Mahabharata Vol. 2 (Penguin Translated Texts) (39 page)

‘“O king! But after that, your intelligence was confounded and you were vanquished in an unequal game of dice. You lost your kingdom, riches, weapons, brothers and even me. You are upright, gentle, benevolent, humble and truthful. How could this attachment to dice degrade your intelligence? On witnessing your great unhappiness and your misfortune, my mind is agitated and extremely bewildered. I will recount an ancient tale to show how all the worlds are under the control of the supreme god.
¹⁹³
Even before the seed is released, the lord Ishana
¹⁹⁴
determines in advance happiness and unhappiness and pleasure and displeasure for all beings. O brave man! O king! These subjects are like wooden puppets and he controls their bodies and limbs. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Covering all these beings like the sky, the supreme god decides on all that is good and all that is evil. A bird tied to a string is not its own master. Like that, they are under the control of the supreme god and are not their own master or anyone else’s. Like a pearl on a string, like a bull with a rope through its nose, a man is under the control of the creator, is part of him and is given to him. Like a tree that has fallen from the bank into the middle of a river, he is at no time under his own control. Creatures are ignorant. Their happiness or unhappiness is not determined by themselves. They are sent by the supreme god to heaven or hell. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All beings are under the control of the creator, like the tips of straws are under the control of the strong wind. Yet again, the supreme god yokes himself to good deeds and evil ones. He pervades and roams in all beings, but is not noticed. This physical body is only the field. It is only the creator’s instrument and the illustrious one uses it to perform deeds, good and evil. Look at the powers of maya the supreme god exhibits. He confounds them with illusion and makes beings kill other beings. The sages who know the truth visualize this in a different way and alter their course, like
the wind in the sky. But men think of it in a different way and the lord creates and alters them in a different way. O Yudhishthira! Like wood is broken with wood, stone again with stone, iron with iron and that which is insensate with that which has senses, like that, the great grandfather, the self-created one, the illustrious god is not detected, and kills beings with other beings. The lord unites and disunites them, as he desires. The illustrious one plays with all beings, like a child with his toys. O king! The creator does not act towards beings like a father or a mother. Like an inferior person, he seems to be driven by rage.

‘“My thoughts are agitated when I see that those who are good, righteous and modest suffer in their conduct, while evil ones are happy. O Partha! On witnessing your calamity and Suyodhana’s prosperity, I blame the creator who tolerates such inequality. He confers prosperity on Dhritarashtra’s cruel and avaricious son,
¹⁹⁵
who lowers dharma and transgresses what the virtuous sacred texts say. What fruits does the creator obtain from this? If a performed deed follows its performer and no one else, then the supreme god has certainly been tainted by this evil deed. Or if the evil that is done does not taint the performer, then strength alone is the cause of everything and I grieve for those who are weak.”’

‘Yudhishthira said, “O Yajnaseni! We have heard the words that you have spoken. They are sweet, well crafted and full of good expressions. But what you have said is atheism. O princess! I do not follow dharma because of its fruits. I give what should be given. I sacrifice what should be sacrificed. O Krishna! Without bothering about whether there is fruit or not, and to the best of my abilities, I do what a man who is a householder is supposed to do. O
one with the beautiful hips! I do not follow dharma because of the fruits of dharma, but because I do not want to transgress the traditional texts and wish to follow the conduct of the virtuous. O Krishna! My mind is naturally fixed on dharma. He who wishes to milk dharma does not obtain the fruits of dharma. Nor does the evil-minded atheist, who having performed a task, has doubts. Do not doubt dharma, driven by pride, or in an attempt to debate. A man who doubts dharma is destined to be born as inferior species. Like shudras have no access to the Vedas, weak-minded ones who are doubtful about dharma and the ways of the rishis are barred from the undecaying and immortal worlds. O famous one! If one studies the Vedas, follows dharma and is born in a noble lineage, then kings who follow dharma refer to him as old.
¹⁹⁶
Vile ones who transgress the sacred texts and have doubts about dharma in their evil-mindedness, are worse than even shudras and thieves.

