[1842] The high-souled Rishis that
follow in Surya's train, O son, repeated that excellent narrative unto
the deities assembled on the breast of Meru. That best of ascetics, viz.,
the regenerate Asita, then having heard the narrative from the deities,
repeated it unto the Pitris, O king of kings. I heard it from my sire
Santanu, O son, who recited it to me formerly. Myself having heard it
from my sire. I have repeated it to thee, O Bharata. Deities and Munis,
who have heard this excellent old narrative, which is a Purana--all adore
the Supreme Soul. This narrative, belonging to the Rishis and thus handed
down from one to another, should not, O king, be communicated by thee to
any one that is not a worshipper of Vasudeva. This narrative, O king, is
really the essence of the hundreds of other narratives that thou hast
heard from me. In days of yore, O monarch, the deities and the Asuras,
uniting together, churned the Ocean and t wised the Amrita. After the
same manner, the Brahmanas, uniting together in days of yore, churned all
the scriptures and raised this narrative which resembles nectar. He who
frequently reads this narrative, and he who frequently listens to it,
with concentrated attention, in a retired spot, and filled with devotion,
succeeds in becoming a denizen, possessed of lunar complexion, of the
spacious island known by the name of White Island. Without doubt, such a
man succeeds in entering into Narayana of a thousand rays. A sick person,
by listening to this narrative from the beginning, becomes freed from his
illness.
Pages:
2564
2565
2566
2567
2568
2569
2570
2571
2572
2573
2574
2575
2576
2577
2578
2579
2580
2581
2582
2583
2584
2585
2586
2587
2588