Indeed
Dhritarashtra shall not go thither. If thou art acquainted with any other
well-known region of felicity, speak unto me, for I shall repair even
thither!'
"Gautama said, 'If thou proceedest to the woods owned by Narada and held
dear by him, that are adorned with flowers and that echo with the
melodious songs of the prince of Kinnaras, and that are the eternal abode
of Gandharvas and Apsaras, I shall follow thee thither and force thee to
yield up this elephant to me!'
"Dhritarashtra said, 'They who never solicit alms, they who cultivate
music and dancing, and always rove about in joy, proceed to such regions.
O great Rishi, I shall repair to a region that is higher. Indeed,
Dhritarashtra shall not have to go thither!'
"Gautama said, 'If thou goest to that region where the Uttara-Kurus blaze
in beauty and pass their days in gladness, O king, in the company of the
very deities, where those beings that have their origin in fire, those
that have their origin in water, and those having their origin in
mountains, reside in happiness, and where Sakra raineth down the fruition
of every wish, and where women live in perfect freedom, unrestrained by
rules of any kind regulating their conduct of motions, and where there is
no feeling of jealousy between the sexes,--if thou repairest thither,
even thither shall I proceed and force thee to yield up this elephant to
me!'
"Dhritarashtra said, 'Those men that are freed from desire with respect
to all articles of enjoyment, that abstain from meat, that never take up
the rod of chastisement, and never inflict the least harm on mobile and
immobile creatures, that have constituted themselves the soul of all
creatures, that are entirely freed from the idea of meum, that have cast
off attachments of every kind, that regard gain and loss as also praise
and blame as equal,--only those men, O great Rishi, repair to such
regions.
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