Mahabharata: Volume 8 (44 page)

‘Yudhishthira said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! It has been said that in times of distress, brahmanas may live by adopting the dharma of kshatriyas. Can they also live by adopting the dharma of vaishyas?”

‘Bhishma replied, “When he is incapable of following the dharma of kshatriya
s
, he can follow the dharma of vaishyas. When the means of subsistence is destroyed because of some hardship, agriculture and tending to cattle is permissible.”

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O bull among the Bharata lineage! When a brahmana follows the dharma of vaishyas, what commodities can he sell, without being deprived of the world of heaven?”

‘Bhishma replied, “Under every circumstance, a brahmana must always avoid liquor, salt, sesamum seeds, animals with manes, bulls, honey, meat and cooked food. O son! If a brahmana sells these, he goes to hell. A goat is Agni. A sheep is Varuna. A horse is Surya. The earth is large.
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A cow is a soma sacrifice. These must never be sold. The virtuous do not praise the exchange of uncooked food for cooked food. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! However, for the sake of eating, cooked food can be obtained in exchange for uncooked food. ‘We will eat this when it has been cooked. Please cook this for us.’ If one considers uncooked food with this objective in mind, there is no adharma. On this, there is the ancient conduct of dharma, followed by those who adhered to custom. O Yudhishthira! Listen to this. ‘I will give you this. You must give me that in return.’ This voluntary agreement is dharma, because there is no force involved. Ancient transactions occurred in this way, accepted by rishis and others. There is no doubt that this is virtuous.”

‘Yudhishthira said, “O father!
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When all the subjects abandon their own dharma and take up weapons, the strength of the kshatriya
dwindles. How will the king then become the protector and refuge of the worlds? I have a doubt about this. O grandfather! Tell me this in detail.”

‘Bhishma replied, “As the foremost among the varnas, brahmanas should seek the comfort of their own selves through donations, austerities, performance of sacrifices, lack of injury and self-control. Those among them who possess the strength of the Vedas must arise in every way and increase the king’s strength, like the gods do to the great Indra. When the king is weak, it is said that the arms of the brahmanas become his refuge. Therefore, if he knows, he should seek to uplift himself through the strength of brahmanas. When the king is victorious and ensures welfare in the kingdom, all the varnas are immersed in their own dharma and perform their own tasks. O Yudhishthira! However, when bandits are engaged in causing confusion, there is mixing
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and all the varnas must take up weapons and there is no sin in this.”

‘Yudhishthira asked, “If all the kshatriyas act injuriously towards the brahmanas, who will then save the brahmanas? What will be the supreme dharma then?”

‘Bhishma replied, “In particular, the aged brahmanas must restrain and pacify the kshatriyas through austerities, brahmacharya, weapons, physical strength, deceit and lack of deceit. Brahmanas can do the restraining, because kshatriyas were created from brahmanas. Fire was created from water, kshatriyas from brahmanas and iron from stone. Therefore, the energy of each category is pacified by its own womb. When iron encounters stone, fire comes in contact with water and kshatriyas are injurious towards brahmanas, all three are pacified. O Yudhishthira! Therefore, kshatriyas are pacified by brahmanas, even if they are great and irresistible in energy and strength. When the vigour of brahmanas is mild and the vigour of kshatriyas is extremely weak, all the varnas always act in a wicked way towards the brahmanas. Those who fight then, ready to give up their lives for the sake of protecting brahmanas, are those who have dharma in their souls. All those spirited ones who are
enraged and wish to take up weapons for the sake of brahmanas obtain sacred worlds. Those worlds are beyond those meant for the extremely virtuous ones who study, and the ascetics. Those brave ones go to supreme worlds that are beyond those meant for those who fast and destroy their lives in the fire. For learned ones, there is no other dharma than giving up their lives in the cause.
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One should bow down before those fortunate ones who offer their lives. May we obtain the worlds obtained by those who seek to restrain the enemies of brahmanas. Manu has said that those brave ones conquer heaven and Brahma’s world. People are purified when they bathe after a horse sacrifice. That is what happens to the evil and good deeds of those who are killed by weapons in a battle. Because of the time and the place, adharma can become dharma and dharma can become adharma. That is the nature of time and place. Friends can perform cruel deeds and conquer supreme heaven. The virtuous can perform wicked deeds and attain the supreme objective. There are three occasions when the taking up of weapons by a brahmana is not reprehensible—to save himself, to prevent the mixing of the varnas and to restrain the unassailable.”

