SECTION XL
"Vidura said, 'Worshipped by the good and abandoning pride, that good man
who pursueth his objects without outstepping the limits of his power,
soon succeedeth in winning fame, for they that are good, when gratified
with a person, are certainly competent to bestow happiness on him. He
that forsaketh, of his own accord, even a great object owing to its being
fraught with unrighteousness, liveth happily, casting off all foes, like
a snake that hath cast off its slough. A victory gained by an untruth,
deceitful conduct towards the king, and insincerity of intentions
expressed before the preceptor,--these three are each equal to the sin of
slaying a Brahmana. Excessive envy, death, and boastfulness, are the
causes of the destruction of prosperity. Carelessness in waiting upon
preceptor, haste, and boastlessness, are the three enemies of knowledge.
Idleness, inattention, confusion of the intellect, restlessness,
gathering for killing time, haughtiness, pride, and covetous ness,--these
seven constitute, it is said, the faults of students in the pursuit of
learning. How can they that desire pleasure have knowledge? Students,
again, engaged in the pursuit of learning, cannot have pleasure. Votaries
of pleasure must give up knowledge, and votaries of knowledge must give
up pleasure. Fire is never gratified with fuel (but can consume any
measure thereof). The great ocean is never gratified with the rivers it
receives (but can receive any number of them). Death is never gratified
even with entire living creatures. A beautiful woman is never gratified
with any number of men (she may have). O king, hope killeth patience;
Yama killeth growth; anger killeth prosperity; miserliness killeth fame;
absence of tending killeth cattle; one angry Brahmana destroyeth a whole
kingdom. Let goats, brass, silver, honey, antidotes of poison, birds,
Brahmanas versed in the Vedas, old relatives, and men of high birth sunk
in poverty, be always present in your house. O Bharata, Manu hath said
that goats, bulls, sandal, lyres, mirrors, honey, clarified butter, iron,
copper, conch-shells, salagram (the stony-image of Vishnu with gold
within) and gorochana should always be kept in one's house for the
worship of the gods. Brahmanas, and guests, for all those objects are
auspicious. O sire, I would impart to you another sacred lesson
productive of great fruits, and which is the highest of all teachings,
viz., virtue should never be forsaken from desire, fear, or temptation,
nay, nor for the sake of life itself. Virtue is everlasting; pleasure and
pain are transitory; life is, indeed, everlasting but its particular
phases are transitory. Forsaking those which are transitory, betake
thyself to that which is everlasting, and let contentment be thine, for
contentment is the highest of all acquisitions. Behold, illustrious and
mighty kings, having ruled lands abounding with wealth and corn, have
become the victims of the Universal Destroyer, leaving behind their
kingdoms and vast sources of enjoyment. The son brought up with anxious
care, when dead, is taken up and carried away by men (to the burning
ground). With the dishevelled hair and crying piteously, they then cast
the body into the funeral pyre, as if it were a piece of wood. Others
enjoy the deceased's wealth, while birds and fire feast on the elements
of his body. With two only he goeth to the other world, viz., his merits
and his sins which keep him company. Throwing away the body, O sire,
relatives, friends, and sons retrace their steps, like birds abandoning
trees without blossoms and fruits. The person cast into the funeral pyre
is followed only by his own acts. Therefore, should men carefully and
gradually earn the merit of righteousness. In the world above this, and
also in that below this, there are regions of great gloom and darkness.
Know, O king, that those are regions where the senses of men are
exceedingly afflicted. Oh, let not any of those places to thine.
Carefully listening to these words, if you canst act according to them,
thou wilt obtain great fame in this world of men, and fear will not be
thine here or hereafter. O Bharata, the soul is spoken of as a river;
religious merit constitutes its sacred baths; truth, its water;
self-control, its banks; kindness, its waves. He that is righteous
purifieth himself by a bath therein, for the soul is sacred, and the
absence of desire is the highest merit. O king, life is a river whose
waters are the five senses, and whose crocodiles and sharks are desire
and anger. Making self-control your raft, cross you its eddies which are
represented by repeated births! Worshipping and gratifying friends that
are eminent in wisdom, virtue, learning, and years, he that asketh their
advice about what he should do and should not do, is never misled. One
should restrain one's lust and stomach by patience; one's hands and feet
by one's eyes; one's eyes and ears by one's mind; and one's mind and
words by one's acts. That Brahmana who never omitteth to perform his
ablutions, who always weareth his sacred thread, who always attendeth to
the study of the Vedas, who always avoideth food that is unclean, who
telleth the truth and performeth acts in honour of his preceptor, never
falleth off from the region of Brahma. Having studied the Vedas, poured
libations into fire, performed sacrifices, protected subjects, sanctified
his soul by drawing weapons for protecting kine and Brahmanas, and died
on the field of battle, the Kshatriya attaineth to heaven. Having studied
the Vedas, and distributed in proper time, his wealth among Brahmanas,
Kshatriyas, and his own dependents, and inhaled the sanctified smoke of
the three kinds of fires, the Vaisya enjoyeth heavenly bliss in the other
world. Having properly worshipped Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaisayas in
due order, and having burnt his sins, by gratifying them, and then
peacefully casting off his body, the Sudra enjoyeth the bliss of heaven.
The duties of the four orders are thus set forth before thee. Listen now
to the reason of my speech as I discourse it. Yudhishthira, the son of
Pandu, is falling off from the duties of the Kshatriya order. Place him,
therefore, O king, in a position to discharge the duties of kings.'
"Dhritarashtra said, It is even so as you always teachest me. O amiable
one, my heart also inclineth that very way of which you tellest me.
Although, however, I incline in my mind towards the Pandavas even as thou
teachest me to do, yet as soon as I come in contact with Duryodhana it
turneth off in a different way. No creature is able to avert fate.
Indeed, Destiny, I think, is certain to take its course; individual
exertion is futile.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 5 : UPA-PARVA 40 ---------------------
