The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - Khamkoo

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.‟”
SECTION CXCVIII
“Yudhishthira said, „Tell me what description of hell is obtained by a Reciter? I
feel, O king, a curiosity to know this. It behoveth thee to discourse on the
subject.‟
Mahabharta of Krishna Dwipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kesarimohan Ganguli
386