An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata, with Short Explanations and a Concordance to the Bombay and Calcutta Editions and P. C. Roy's Translation c5.s1.442.2

c5.s1.442.2

and who are truly deserving of honour and worship. *Vaiśampāyana* said: Thus questioned by *Yudhiṣṭhira*, *Bhīṣma* explained those high mysteries. *Bhīṣma* said: *Vyāsa* explained them to me in days of yore; it is a mystery to the very gods; *Yama*, by vows and yoga, had acquired the knowledge thereof as the fruit of his penances; what pleases each god, etc. (α). The scale of sinfulness in the giver is this: 1 [territorial] chief = 10 courtezans; 1 courtezan = 10 drinkers of alcohol; 1 drinker = 10 oilmen; 1 oilman = 10 butchers; a king is reckoned to be half more [sinful as a giver] than these all; hence, one should not accept gifts from such. In the *śrāddha* ritual the mysteries of D., P., and R. have been declared. Once a celestial messenger, sent by the *Aśvins*, came to the court of *Indra* (where men, P., and D. assembled together), and, remaining invisible, asked *Indra* why sexual intercourse is interdicted to the man who performs a *śrāddha* and to him who eats a *śrāddha*, and to whom each of the three rice-balls offered separately at a *śrāddha* should be sacrificed. D. (seated towards the east) and P. applauded him. P. said: lest the P. of that man should have to lie for a whole month on his vital seed; the first rice-ball > the water > the moon > the other gods and P.; the second should be eaten by the spouse; P. confer a son on him who is desirous of a son; the third is thrown into the fire; P. grant all wishes. The *ṛtvij* at a *śrāddha* becomes the P.