Mahabharata: Volume 8 (70 page)

‘Yudhishthira said, “I know what non-violence is. I have always seen it among the virtuous. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! However, I do not comprehend violent men and their deeds. Like men avoid thorns, pits and fire, a man must avoid a man who performs violent deeds. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A violent person is always the worst, in this world and in the next. O Kouravya! Therefore, tell me what dharma has determined about such a person.”

‘Bhishma replied, “His intentions may be hidden. But his deeds are known. He slanders others, but is censured. He binds others, but is himself tied down. He boasts about his acts of generosity. But he is unfair, inferior, fraudulent and deceitful. He does not share his pleasures. He is insolent. He and his companions are boastful. Such a man suspects everyone. He is foolish and miserly. He always praises his own group and creates enmity in the ashramas, mixing them up. He always indulges in violence and has no particular good qualities or bad ones. He is extremely boastful and spirited. He is extremely greedy and is the perpetrator of violent deeds. If there is a person of good conduct who is devoted to dharma and possesses the qualities, he regards such a person as wicked. Judging on the basis of his own character, he does not trust anyone. Even if the taints of others are hidden, he divulges them. Even if his faults and conduct are similar, he does not talk about them. He thinks that a person who does him
good has been cleverly deceived. Even if he gives away riches at the right time to someone who has helped him, he repents this. While others watch, he eats food, licks and enjoys such good food. If a person eats in this way, the learned know him as violent. If there is a person who first gives food to brahmanas and then eats, together with his well-wishers, such a person obtains the infinite in this world and heaven after death. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! The nature of a violent person has been recounted. A man who desires benefit must always avoid such a person.”’

‘Bhishma said, “He who has accomplished his objective, he who is about to perform a sacrifice, he who knows all the Vedas, he who is discharging obligations to a preceptor, a father, or a wife, he who is pursuing the objective of studying—such a brahmana is virtuous and is begging for the sake of dharma. In accordance with their learning, one must give to them, since they have nothing of their own. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! To the others, only dakshina is to be given. There are others for whom it is recommended that uncooked food must be given, but away from the sacrificial altar. In accordance with what they deserve, the king must give every kind of jewel. Brahmanas at a sacrifice must be given food and dakshina. A person who has enough to sustain his dependents and servants for three years or more deserves to drink soma.
¹⁹⁴
A sacrifice may suffer because some single ingredient is missing at the sacrifice. Especially if it is a brahmana’s sacrifice, a king who follows dharma may take that ingredient away
¹⁹⁵
from the household of a vaishya who has many animals, but does not perform sacrifices or drink soma. For the purpose of the sacrifice, the king may take that object away from
his household. In his household, a shudra possesses nothing that he actually owns. Therefore, from a shudra’s household, he
¹⁹⁶
can take away any object that he desires. If there is someone with one hundred cattle who does not have the sacrificial fire, or if there is someone with one thousand cows who does not perform sacrifices, he can seize from those households too, without thinking about it. O lord! Having explained the reason, the king can always take from those who do not donate. The dharma of a king who acts in this way will not suffer.

‘“There may be a person who has not eaten six meals. And there may be another person who does not care for tomorrow and does not perform deeds. For the seventh meal, one should take away from such a person.
¹⁹⁷
This can be taken from the place for husking, the field, the store, or from anywhere. However, this must be told to the king, irrespective of whether he asks or does not ask. The king who knows about dharma will not follow dharma and punish him. Brahmanas suffer from hunger because of the folly of kshatriyas. Having ascertained about the conduct of a learned person, he must think of a means of sustenance.
¹⁹⁸
He must protect him, the way a father protects a son born from his loins. At the end of every year, he
¹⁹⁹
must always perform the sacrifice to the fire.
²⁰⁰
In ancient times, there was no alternative to dharma. What was spoken about in dharma was sufficient. However, because they were scared of death in times of catastrophe, the vishvadevas, the sadhyas, the brahmanas and the maharshis allowed for many kinds of substitution. But an evil-minded person who does not follow the primary course and follows the secondary course instead, does not obtain any fruits in the world hereafter. A man must not tell the king about brahmanas.
²⁰¹
When
he is told, he should know that he has no energy, compared to their learning and excellent energy. Their energy is superior. That is the reason the king can never withstand the energy of those who know about the brahman. As a creator, ruler and ordainer, a brahmana is said to be god. Therefore, nothing harmful should be spoken to them. Nor must dry words be spoken. A kshatriya tides over his difficulties through the valour of his arms. A vaishya and a shudra use riches. A brahmana uses mantras and offerings. Mantras are not for maidens, young women, or stupid people. Stupid people cannot serve at agnihotra sacrifices. Nor can those who have not been cleansed. If such a person offers oblations there, he is flung into hell. Those who know about dharma say that if an officiating priest who ignites the sacrificial fire at a
prajapatya
sacrifice is not given a horse as dakshina, it is as if the sacrificial fire has not been ignited at all. There are others who perform auspicious deeds. They are faithful and have conquered their senses. However, they can never perform sacrifices without offering dakshina at those sacrifices. If dakshina is not offered at a sacrifice, this destroys the offspring, the animals and heaven for the performer and diminishes his senses, fame, deeds and span of life.

