Mahabharata: Volume 8 (69 page)

‘Yudhishthira said, “O grandfather! You have said that greed is the foundation of everything that is injurious. O father!
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I wish to hear about the true nature of ignorance.”

‘Bhishma replied, “If a person commits a wicked deed as a result of ignorance, he does not know what is good for him. He hates people who observe good conduct and people talk about him.
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Because of ignorance, he goes to hell. Because of ignorance, he comes to an evil end. Because of ignorance, he suffers misery and is submerged in disaster.”

‘Yudhishthira said, “I desire to hear about wickedness—its inclination, status, growth, increase and decrease, the source, its working, progress, periodicity, reasons and causes. O king! I wish to hear exactly and completely, about the consequence of ignorance, since unhappiness in this earth has it as its origin.”

‘Bhishma replied, “Attachment, hatred, confusion, delight, sorrow, arrogance, desire, anger, pride, procrastination, laziness, wishing, aversion, torment, suffering from the prosperity of others—these wicked acts are indicated as ignorance. You have asked about their working, their increase and other things. O mighty-armed one! O lord of the earth! Therefore, listen to this in detail. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O king! Know that both ignorance and excessive greed are equal in consequences and equal in wickedness. They are the same. The influence of greed is again increased if ignorance increases. If one is constant, so is the other. If one decays, so does the other. Each one has many courses. The source of greed is the great influence of destiny. Even if one has severed greed in every way, the source that is based on destiny remains. Thus, greed comes from ignorance and ignorance comes from greed. Greed is the source of all sins. Therefore, one should avoid greed. Janaka, Yuvanashva, Vrishadarbhi, Prasenjit and other lords of the earth attained heaven because they destroyed their greed. O foremost among the Kurus! In this world, it is evident that you must cast aside greed from your soul. Having abandoned greed, you will follow the path of happiness in this world and the next.”’

‘Yudhishthira said, “O grandfather! O one with dharma in his soul! In this world, what is said to be the best thing for a brahmana who desires dharma and makes the effort to study? Many things are seen as best in this world. O grandfather! Tell me what you think to be best in this world and the next. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The path of dharma is great and it has many branches. Which are the elements of dharma that are held to be the best? O king! In truth, dharma is great and has many branches. O father! Tell me carefully about all this and about what is the supreme foundation.”

‘Bhishma replied, “I will indeed tell you about how you may obtain the ultimate benefit. O wise one! You will drink this, which is like amrita, and be satisfied with the knowledge. Each of the maharshis has depended on his knowledge and has talked about a separate aspect of dharma. Self-control is the ultimate among them. The ancients were certain in their foresight when they said that self-control is the supreme quality. In particular, for a brahmana, self-control is eternal dharma. If one is not self-controlled, the success of deeds is not properly obtained. Self-control and generosity surpass sacrifices and studying. Self-control increases energy and self-control is the supreme purifier. A man who is without sin and possesses energy obtains greatness. We have not heard of any dharma that is equal to self-control in any world. Those who follow complete dharma praise self-control as supreme in this world. O Indra among men! Even in the world hereafter, one obtains supreme happiness. Being united with self-control, one obtains great dharma. A self-controlled person sleeps happily. He wakes in happiness. He moves through the world in happiness and his mind is cheerful. A person who is not self-controlled obtains hardship and decay. Because of his own sins, he creates many calamities. Among the four ashramas, this is said to be the supreme vow. I will tell you about the signs that give rise to self-control. Forgiveness, fortitude, non-violence, impartiality, truthfulness, uprightness, conquest of the senses, skill, mildness,
modesty, steadfastness, generosity, lack of anger, satisfaction, pleasantness in speech, lack of an acquisitive tendency and lack of malice—these unite and give rise to self-control. O Kouravya! One must also worship the seniors, show compassion towards all beings, be free of slander and tendency to gossip, not indulge in futile conversation and avoid both praise and censure. A self-controlled man does not indulge in desire, anger, greed, pride, insolence, boasting, confusion, jealousy and disrespect of others. He is not censured and is free of desire. He desires little and is not resentful. Such a man is like the ocean and is never filled.
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‘I am yours. You are mine. They are mine. I am theirs.’ The self-controlled person does not say such things about his former relatives.
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Whatever be the conduct of people in the village or in the forest, such a person does not speak words of censure or praise. He is friendly and good in conduct. He is supremely devoted to his aides. He is free from many kinds of attachment and obtains great fruits in the world hereafter. He is excellent in conduct. He is good in conduct. He is cheerful in his soul and knows about his soul. He obtains reverence in this world and a good end thereafter. There are auspicious deeds in this world. These are practised by the virtuous. He possesses knowledge about these and does not diminish the dharma of sages. He departs and resorts to the forest. He is united with knowledge and conquers his senses. He roams around, waiting for the time.
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He is capable of attaining the brahman. He has no fear from beings. Beings have no fear from him. He has no fear on account of being separated from his body. He has exhausted his good deeds and has none to accumulate. He acts equally towards all beings and behaves affectionately towards them. He is like a bird in the sky or like an aquatic creature in the water. There is no doubt that his progress cannot be seen.
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O king!
He abandons his home and attains moksha. He obtains the worlds of energy for an eternal period of time. He renounces all deeds. He renounces all the recommended austerities. He renounces the different kinds of learning. He renounces everything. He does not return to desire. He is cheerful and pure in his soul. He obtains great reverence in this world and heaven thereafter. This is the place of the grandfather
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and Brahma’s essence arises from there. This is always concealed in secret, but can be obtained through self-control. A person who takes comfort in wisdom and possesses intelligence and who does not indulge in hostility towards any being has no fear of returning again.
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What fear can he have of the world hereafter? There is one sin associated with self-control and a second one does not exist. Because he is forgiving, people think that he is incapable. O immensely wise one! But there is an extremely good quality associated with this taint. Because forgiveness is great, the patient person easily obtains the worlds. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A self-controlled person doesn’t need the forest. A person without self-control also finds nothing there. Wherever a self-controlled person resides, that is his forest and his hermitage.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Hearing these words of Bhishma, King Yudhishthira was cheerful and extremely satisfied, as if he had savoured amrita. He again asked Bhishma, supreme among the upholders of dharma. O extender of the Kuru lineage!
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He told him everything about austerities.’

