SECTION VIII
Vaisampayana said, "Like a person unwilling to forgive an insult, Arjuna
of keen speech and prowess, and possessed of energy, betraying great
fierceness and licking the Corners of his mouth, said these words of
grave import, smiling the while: 'Oh, how painful, how distressing! I
grieve to see this great agitation of thy heart, since having achieved
such a superhuman feat, thou art bent upon forsaking this great
prosperity. Having slain thy foes, and having acquired the sovereignty of
the earth which has been won through observance of the duties of thy own
order, why shouldst thou abandon everything through fickleness of heart?
Where on earth hath a eunuch or a person of procrastination ever acquired
sovereignty? Why then didst thou, insensate with rage, slay all the kings
of the earth? He that would live by mendicancy, cannot, by any act of
his, enjoy the good things of the earth. Divested of prosperity and
without resources, he can never win fame on earth or acquire sons and
animals. If, O king, abandoning this swelling kingdom, thou livest in the
observance of the wretched mode of life led by a mendicant, what will the
world say of thee? Why dost thou say that abandoning all the good things
of the earth, divested of prosperity, and reft of resources, thou wilt
lead a life of mendicancy like a vulgar person? Thou art born in this
race of kings. Having won by conquest the whole earth, wishest thou from
folly to live in the woods after abandoning everything of virtue and
profit? If thou retirest into the woods, in thy absence, dishonest men
will destroy sacrifices. That sin will certainly pollute thee. King
Nahusha, having done many wicked acts in a state of poverty, cried fie on
that state and said that poverty is for recluses. Making no provision for
the morrow is a practice that suits Rishis. Thou knowest this well. That,
however, which has been called the religion of royalty depends entirely
on wealth. One who robs another of wealth, robs him of his religion as
well.[9] Who amongst us, therefore, O king, would forgive an act of
spoliation that is practised on us? It is seen that a poor man, even when
he stands near, is accused falsely. Poverty is a state of sinfulness. It
behoveth thee not to applaud poverty, therefore. The man that is fallen,
O king, grieveth, as also he that is poor. I do not see the difference
between a fallen man and a poor man. All kinds of meritorious acts flow
from the possession of great wealth like a mountain. From wealth spring
all religious acts, all pleasures, and heaven itself, O king! Without
wealth, a man cannot find the very means of sustaining his life. The acts
of a person who, possessed of little intelligence, suffers himself to be
divested of wealth, are all dried up like shallow streams in the summer
season. He that has wealth has friends. He that has wealth has kinsmen.
He that has wealth is regarded as a true man in the world. He that has
wealth is regarded as a learned man. If a person who hath no wealth
desires to achieve a particular purpose, he meets with failure. Wealth
brings about accessions of wealth, like elephants capturing (wild)
elephants. Religious acts, pleasures, joy, courage, wrath, learning, and
sense of dignity, all these proceed from wealth, O king! From wealth one
acquires family honour. From wealth, one's religious merit increases. He
that is without wealth hath neither this world, nor the next, O best of
men! The man that hath no wealth succeeds not in performing religious
acts, for these latter spring from wealth, like rivers from a mountain.
He that is lean in respect of (his possession of) steeds and kine and
servants and guests, is truly lean and not he whose limbs alone are so.
Judge truly, O king, and look at the conduct of the gods and the Danavas.
O king, do the gods ever wish for anything else than the slaughter of
their kinsmen (the Asuras)? If the appropriation of wealth belonging to
others be not regarded as righteous, how, O monarch, will kings practise
virtue on this earth? Learned men have, in the Vedas, laid down this
conclusion. The learned have laid it down that kings should live,
reciting every day the three Vedas, seeking to acquire wealth, and
carefully performing sacrifices with the wealth thus acquired. The gods,
through internecine quarrels, have obtained footing in heaven. When, the
very gods have won their prosperity through internecine quarrels, what
fault can there be in such quarrels? The gods, thou seest, act in this
way. The eternal precepts of the Vedas also sanction it. To learn, teach,
sacrifice, and assist at other's sacrifices,--these are our principal
duties. The wealth that kings take from others becomes the means of their
prosperity. We never see wealth that has been earned without doing some
injury to others. It is even thus that kings conquer this world. Having
conquered, they call that wealth theirs, just as sons speak of the wealth
of their sires as their own. The royal sages that have gone to heaven
have declared this to be the duty of kings. Like water flowing on every
direction from a swollen ocean, that wealth runs on every direction from
the treasuries of kings. This earth formerly belonged to king Dilipa,
Nahusha, Amvarisha, and Mandhatri. She now belongs to thee! A great
sacrifice, therefore, with profuse presents of every kind and requiring a
vast heap of the earth's produce, awaits thee. If thou dost not perform
that sacrifice, O king, then the sins of this kingdom shall all be thine.
Those subjects whose king performs a horse-sacrifice with profuse
presents, become all cleansed and sanctified by beholding the ablutions
at the end of the sacrifice. Mahadeva himself, of universal form, in a
great sacrifice requiring libations of all kinds of flesh, poured all
creatures as sacrificial libations and then his own self. Eternal is this
auspicious path. Its fruits are never destroyed. This is the great path
called Dasaratha. Abandoning it, O king, to what other path wouldst thou
betake thyself?'
