Vaishampayana said: O Janmejaya, thereupon the Pandavas started from the Kaushika and went, one after the other, to all the sacred shrines. O King, going to the sea where the Ganges mingles with it, he performed the sacred ceremony of a plunge in the centre of the five hundred rivers.

O descendant of Bharata, that ruler of earth, the hero, accompanied by his brothers then went along the shore of the ocean to the land of the Kalinga.

Lomasha said: O son of Kunti, this is Kalinga where flows the river Vaitarani, where (on the banks of which) Dharma performed sacrifices under the protection of the celestials.

This is the Northern bank of the Vaitarani) always frequented by the Brahmanas, inhabited by the Rishis, suitable tur performning sacrifices and adorned with a hill.

It rivals the path by which a virtuous man fit for going to heaven goes to the celestials region in the days of yore, the Rishis performed sacrifices at this spot.

O king of kings, here at this spot Rudra seized the sacrificial beast. O king of kings, he then exclaimed, “This is my share.

O best of the Bharata race, the (sacrificial) beasts being thus taken away, the celestials then thus spoke to him, “Do not cast covetous eyes on the property of others. Do not disregard all the righteous rules.”

They then addressed pleasing words of glorification to Rudra (Shiva). They gratified him with a sacrifice and they offered him suitable honours.

Thereupon giving up the beast, he went away by the path trodden by the celestials. O Yudhishthira, hear from me me what then happened to Rudra.

The celestials from the fear of Rudra set apart for eternity the best portion of all shares (of a sacrifice) such as was fresh and not stale.

The man, who bathes at this spot and recites this ancient story, sees with his human eyes the path that leads to the celestials region.

Vaishampayana said : Thereupon all the highly exalted Pandavas with Draupadi descended to the Vaitarani and offered oblations to the Pitris.

Yudhishthira said : O Lomasha, behold, how great is the merit of a pious act! Having bathed in this spot with proper form, I seem no more to touch the world of men.

O vow-observing Rishi, through your grace I see all the regions. This is the sound of the recitations (of the Vedas) by the high-souled Rishis.

Lomasha said: O Yudhishthira, O ruler of men, the place from which you hear this sound, is distant from here three hundred thousand yojanas. Keep quiet.

O king, this is the celestials forest of the self-create (Brahma) where, O king of kings, the powerful Vishvamitra-performed his sacrifices.

In which sacrifices the self-create (Brahma) gave away to the illustrious Kashyapa, as Dakshina, this earth with all its mountains, rivers and countries.

O son of Kunti, as soon as earth was given away, she became sad; and thus she spoke in anger to the exalted lord of the world, “O exalted one, you should not have given me away to any mortal. Your this giving me away would come to nothing, for I am going down to the nether world."

O ruler of earth seeing the earth sad and despondent, the exalted Rishi, Kashyapa, gratified her by a propitiatory act.

O son of Pandu, thereupon the earth was gratified with his asceticism. She again rose from the water and remained as a sacrificial altar.

O king, yonder before us is the spot with the distinct form of that sacred altar. O great king, ascending it, become great in prowess.

O king, this is that sacred altar stretching as far as the sea; be blessed by ascending it; and of yourself cross the sea.

When you will ascend it today, I shall perform the ceremony to avert all evils from you, for, O descendant of Ajainida, this altar here, as soon as it is touched by a mortal, goes down into the sea.

“I bow to the god who protects the universe. I bow to the god who is beyond this universe. O lord of gods, come near this salt sea."

"The fire, the sun, the organ of generation, water, the goddess, the seed of Vishnu, nectar and the navel of nectar. The god of fire is the organ that generated you (ocean). The earth is your body. Vishnu gave the seed that caused your being. You are the navel of nectar." O son of Pandu, you must recite the above words of truth and as you recite you must quickly ascend this altar. O Pandava, thus, these words of truth must be audibly recited; and while thus reciting them, one must plunge into this lord of rivers (ocean).

O son of Kunti, O best of the Kurus, else this lord of waters of divine origin, this great ocean, must not be touched even by the end of a Kusha (grass).

Vaishampayana said : Thereupon when the ceremony to avert evils had been completed, the high-souled Yudhishthira went into the sea. Having performed all that the Rishi (Lomasha) had ordered, he went to the Mahendra (mountain) and spent the night there.