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O supreme among kings! When the strength of bandits increases, for the sake of preventing injury, when the varnas are mixed and the varnas are confused, should someone else who is stronger, a brahmana, a vaishya or a shudra, take up the task?
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Should he protect the subjects against bandits by wielding the rod of dharma? Should he perform that task or is he restrained from doing that? I think that weapons should not be wielded by anyone who is not born a kshatriya.”

‘Bhishma replied, “If he is a means of crossing over to a shore when none exists, if he is a boat when no boats exist, whether he is a shudra or someone else, he must always be revered. O king! When people are afflicted by bandits, he protects those who have no protectors. Men seek refuge with him and he conveys them to a state of happiness. Therefore, he must be affectionately worshipped, as if he
is a relative. O Kouravya! He deserves honour and should be looked upon as a performer of great deeds. What use is a bull that does not bear a load? What use is a cow that does not yield milk? What use is a barren wife? What use is a king who does not protect? What use is an elephant made of wood? What use is a deer made of leather? What use is a cart without a drive and a path? What use is a degraded field? A brahmana who does not study and a king who does not protect are always useless in this way, like a cloud that does not rain. The one who always protects the virtuous and chastises the wicked performs the duties of a king and should always be upheld and instated in this way.”’

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O grandfather! What should be the conduct of those who are officiating priests and how should they endeavour? O Indra among kings! O supreme among eloquent ones! What kind of people should they be?”

‘Bhishma replied, “From ancient times, the tasks and conduct of officiating priests have been laid down. They must first be knowledgeable about sacred hymns
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and the learning of brahmanas. They must always be patient and firm in this one task.
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They must not be unpleasant in speech. They must be affectionate towards each other.
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They must be revered and must look on everyone equally. They must possess attributes of non-injury, truthfulness, non-violence, austerities, uprightness, lack of hatred, lack of ego, modesty, forbearance, self-control and tranquility. A person who is modest, truthful, patient, self-controlled, non-injurious towards beings, without desire and harted, possessing the three sparkling
qualities,
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non-violent and content with knowledge alone—is said to be worthy of Brahma’s seat. O son! These are great officiating priests and all of these must be honoured in the proper way.”

‘Yudhishthira said, “The words of the Vedas stipulate the giving of dakshina. They say that it must be given. But nothing is said about when that giving is enough. Nor do the sacred texts say enough about riches, for example, what is in accordance with the sacred texts in times of distress.
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The commands of the sacred texts are terrible, because they do not look towards the capacity of the giver.
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The ordinances of the Vedas only say that one must faithfully perform sacrifices. However, what will devotion achieve when the sacrifice is performed falsely?”
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‘Bhishma replied, “One cannot obtain greatness by disrespecting the Vedas, deceit or fraud. You should not think in this way. O son! Dakshina is a part of sacrifice and extend the Vedas. Devoid of dakshina, mantras can never render salvation. However, the capacity to give one full vessel should also be honoured. O son! Therefore, all the three varnas must perform sacrifices in the proper way. The ordinances of the Vedas say that for brahmanas, the king is like soma. One should not try to sell it, since such a means of earning a living is fruitless.
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If the sacrifice is performed in this way, it will be as if dharma has been sold. The rishis who are learned about dharma have spoken about dharma in this way. The person, the sacrifice and soma must be in accordance with what is proper. A man who has improper conduct is of no use to himself or to others. We have heard it in the sacred texts that the body constitutes the vessels of the sacrifice.
For that reason, conducted properly, only great-souled brahmanas must be engaged. The supreme among the learned texts decrees that austerities are superior to sacrifices. O learned one! Therefore, I will tell you about austerities. Listen to me. Non-violence, truthfulness, lack of injury, self-control and compassion—the learned and the patient know that these are austerities, not the drying up of the body. Not accepting the proof of the Vedas, transgressing the sacred texts and chaos everywhere—these destroy the soul. O Partha! Listen to what has been said about oblations in sacrifices that last for ten days. Consciousness is the ladle. Thoughts are clarified butter. Supreme knowledge is the
pavitra
.
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All kinds of deceit represent death. All kinds of uprightness represent the objective of the brahman. All this is actually in the realm of the unknown. What purpose will words accomplish?”’

‘Yudhishthira asked, “O grandfather! For a man who is alone and unaided, even the slightest task is extremely difficult to accomplish, not to speak of running a kingdom. For the sake of prosperity, what should be the conduct of a king’s adviser? How should he behave? Whom should the king trust and whom should he not trust?”

