SECTION CXCVII
"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou hast said that as regards Reciters, they obtain
this very high end.[627] I beg to enquire whether this is their only end
or there is any other to which they attain.'
"Bhishma said, 'Listen with concentrated attention, O puissant monarch,
to the end that silent Reciters attain, and to the diverse kinds of hell
into which they sink, O bull among men! That Reciter who does not at
first conduct himself according to the method that has been laid down,
and who cannot complete the ritual or course of discipline laid down, has
to go to hell.[628] That Reciter who goes on without faith, who is not
contented with his work, and who takes no pleasure in it, goes to hell,
without doubt. They who follow the ritual with pride in their hearts, all
go to hell. That Reciter who insults and disregards others has to go to
hell. That man who betakes himself to silent recitation under the
influence of stupefaction and from desire of fruit, obtains all those
things upon which his heart becomes set.[629] That Reciter whose heart
becomes set upon the attributes that go by the name of divinity, has to
incur hell and never becomes freed from it.[630] That Reciter who betakes
himself to recitation under the influence of attachments (to earthly
objects such as wealth, wives etc.) obtain those objects upon which their
hearts are set. That Reciter of wicked understanding and uncleansed soul
who sets himself to his work with an unstable mind, obtains an unstable
end or goes into hell. That Reciter who is not endued with wisdom and who
is foolish, becomes stupefied or deluded; and in consequence of such
delusion has to go to hell where he is obliged to indulge in
regrets.[631] If a person of even firm heart, resolving to complete the
discipline, betakes himself to recitation, but fails to attain to
completion in consequence of his having freed himself from attachments by
a violent stretch without genuine conviction of their inutility or
harmful character, he also has to go to hell[632].
"Yudhishthira said, 'When the Reciter attains to the essence of that
which exists in its own nature (without being anything like created or
born objects), which is Supreme, which is indescribable and
inconceivable, and which dwells in the syllable om forming the subject of
both recitation and meditation (indeed, when Reciters to a state of
Brahma), why is it that they have again to take birth in embodied forms?'
"Bhishma, said, 'In consequence of the absence of true knowledge and
wisdom, Reciters obtain diverse descriptions of hell. The discipline
followed by Reciters is certainly very superior. These, however, that I
have spoken of, are the faults that appertain to it.'"