‘“All these follow the dharma of shudras—those who cohabit with menstruating women, those who are without the sacrificial fire and those whose families lack knowledge of the Vedas. There may be a village with its supply of water coming from a well.
²⁰²
A brahmana may be the husband of a shudra woman and dwell there for twelve years. In that case, he has become a shudra through his deeds. A brahmana who is married, but sleeps with a woman who is not an arya and whom he has not married, is not thought of as a brahmana. He must sit on grass and at the rear.
²⁰³
O king! Hear my words about how he may be purified. If he performs that sin for a single night, the brahmana assumes a black complexion.
²⁰⁴
He can
pacify his own sin by observing the vow of standing during the day and sitting during the night for a period of three years. O king! It is said that five kinds of lies are not sin—words of jest that cause no harm, those spoken to women, those at the time of marriage, those for the sake of one’s preceptor and those for the sake of protecting one’s own life. One who is faithful can obtain sacred learning even from someone who is inferior. It has been determined that gold can be picked up, even from a filthy place. If a woman is a gem, she may be taken from an inferior lineage. This is like drinking amrita from poison. According to dharma, women, gems and water are not tainted. For the welfare of cattle and brahmanas and to protect himself, when there is a mixing of varnas, a vaishya can take up the bow. The drinking of liquor, the killing of a brahmana and the violation of the preceptor’s bed—it is thought that these cannot be atoned for, as long as one bears life. The stealing of gold, the theft of a brahmana’s property, living a life of pleasure, the drinking of liquor
²⁰⁵
and sexual intercourse with women one should not have intercourse with are sins. O great king! If one associates with those who have fallen, even if they have been born as brahmanas, one soon becomes like them. If one associates with those who have fallen, acts as an officiating priest for them, teaches them, travels with them, sits with them or eats with them, one also falls within a year. For these and other things, atonement has been determined. By following the rites of atonement, one is freed from the calamity within a period of time, as long as one does not indulge in them again. At the funeral rites of someone who has committed the afore-mentioned three, unlike the funeral rites of those who have not fallen down, one need not bother about whether the funeral oblations are offered sideways.
²⁰⁶
A
person who follows dharma should abandon advisers and preceptors if they follow adharma. If they do not perform rites of atonement, he must not even speak to them. A person who performs adharma can destroy the sin by following dharma and performing austerities. If one addresses a ‘thief’, one incurs a sin. However, if one addresses a person who is not a thief as a ‘thief’, one incurs double that sin.

