"Narada said,--'Possessed of great splendour, the assembly house of
Vaisravana, O king, is a hundred yojanas in length and seventy yojanas
in breadth. It was built, O king, by Vaisravana himself using his
ascetic power. Possessing the splendour of the peaks of Kailasa, that
mansion eclipses by its own the brilliance of the Moon himself.
Supported by Guhyakas, that mansion seems to be attached to the
firmament. Of celestial make, it is rendered extremely handsome with
high chambers of gold. Extremely delightful and rendered fragrant with
celestial perfumes, it is variegated with numberless costly jewels.
Resembling the peaks of a mass of white clouds, it seems to be floating
in the air. Painted with colours of celestial gold, it seems to be
decked with streaks of lightning. Within that mansion sitteth on an
excellent seat bright as the sun and covered with celestial carpets and
furnished with a handsome footstool, king Vaisravana of agreeable
person, attired in excellent robes and adorned with costly ornaments
and ear-rings of great brilliance, surrounded by his thousand wives.
Delicious and cooling breezes murmuring through forests of tall
Mandaras, and bearing fragrance of extensive plantations of jasmine, as
also of the lotuses on the bosom of the river Alaka and of the
Nandana-gardens, always minister to the pleasure of the King of the
Yakshas. There the deities with the Gandharvas surrounded by various
tribes of Apsaras, sing in chorus, O king, notes of celestial
sweetness. Misrakesi and Rambha, and Chitrasena, and Suchismita; and
Charunetra, and Gritachi and Menaka, and Punjikasthala; and Viswachi
Sahajanya, and Pramlocha and Urvasi and Ira, and Varga and Sauraveyi,
and Samichi, and Vududa, and Lata--these and a thousand other Apsaras
and Gandharvas, all well-skilled in music and dance, attend upon
Kuvera, the lord of treasures. And that mansion, always filled with the
notes of instrumental and vocal music, as also with the sounds of dance
of various tribes of Gandharvas, and Apsaras hath become extremely
charming and delicious. The Gandharvas called Kinnaras, and others
called Naras, and Manibhadra, and Dhanada, and Swetabhadra and Guhyaka;
Kaseraka, Gandakandu, and the mighty Pradyota; Kustumvuru, Pisacha,
Gajakarna, and Visalaka, Varaha-Karna, Tamraushtica, Falkaksha, and
Falodaka; Hansachuda, Sikhavarta, Vibhishana, Pushpanana, Pingalaka,
Sonitoda and Pravalaka; Vrikshavaspa-niketa, and Chiravasas--these O
Bharata, and many other Yakshas by hundred and thousands always wait
upon Kuvera. The goddess Lakshmi always stayeth there, also Kuvera's
son Nalakuvera. Myself and many others like myself often repair
thither. Many Brahmana Rishis and celestial Rishis also repair there
often. Many Rakshasas, and many Gandharvas, besides those that have
been named, wait upon the worship, in that mansion, the illustrious
lord of all treasures. And, O tiger among kings, the illustrious
husband of Uma and lord of created things, the three-eyed Mahadeva, the
wielder of the trident and the slayer of the Asura called Bhaga-netra,
the mighty god of the fierce bow, surrounded by multitudes of spirits
in their hundreds and thousands, some of dwarfish stature, some of
fierce visage, some hunch-backed, some of blood-red eyes, some of
frightful yells, some feeding upon fat and flesh, and some terrible to
behold, but all armed with various weapons and endued with the speed of
wind, with the goddess (Parvati) ever cheerful and knowing no fatigue,
always waiteth here upon their friend Kuvera, the lord of treasures.
And hundreds of Gandharva chiefs, with cheerful hearts and attired in
their respective robes and Viswavasu, and Haha and Huhu; and Tumvuru
and Parvatta, and Sailusha; and Chitrasena skilled in music and also
Chitraratha,--these and innumerable Gandharvas worship the lord of
treasures. And Chakradhaman, the chief of the Vidyadharas, with his
followers, waiteth in that mansion upon the lord of treasures. And
Kinnaras by hundreds and innumerable kings with Bhagadatta as their
chief, and Druma, the chief of the Kimpurushas, and Mahendra, the chief
of the Rakshasas, and Gandhamadana accompanied by many Yakshas and
Gandharvas and many Rakshasas wait upon the lord of treasures. The
virtuous Vibhishana also worshippeth there his elder brother the lord
Kuvera (Croesus). The mountains of Himavat, Paripatra, Vindhya,
Kailasa, Mandara, Malaya, Durdura, Mahendra, Gandhamadana, Indrakila,
Sunava, and Eastern and the Western hills--these and many other
mountains, in their personified forms, with Meru standing before all,
wait upon and worship the illustrious lord of treasures. The
illustrious Nandiswaras, and Mahakala, and many spirits with arrowy
ears and sharp-pointed mouths, Kaksha, Kuthimukha, Danti, and Vijaya of
great ascetic merit, and the mighty white bull of Siva roaring deep,
all wait in that mansion. Besides these many other Rakshasas and
Pisachas (devils) worship Kuvera in that assembly house. The son of
Pulastya (Kuvera) formerly used always to worship in all the modes and
sit, with permission obtained, beside the god of gods, Siva, the
creator of the three worlds, that supreme Deity surrounded by his
attendants. One day the exalted Bhava (Siva) made friendship with
Kuvera. From that time, O king, Mahadeva always sitteth on the mansion
of his friend, the lord of treasures. Those best of all jewels, those
princes of all gems in the three worlds, viz., Sankha and Padma, in
their personified forms, accompanied by all the jewels of the earth
(also in their personified forms) worship Kuvera.'
"'This delightful assembly house of Kuvera that I have seen, attached
to the firmament and capable of moving along it, is such, O king.
Listen now to the Sabha I describe unto thee, belonging to Brahma the
Grandsire.'