On Wednesdays, those endowed with wisdom are advised to worship Lord Vishnu, offering curd and rice with devotion. By such worship, there arises a continual increase in sons, friends, wives, and all that is cherished in life. When Thursday arrives, those who seek long life should turn their hearts to the gods, performing worship with sacred thread, clean cloth, milk, and clarified butter, thereby attaining strength and vitality. On Fridays, for the sake of enjoyment, one should worship the gods with focused mind, and then offer to the Brahmins a meal containing all six tastes, ensuring their satisfaction. To please women, one should also give them auspicious gifts like cloth. When Saturday comes, to remove the threat of untimely death, the wise should worship Rudra and other deities with devotion. This worship is to be accompanied by offerings of sesame in the sacred fire, gifts, and feeding others with sesame-laden food. In this way, worship brings about blessings such as health. Whether in daily worship or special ceremonies, during bathing, giving, recitation of sacred texts, fire-offerings, and in feeding Brahmins, all these acts are to be performed with reverence. On days when lunar days and stars coincide, during the worship of each deity, and on the days of the week, the all-knowing Lord of the universe bestows the fruits of health and well-being to all, according to the place, time, and the nature of the recipient. The results are also shaped by the substance used, the faith of the worshipper, the customs observed, and the order of superiority among the deities. At the start of auspicious times and the end of inauspicious ones, as well as at one’s birth-star in the home, the householder should worship the planets, beginning with the Sun, to secure health and prosperity. Thus, the worship of the gods grants all desired results—using Vedic mantras for Brahmins, and Tantric rites for others. Everyone should strive to perform these acts, according to their means, on all seven days of the week, if they wish for auspicious results. The poor should worship the gods through austerity, while the wealthy should do so with their wealth; but in all cases, such duties should be performed with faith. After enjoying various pleasures, souls are reborn on earth, where they again find the blessings of shade, water, the path to Brahman, and the accumulation of merit. Those who possess wealth should use it for their enjoyment, and in due time, through the fruits of good and bad deeds, knowledge is gained. O twice-born, whoever listens to, recites, or helps others hear this teaching, gains the merit equal to a sacrifice offered to the gods. At this point, the sages respectfully address Sūta, the knower of all things, asking him to explain the regions and places that yield the greatest fruit in rituals, such as offerings to the gods, and to describe a pure house that brings equal merit. Sūta replies: After the house, a cowshed is said to yield ten times more merit; the bank of a water body is ten times greater than the cowshed; and ten times greater than that is the root of a bilva, tulasi, or aśvattha tree. Beyond that, a temple confers ten times more merit; then the bank of a sacred ford is ten times greater still; and even more, the bank of a river that itself is a sacred ford is ten times greater than that. Above these, the bank of one of the seven holy Gangā rivers is ten times more meritorious. These seven are Gaṅgā, Godāvarī, Kāverī, Tāmraparṇī, Sindhu, Sarayū, and Revā. Beyond the rivers, the seashore is ten times greater, and the mountaintop is ten times greater than the seashore. Yet, above all, the most superior place is where the mind finds true delight; in such a place, the full fruits of sacrifices, gifts, and other meritorious acts are realized. In the Kṛta Yuga, the full fruit of merit is obtained; in the Tretā Yuga, three-fourths; in the Dvāpara Yuga, half; and in the Kali Yuga, only a quarter—or even less—is gained. For those of pure mind, an auspicious day brings equal fruit, and the wise know that during the sun’s transit, the merit is tenfold. At the equinox, the merit is tenfold; at the solstice, tenfold; when the sun enters Mṛgaśīrṣa, tenfold; and during a lunar eclipse, again, tenfold. At the time of a solar eclipse—the most auspicious of all times—the sun, the very form of the world, is afflicted by poison, and this cosmic event is said to remove disease. Therefore, to pacify this poison, one should perform ritual bathing, giving, and recitation, for this time is renowned for bestowing great merit. At one’s birth star and the conclusion of a vow, the merit is as fervent as the sun’s own passion; but even greater than all these is the time spent in the association of great souls, which is said to be equal to a crore of solar eclipses. Those who are devoted to austerity, established in knowledge, yogis, and ascetics are the most worthy recipients of worship, for they are the destroyers of sin. A brāhmaṇa who has completed twenty-four lakhs of repetitions of the Gāyatrī is considered supremely worthy, bestowing the full enjoyment of merit. The term ‘pātra’—recipient—is used in the scriptures because such a person protects the giver from sin and prevents their own spiritual fall. The Gāyatrī mantra, too, is so named because it protects the chanter from falling. Just as one who lacks wealth does not give for another’s sake, so too, only one who is pure and gives selflessly is truly purified and able to protect others through sacrifice. A brāhmaṇa purified by the Gāyatrī is called pure, and so, in giving, reciting, offering, worship, and all acts, a brāhmaṇa is fit to give and to protect. The proper recipient of food, however, is always the one who is hungry, whether woman or man. One should invite an excellent brāhmaṇa at the right time and give him words or teachings that are both instructive and desired. Giving with desire yields complete fruit, while gifts given in response to a request yield fruit according to their purpose. Gifts to one who serves bring the reward of reaching his feet, but giving to a brāhmaṇa purely by birth, if he is destitute, is also praised by the wise. Wealth given for enjoyment in this world brings ten years of benefit; to a brāhmaṇa learned in the Veda, it grants ten years in heaven. To one engaged in reciting the Gāyatrī, it brings ten years in the realm of truth; and to a brāhmaṇa devoted to Viṣṇu, such a gift is said to grant the highest abode, Vaikuṇṭha itself.