Similarly, the royal lady Gandhari of great foresight fell down. She
indulged in diverse lamentations, for the slaughter of Karna in battle.
Then Vidura and Sanjaya both raised the fallen monarch and began to
console him. Similarly the Kuru ladies raised Gandhari. Thinking destiny
and necessity to be all powerful, that royal ascetic, under that great
grief, seemed to lose his senses. His heart filled with anxiety and
sorrow, the king, however, did not again swoon away. Comforted by them,
he remained silent, indulging in melancholy musing. He that reads of this
great battle, which is like unto a sacrifice, between the high-souled
Dhananjaya and Adhiratha's son, so also he that hears the account of this
battle read, both obtain, O Bharata, the fruit of a great sacrifice duly
performed. The learned say that the holy and the eternal Vishnu is
Sacrifice, and each of those other gods, viz., Agni, Wind, Soma, and
Surya, is so. Therefore, he that will, without malice, hear or recite
this Parvan, will be happy and capable of attaining to every region of
bliss. Filled with devotion, men always read this sacred and first of
Samhitas. They that do, rejoice, obtaining wealth, and grain, and fame. A
man must, therefore, ever hear it without malice. He that does so will
obtain all kinds of happiness. With that foremost of persons, Vishnu, and
the illustrious Self-born, and Bhava also, become pleased. A Brahmana, by
reading it, would obtain the fruit of having studied the Vedas; a
Kshatriya obtains strength and victory in battle; Vaishyas would obtain
immense wealth, and Shudras would obtain health and freedom from disease.
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