‘“With your own eyes, you have seen the immensely ascetic rishi Markandeya. Rendered immortal by dharma, the one whose soul is immeasurable had come here. Vyasa, Vasishtha, Maitreya, Narada, Lomasha, Shuka and other rishis, whose minds are virtuous, have obtained success through dharma alone. You have yourself seen them, possessing the powers of divine yoga, capable of every curse and boon, and superior to the gods themselves. They have always told me that dharma alone is the task to be followed. They are like the immortals and clearly have knowledge of the traditional texts. O fortunate one! Therefore, out of the confusion of passion or because your mind is agitated, you should not doubt the creator or dharma, or censure them. He who doubts dharma finds nothing else against which he can measure himself. He considers himself as the measure and proudly debases the superior. He thinks like a child that the world connected with pleasuring the senses alone is real, and is deluded about everything else. There is no atonement for one who doubts dharma. Despite all his reflections, there are no worlds for such a mean and evil one. The ignorant one, who does not acknowledge what has been proved, criticizes the meaning given to the Vedas and the sacred
texts and is addicted to desire and avarice, descends into hell. O fortunate one! But he who unquestioningly and with a steady mind follows the path of dharma, obtains eternity in the hereafter. O Krishna! He who transgresses the proof given by the rishis, does not follow dharma and transgresses all the sacred texts, that deluded one doesn’t obtain bliss in a hundred births. O Krishna! Do not doubt the dharma followed by the righteous, which has been recounted by the ancient rishis who know everything and can see everything. O Droupadi! Like a boat to a merchant who wishes to cross to the other shore of an ocean, dharma is the only boat that takes one to heaven and there is nothing else. O unblemished one! If the dharma followed by those who observe dharma had no fruit, then this entire universe would have been immersed in darkness and would not have been established. No one would have progressed towards salvation. Everyone would have lived the life of animals. There would only have been restraints and nothing would have been earned or gained. If austerities, brahmacharya, sacrifices, studying, generosity and honesty did not have their fruits, then the ancient ones and those who came before them, would not have observed these. If these deeds did not have fruits, there would have been extreme confusion.

‘“Why do rishis, gods, gandharvas, asuras, rakshasas and all the other powerful lords follow dharma so assiduously? It is because they know that the creator will give the supreme fruits to those who follow dharma. O Krishna! This is eternal dharma. This dharma bears fruits. It has never been said that dharma has no fruits. It can be seen that learning and austerities also bear fruit. O Krishna! That is also the case with you. Remember the circumstances of your birth, as you have heard them. You also know how the powerful Dhrishtadyumna was born. O one with the sweet smiles! This is sufficient proof. Knowing that deeds have fruits, the wise one is content with only a little. But ignorant and stupid ones are not satisfied with even a lot. But after death, dharma gives them no happiness or deeds. O passionate one! The fruits of deeds, both good and evil, and their origins and ends are mysteries to even the gods. No one knows them. Beings are in darkness about them. They are protected by the gods and the maya of the gods is deep. Brahmanas who are lean of form, righteous in
their vows and are austere, and having burnt down their sins are of a serene mind, they can see them. Not being able to see the fruit, one should not doubt dharma or the gods. Without distractions and envy, one should perform sacrifices and donations. Deeds have their fruits. That is the eternal dharma. This is what Brahma told his sons and it was known by rishi Kashyapa.
¹⁹⁷
O Krishna! Therefore, let your doubt be destroyed like the mist.
¹⁹⁸
Deciding that this is the way it is, give up your atheism. Do not speak ill of the supreme god who is the preserver of all beings. Learn about him. Worship him. Do not have the kind of thoughts you have had. O Krishna! It is through the grace of the supreme god that faithful mortals can tread the path of the immortals. Do not disregard him in any way.”’

