Bharata, I ween. The man who with reverence daily listeneth to this sacred
work acquireth long life and renown and ascendeth to heaven.

"In former days, having placed the four Vedas on one side and the Bharata
on the other, these were weighed in the balance by the celestials
assembled for that purpose. And as the latter weighed heavier than the
four Vedas with their mysteries, from that period it hath been called in
the world Mahabharata (the great Bharata). Being esteemed superior both in
substance and gravity of import it is denominated Mahabharata on account
of such substance and gravity of import. He that knoweth its meaning is
saved from all his sins.

"'Tapa is innocent, study is harmless, the ordinance of the Vedas
prescribed for all the tribes are harmless, the acquisition of wealth by
exertion is harmless; but when they are abused in their practices it is
then that they become sources of evil.'"


SECTION II

"The Rishis said, 'O son of Suta, we wish to hear a full and
circumstantial account of the place mentioned by you as Samanta-panchaya.'

"Sauti said, 'Listen, O ye Brahmanas, to the sacred descriptions I utter O
ye best of men, ye deserve to hear of the place known as Samanta-panchaka.
In the interval between the Treta and Dwapara Yugas, Rama (the son of
Jamadagni) great among all who have borne arms, urged by impatience of
wrongs, repeatedly smote the noble race of Kshatriyas. And when that fiery
meteor, by his own valour, annihilated the entire tribe of the Kshatriyas,
he formed at Samanta-panchaka five lakes of blood. We are told that his