affected by the fruit of their deeds good or bad. The man desirous of acquiring virtue should hear it all. This is equivalent to all histories, and he that heareth it always attaineth to purity of heart. The gratification that one deriveth on attaining to heaven is scarcely equal to that which one deriveth on hearing this holy history. The virtuous man who will reverence heareth it or causeth it to be heard, obtaineth the fruit of the Rajasuya and the horse sacrifice. This Bharata is said to be as much a mine of gems as the illustrious Ocean or the great mountain Meru. This history is sacred and excellent, and is equivelant to the Vedas; worthy of being heard, pleasing to the ear, purifying, and virtue-increasing. O monarch, he that giveth a copy of the Bharata to one that asketh for it, doth, indeed, make a present of the whole Earth with her belt of seas. O son of Parikshita, this pleasant narration that giveth virtue and victory, I am about to recite in its entirety. Listen to it! The Muni Krishna-Dwaipayana regularly rising for three years composed this wonderful history called the Mahabharata. O thou bull amongst the Bharata monarchs, whatever about religion, profit, pleasure, and salvation is contained in this, may be seen elsewhere; but whatever is not contained herein is not to be found anywhere.'"
And thus endeth the sixty-second Section in the Adivansavatarana of the Adi Parva.
Section LXIII.
( Adivansavatarana Parva continued. )
Vaisampayana said, "There was a king of name Uparichara. And the monarch was devoted to virtue. And he was very much addicted also to hunting. And this monarch of the Paurava race, called also Vasu, conquered the excellent and delightful kingdom of Chedi under instructions from Indra. Sometime after, the king gave up the use of arms, and dwelling in a recluse asylum practised the most severe austerities. And the gods with Indra ahead once approached the monarch during this period, believing that he sought the headship of the gods by those severe austerities of his. And the