‘Droupadi said, “O Partha! I have not insulted or censured dharma in any way. Why should I censure the supreme god, the lord of all beings? O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Know me as one who is incoherent with grief. Listen to me with a calm mind, as I lament a lot more. O destroyer of enemies! Whatever is born must certainly perform tasks. Not even inferior ones, but only the immobile
¹⁹⁹
can live without acting. O Yudhishthira! From the time one suckles at a breast to the time one is supine before death, all mobile beings act according to their nature. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Among mobile beings in particular, men wish to perform deeds that ensure conduct in this life and the next. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All beings know about ascent.
²⁰⁰
The world is a
witness to the fact that they directly reap the fruits of their actions. I can see myself that all beings live in accordance with this ascent, even the creator
²⁰¹
and the preserver,
²⁰²
like a crane in the water. You should do your own task, without becoming fatigued. You should be armed through your deeds. He who knows his own task is one in a thousand, if not rarer. Therefore, one should act, to protect and to extend what one has. If it
²⁰³
is eaten up without a new crop, it dwindles like the Himalayas. All subjects would have been destroyed had they not performed their tasks. Do we ever see people act, without their acts leading to fruits? We do not know of anyone in this world who makes a living without action. In this world, those who believe in destiny and those who believe in chance are both wrong. What is praised is intelligence based on action. He who is happily asleep and believing in destiny, makes no effort, that evil-minded one soon sinks like a pot in the water. This is also true of the one who believes in chance and though capable of action, fails to act. His seat is not permanent and he lives like a weak one, without a protector. If a man unexpectedly obtains something and it is thought that it has been obtained by chance, his efforts have not been successful. O Partha! If a man obtains something and describes it as destiny, then he certainly decides that it was divine decree and nothing but fate. The fruit that a man obtains through his own acts is directly seen through the eyes and is regarded as manliness. One who is naturally active obtains results without any obvious reason. O supreme among men! Know that this fruit is only natural. Whatever is thus obtained by a man through chance, divine destiny and as the natural outcome of deeds is the fruit of the man’s earlier deeds.

‘“According to the deeds men have earlier done, the preserver and the supreme god distribute them and their fruits in their respective tasks. Whatever task a man performs, good or bad, know that this has been decided by the preserver in accordance with the fruits of the earlier deeds. This body is only an instrument of the preserver to
undertake acts and take actions. Under his control, one helplessly acts accordingly. O Kounteya! It is the great lord who appoints us to this task or that one and all beings are made to act, though they are themselves inert. Having fixed the objective in one’s mind, one subsequently undertakes the task. A man who himself uses his intelligence first is therefore the cause, because of his resolution. O bull among men! It is not possible to count the number of deeds. Man is the reason behind the success of houses and towns. There is oil in sesame seeds. There is milk in cows. Finally, there is fire in wood. Using one’s intelligence, one should cleverly understand the means for attaining success. Thereafter one undertakes action, after ascertaining the reasons for success. It is on the success of their deeds that beings survive. An act that is well performed by a skilled actor is certainly different from another act that is felt to have been performed by one who is not skilled. Had man not been the reason behind the success of acts, there would have been no oblations and sacrifices, no disciples or preceptors. It is because a man is himself the actor that he is praised for the success of his deeds and blamed in the case of failure. How can one’s deeds be destroyed?

‘“Some say that everything is the outcome of chance, others that everything is the outcome of destiny. There are those who think it results from a man’s efforts. Others say the reason is threefold. Others hold that it is not enough to think of the task alone. Everything is invisible, be it chance or destiny. It is seen that results are the outcome of chance or destiny. Some of it is chance, some of it is destiny, some of it is the outcome of one’s own deeds. This is how a man obtains the fruits, there is no fourth reason. Learned and skilled ones who know say this. But even then, the preserver is the one who gives desirable and undesirable fruits to all beings. Had that not been the case, no beings would have been miserable. A man would have performed the act that would bring him his desired results. Had earlier acts not existed, his deeds would have led to success. Those men who do not see these three doors to success and failure are unsuccessful, like their own worlds. Tasks must always be performed. This is what Manu had decided. A man who does not act is always defeated. O Yudhishthira! If a man acts, he is usually successful. Those who are
lazy rarely attain success. If there is a reason for failure, propitiation is indicated. O Indra among kings! But if the act is undertaken, one is freed from one’s debts. Misfortune characterizes the lazy man who sleeps. But a skilled one certainly obtains the fruits and attains prosperity. Intelligent men committed to acting never have doubts and are successful. But they do not seek to free from doubt those who doubt and are unsuccessful.