Mahabharata Santi Parva Chapter 199:7

Mahabharata Santi Parva (Mokshadharma Parva) Chapter 199:7 Vikrita said, 'Solicited by him I gave him what was my own. How shall I now retake that? Thou mayst go away. Thou hast my leave.' The Brahmana said, 'Thou hast heard, O king, the words of these two. Do thou take without scruple that which I have pledged myself to give thee.' The king said, 'This matter is, indeed, as deep (in importance) as an unfathomable pit. How will the pertinacity of this Reciter end? If I do not accept what has been given by this Brahmana, how shall I avoid being stained with a great sin?' The royal sage then said unto the two disputants, 'Go ye both, having won your respective objects. I should see that kingly duties, vested in me, may not become futile. It is settled that kings should observe the duties laid down for them. To my misfortune, however, the course of duties prescribed for Brahmanas has possessed my wretched self.' The Brahmana said, 'Accept, O king! I owe thee. Thou didst solicit it, and I also have become pledged (to give thee). If, however, thou refuse to take, O monarch, I shall without doubt curse thee.' The king said, 'Fie on kingly duties, the settled conclusion about the operation of which is even such. I should, however, take what thou givest, for only this reason, viz., rendering the two courses of duty exactly equal. This is my hand, that was never before (stretched forth for acceptance of gifts), is now stretched forth (for acceptance as also) for giving away. Give me what thou owest me.' The Brahmana said, 'If I have won any fruits by reciting the Gayatri, accept them all.' The king said, 'These drops of water, behold, O foremost of Brahmanas, have fallen upon my hand. I also desire to give thee. Accept my gift. Let there be equality between us (through thy accepting my gift as I have accepted thine).' Virupa said, 'Know, O king, that we two are Desire and Wrath. It hath been by us that thou hast been induced to act in this way. Thou hast made a gift in return to the Brahmana. Let there be equality between thee and this regenerate person in respect of regions of felicity in the next world. This Vikrita really does not owe me anything. We appealed to thee for thy own sake. Time, Dharma, Mrityu, and we two, have examined everything about thee, here in thy very presence, by producing this friction between thee and that Brahmana. Go now, as thou choosest, to those regions of felicity which thou hast won by means of thy deeds.'" "'Bhishma continued, "I have now told thee how Reciters obtain the fruits (of their recitation) and what, indeed, is their end, what the spot, and what the regions, that a Reciter may win. A Reciter of Gayatri goes to the supreme god Brahman, or repairs to Agni or enters the region of Surya. If he sports there in his (new) energetic form, then stupefied by such attachment, he catches the attributes of those particular regions. The same becomes the case with him if he goes to Soma, or Vayu, or Earth, or Space. The fact is, he dwells in all these, with attachment, and displays the attributes peculiar to those regions. If, however, he goes to those regions after having freed himself from attachments, and feels a mistrust (respecting the felicity he enjoys) and wishes for That Which is Supreme and Immutable, he then enters even That.