‘“A maiden who allows herself to be spoilt acquires three-fourths of the sin of killing a brahmana. The one who does the spoiling acquires the remainder of the sin. Abusing a brahmana is a sin that removes one’s status for one hundred years. Touching
²⁰⁷
is even more serious. For killing him, one dwells in hell for one thousand years. Therefore, one must not abuse him and never kill him. O king! As many particles of dust are needed to soak up a brahmana’s wound, for that number of years one is whirled around in hell. If a person kills a foetus, he is purified if he is slain through a weapon in the midst of a battle. Or one must offer oneself as kindling into a blazing fire and thereby purify oneself. If one drinks liquor, one is freed from that sin by drinking hot
varuni
liquor.
²⁰⁸
That act burns him. Once he dies, he is purified after death. A brahmana then obtains the worlds. Indeed, there is no other way that he can obtain them. A person who violates his preceptor’s bed is evil in his soul and wicked in his intelligence. He must embrace a blazing
surmi
²⁰⁹
and death will purify him. Or he may himself sever his penis and testicles and holding them in his hands, walk straight in the southwest direction,
²¹⁰
until he dies and falls down. If he
²¹¹
gives up his life for the sake of a brahmana, he will be purified. Or he may perform a horse sacrifice, a cow sacrifice or an agnishtoma sacrifice well and be purified in this world and in the next. A person who has killed a brahmana can hold a skull in his hand for twelve years. He begs
and lives as a brahmachari hermit, loudly proclaiming his deed. In this way, the slayer of a brahmana retires to the forest and performs austerities. Not knowing whether she is pregnant or not, one may have intercourse with and kill an
atreyi
woman.
²¹²
Killing an atreyi is double the sin of killing a brahmana. A person who drinks liquor must be restrained in his food and observe brahmacharya. He must sleep on the ground for three years and perform an agnishtoma sacrifice. Finally, when he has given away one thousand cows and a bull, he will obtain purification. Someone who has killed a vaishya must live in that way for two years and then give away one hundred cows and a bull. Someone who has killed a shudra must live in that way for one year and then give away ten cows and a bull. If one has killed a dog, a barbarian
²¹³
or a donkey, one must observe the same vow as for a shudra. This is also true of a cat, a blue jay, a frog, a crow, a vulture, or a rat. O king! For killing any other living being, the same dharma as for killing an animal must be observed.

‘“In due order, I will now tell you about the other kinds of atonement. If one violates another person’s bed or indulges in theft, one must live separately for one year. This is said to be three years for the wife of a brahmana who is learned in the Vedas and two years for someone else’s wife.
²¹⁴
A person who makes the sacred fire impure must follow the vow of a brahmachari and only eat during the fourth quarter of the day. He must stand during the day and remain seated at night. For three days, he must arise and not sip any water. O Kouravya! If someone abandons his father or his mother without a valid reason, he becomes fallen. That is the determination of dharma. It has been determined that only food and garments need to be given to wives who are guilty of adultery, especially those who have been imprisoned. Vows imposed on men who violate other
men’s wives must also be imposed on them. If a woman abandons the bed of someone superior and desires that of someone wicked, the king must feed her to the dogs in a place that is frequented by many people. A wise person
²¹⁵
binds down such a man on an iron bed that has been heated. Wood must be kindled underneath and the perpetrator of wicked deeds burnt there. O great king! This is also the punishment for women who transgress their husbands. If a wicked person is accused for one year,
²¹⁶
the sin is doubled. If someone associates with such a person for two, three or four years, he must lead a difficult existence for five years. He must beg and observe the vow of a hermit. A man whose younger brother marries though he is yet unmarried, a man who marries before his elder brother has married, the woman who marries the younger brother and the one who conducts the marriage—under dharma, all of them are said to have fallen. All of them must observe the vow meant for someone who kills a hero.
²¹⁷
Or they may observe
chandrayana
²¹⁸
or some other kind of fasting and thereby cleanse their sin. The younger brother who has married must offer his wife to his elder brother, who has not married, as a daughter-in-law. Having obtained the permission of the elder, he then takes her back again. Following dharma, this is the way she is freed and so are the other two.

‘“If one has inhuman intercourse,
²¹⁹
provided it is not a cow, one is not stained, as long as one has not ejaculated.
²²⁰
It is known that man is the lord of animals and their eater. However, one must don a
hide with the hair on the outside. One must take an earthen bowl in one’s hand. With this, one must beg at seven houses, recounting one’s deed. If he eats what he has thus obtained, he is purified in twelve days. If he performs the vow without displaying the signs,
²²¹
he must observe it for one year. Even for men,
²²²
this is the supreme form of atonement. For all those who are addicted to giving and receiving, that
²²³
is recommended. Among non-believers, it is said that giving a cow is like giving up a breath of life. If one has eaten the meat of dogs, boars, men, cocks or donkeys, or has drunk urine or eaten excrement, one must perform the atonement of being cleansed again. If a brahmana who drinks soma inhales the breath of someone who has drunk liquor, he can drink hot water for three days, or drink hot milk for three days. He can also drink hot ghee for three days or only subsist on air for three days. These are the eternal modes of atonement that have been indicated. This is especially true for brahmanas and has originated from those who possess true knowledge.”’