‘Bhishma replied, “O king! The king has four kinds of friends—those who have the same objective, those who are devoted, those who are natural and those who are artificial.
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There is a fifth kind of friend, one with dharma in his soul, who serves a single person and not two. He is on the side that has dharma, though he may
also be neutral. Wishing to conquer, a king uses both dharma and adharma. However, to such a person, one should never disclose objectives that would not please him.
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Out of the four, the two in the middle are the best.
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The others should always be suspected. However, if a king has to undertake a task himself, all of these should be suspected. It is the king’s duty to be never careless in protecting his friends. A king who is careless is overwhelmed by people. A wicked person can become virtuous, a virtuous person can become terrible, an enemy can become a friend and a friend can cause injury. Since a man’s mind is uncertain, how can he be trusted? Therefore, the king must ensure that the important tasks are undertaken in his presence. Blind trust can completely destroy dharma and artha. However, not trusting anyone is also worse than death. Trusting amounts to premature death. Trust leads to catastrophe. If one trusts someone, life depends on the person one has trusted. Therefore, the king must trust some people and mistrust others. O son! This is the eternal policy for prosperity. There may be someone who brings riches as soon as one thinks about it. The learned ones say that such a person is an enemy and must always be distrusted. When water flows from one person’s field into another person’s field, as long as the first one wants the water to flow, he doesn’t demolish all the embankments. But when he is worried about too much of water flowing down, he wishes to demolish the embankments. One can discern this through signs and the signs must be used to determine the enemy. When someone is not satisfied with the king’s prosperity and is distressed at his decay, it is said that this is the sign of a best friend. If there is someone about whom one can think, ‘My destruction is the same as his death,’ that person can be trusted, as if he was one’s own father. You should try to increase such a person’s prosperity in every way and always prevent injury to him, since he is engaged in tasks of dharma. If someone is scared of injury to the king, know that this is a sign that he is the best friend. Those who wish to cause him injury are said to be enemies. There
may be someone who is always frightened of injury to the king and satisfied with the king’s prosperity.
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A friend who is like this is said to be one’s equal. A person who is close to you must be handsome, with a good complexion and good voice. He must be patient and without malice. He must be born in a noble lineage and possess good conduct. Intelligence, a good memory, skill, natural compassion and a capacity to never malign, irrespective of whether one is honoured or dishonoured—these are the attributes of an officiating priest, a preceptor and a friend. Such people must dwell in your house and must be supremely honoured. He can know about secret counsel and also about the objectives of dharma and artha. One can trust such a person, the way one would trust a father. Each task should always be given to one person. Otherwise, there will be dissension. A person for whom duties and fame are the most important, who always sticks to a pledge he has made, who does not hate capable people, who enables others, who does not abandon dharma for the sake of desire, fear, avarice or anger, one who is accomplished and competent in speech—such a person must always be next to you. Brave, noble, learned, powerful, accomplished, born in good lineages, possessing good conduct, patient, without malice—it is your duty to appoint these as advisers and employ them in all the tasks. They must be honoured, given their shares, given good aides and established in their own tasks. Completely immersed in great and important tasks, they ensure great prosperity. They always seek to rival each other and perform these tasks. They consult each other and accomplish the objectives. You must always be frightened of your kin, as if they are death. A kin is like a minor king and can never tolerate the king’s prosperity. O mighty-armed one! It is only a kin who is delighted at the destruction of someone who is upright, mild, generous, modest and truthful in speech. However, there is no happiness in not having kin. There is nothing that is worse than that. A man without kin is overwhelmed by the enemy. If a man has
been treated badly by others, kin offer refuge. Kin never tolerate the prospect of kin being maltreated by others. Even if that injury is caused by friends, it is regarded as one to one’s own self. There are good qualities in them,
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but the absence of qualities can also be discerned. He who is not kin, does not do any favours. But he who is not kin, does not use poisoned arrows. In the world of kin, both can be seen—virtuous and wicked. One must always honour them in words and deeds. He must act towards them in a pleasant way and never act in unpleasant ways. He must always act as if he trusts them, even if he actually mistrusts them. It is seen that good and bad qualities are both mixed in them. When a man conducts himself in this way and is not distracted, his enemies are disarmed and become his friends. This is the way he prospers in the circle of kin and relatives. For a very long period of time, he obtains fame and mastery over his friends and enemies.”’