The gift of water is regarded as very praiseworthy. It
leads to great fame and bestows long life on the giver. The giver of
water, O son of Kunti, always stays over the heads of his enemies. Such a
person obtains the fruition of all his wishes and earns everlasting fame.
The giver, O chief of men, becomes cleansed of every sin and obtains
unending felicity hereafter as he proceeds to heaven, O thou of great
splendour. Mann himself has said that such a person earns regions of
inexhaustible bliss in the other world.'"
SECTION LXVIII
"Yudhishthira said, 'Do thou discourse to me once again, O grandsire,
upon the merits attaching to gifts of sesame and of lamps for lighting
darkness, as also of food and robes.'
"Bhishma said, 'In this connection, O Yudhishthira, is recited the
narrative of the discourse that took place in ancient times between a
Brahmana and Yama. In the country lying between the rivers Ganga and
Yamuna, at the foot of the hills called Yamuna, there was a large town
inhabited by Brahmanas. The town was celebrated under the name of
Parnasala and was very delightful in appearance, O king. A large number
of learned Brahmanas lived in it. One day, Yama, the ruler of the dead,
commanded a messenger of his, who was clad in black, endued with
blood-red eyes and hair standing erect, and possessed of feet, eyes, and
nose all of which resembled those of a crow, saying, 'Go thou to the town
inhabited by Brahmanas and bring hither the person known by the name of
Sarmin and belonging by birth to the race of Agastya.
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