenerate class, he casts off all those sins like a snake casting off its slough. The person that makes a gift of earth is said to make gifts of everything, that is, of seas and rivers and mountains and forests. By making a gift of earth, the person is said to give away lakes and tanks and wells and streams. In consequence of the moisture of earth, one is said to give away articles of diverse tastes by making a gift of earth. The man who makes a gift of earth is regarded as giving away herbs and plants possessed of high and efficacious virtues, trees adorned with flowers and fruit, delightful woods, and hillocks. The merit that a person acquires by making a gift of earth is incapable of being acquired by the performance of even such great sacrifices as the Agnishtoma and others with plentiful gifts in the shape of Dakshina. The giver of earth, it has been already said, rescues ten generations of both his paternal and maternal races. Similarly, by taking away earth that was given away, one hurls oneself into hell and casts ten generations of both one's paternal and maternal lines into the same place of misery. That man who having promised to make a gift of earth does not actually make it, or who having made a gift takes it back, has to pass a long time, in great misery in consequence of being tied with the noose of Varuna at the command of Death. Those men have never to go to Yama who honour and worship those foremost of Brahmanas that pour libations every day on their domestic fire, that are always engaged in the performance of sacrifices, that have scanty means of livelihood, and that receive with hospitality every guest seeking shelter in their abodes. The king, O Purandara, should free himself from the debt he owes to the Brahmanas and protect the helpless and the weak belonging to the other orders. The king should never resume, O chief of the deities, earth that has been given away by another unto a Brahmana, O ruler of the celestials, that is destitute of the means of life. The tears that would fall from the eyes of such cheerless and destitute Brahmanas in consequence of their lands being taken back are capable of destroying the ancestors and descendants to the third generation of the resumer. That man who succeeds by his endeavours in re-establishing a king driven away from his kingdom, obtains residence in heaven and is much honoured by the denizens thereof. That king who succeeds in making gifts of earth with such crops standing thereon as sugar-cane or barley or wheat, or with kine and horses and other draft cattle,--earth that has been won with the might of the giver's arms,--that has mineral wealth in its bowels and that is covered with every kind of wealth of the surface, wins inexhaustible regions of felicity in the next world, and such a king it is that is said to perform the earth-sacrifice. That king who makes a gift of earth becomes washed of every sin and is, therefore, pure and approved of the righteous. In this world he is highly honoured and applauded by all righteous men. The merit that attaches to a gift of earth increases every time the earth given away bears crops for the benefit of the owner, even as a drop of oil, falling upon water, is seen to extend on every side, and cover the watery surface. Those heroic kings and ornaments of assemblies who cast off their lives in battle with faces towards the foe, attain, O Sakra, to the region of Brahman. Beautiful damsels skilled in music and dancing and adorned with garlands of celestial flowers, approach, O chief of the deities, the giver of earth as he comes to heaven departing from the earth. That king who makes gifts of earth with due rites unto persons of the regenerate order, sports in bliss in the celestial regions, adorned all the while by the deities and Gandharvas. A century of Apsaras, adorned with celestial garlands, approach, O chief of the deities, the giver of earth as he ascends to the region of Brahman. Flowers of excellent perfumes, an excellent conch and excellent seat, an umbrella and excellent steeds with excellent vehicles, are always ready for the person how makes gifts of earth. By making gifts of earth a king can always command flowers of excellent perfumes and heaps of gold. Possessed of all kinds of wealth the commands of such a king can never be disobeyed anywhere, and cries of victory hail him wheresoever he may approach. The rewards that attach to gifts of earth consist of residence in heaven, O Purandara, and gold, and flowers, and plants and herbs of medicinal virtue, and Kusa and mineral wealth and verdant grass. A person by making a gift of earth acquires in his next life nectar yielding earth. There is no gift that is equal to a gift of earth. There is no senior worthy of greater respect than the mother. There is no duty higher than truth. There is no wealth more precious than that which is given away.'"

"'Bhishma continued, "Hearing these words from the son of Angiras, Vasava made a gift unto him of the whole earth with all her jewels and gems and all her wealth of diverse kinds. If these verses declaring the merit attaching to gifts of earth be recited on the occasion of a Sraddha, neither Rakshasas nor Asuras can succeed in appropriating any share of the offerings made in it. Without doubt, the offerings one makes unto the Pitris at such a Sraddha become inexhaustible. Hence, on occasions of Sraddhas, the man of learning should recite these verses on the subject of the merits that attach to gifts of earth, in the presence and hearing of the invited Brahmanas when engaged in eating. I have thus, O chief of the Bharatas, discoursed unto thee of that gift which is the foremost of all gifts. What else dost thou wish to hear?"'"