‘Bhishma said, “The wise have said that austerities are the foundation of everything. A stupid person who has not been tormented through austerities does not obtain the fruits of his deeds.
The lord Prajapati created everything here through austerities. The rishis acquired the Vedas through austerities. The siddhas perform austerities in the due order and subsist on fruits, roots and the wind. Extremely controlled, they can see the three worlds through their austerities. Herbs and other medications and the three types of learning
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are perfected and made successful through austerities. Austerities are the foundation of all endeavour. Everything that is difficult to obtain, difficult to name, difficult to assail and difficult to withstand—all this can be made possible through austerities. There is nothing that can surpass austerities. A sinful man who drinks liquor, seizes objects of others without permission, kills foetuses and violates the bed of his preceptor—can be freed if he torments himself well through austerities. Austerities have many forms and many gates through which they flow. Among the austerities that involve restraint, abstention from food is the best. O great king! Non-violence, truthfulness in speech, donations, restraint of the senses—abstention from food is superior to these austerities too. There is nothing more difficult than giving and no ashrama that surpasses the mother. There is nothing that is superior to the three kinds of learning. Renunciation is the supreme austerity. In this world, the senses protect riches and grain. But in this protection of dharma, artha and austerities, there is nothing superior to abstention from food. The rishis, the ancestors, the gods, humans, the best of animals and all other beings, mobile and immobile—all of them are devoted to austerities. They become successful through austerities. It is through austerities that the gods attained greatness. They always obtained their desirable shares and fruits through austerities. It has been determined that through austerities, one can even attain divinity.”’

‘Yudhishthira said, “The brahmana rishis, ancestors and gods all praise the dharma of truth. O grandfather! I wish to hear
about the truth. Tell me about it. O king! What are the signs of the truth? How can it be obtained? Having obtained truth, what does one become? How is all this spoken of?”

‘Bhishma replied, “The mixing of the dharma of the four varnas is not praised. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Without any distortion, truth exists in all the varnas. For the virtuous, truth is always dharma. Truth is the eternal dharma. It is truth that one should bow down to. Truth is the supreme objective. Truth is dharma, austerities and yoga. Truth is the eternal brahman. Truth is said to be the supreme sacrifice. Everything is established in the truth. In this world, truly and in proper order, I will tell you about the conduct associated with truth. In proper order, I will tell you about the characteristics associated with truth. You should hear about how truth can truly be acquired. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In all the worlds, there are thirteen kinds of truth. There is no doubt that truth is impartiality and self-control. There is also lack of malice, forgiveness, modesty, patience, lack of envy, renunciation, meditation, wisdom, fortitude, constant adherence and non-violence. O Indra among kings! These are the thirteen forms of the truth. The truth is described as immutable. It never undergoes a transformation. It is not against any kind of dharma and it can be obtained through yoga. There must be impartiality towards the desirable and the undesirable, towards one’s own self and towards the enemy. When preference and aversion are destroyed, desire and anger are also destroyed. Self-control means one doesn’t desire the possessions of others. There is always patience and gravity. There is fearlessness and the pacification of anger. All of these are obtained through knowledge. The learned say that lack of malice manifests itself in generosity and control in the practice of dharma. Those who always base themselves on the truth do not suffer from malice. The virtuous person forgives everyone—those who should be forgiven and those who should not be forgiven, those who are liked and those who are not liked. The virtuous obtain the truth. They do good in secret ways. The modest person never boasts. The dharma of modesty can always be obtained through restraint in speech. The form of forgiveness that is indulged in for the sake of dharma or artha is
said to be endurance. This is for the propagation of the worlds and is obtained through patience. If a person renounces affection, if a person renounces objects and if a person gives up love and hatred, he becomes one who renounces—not otherwise. If a person makes efforts to undertake good deeds, without making it obvious and without any attachment, that is said to be nobility among beings. There is fortitude when one does not perform perverse deeds, whether it is in a situation of happiness or unhappiness. A wise person who desires his own prosperity must always pursue this. One must always have sentiments of being forgiving. One must be devoted to the truth. Devoid of delight, fear and anger, a learned person obtains fortitude. Lack of hatred towards all beings, in deeds, thought and words, kindness and generosity—these are the eternal dharma of the virtuous. These are the thirteen separate characteristics of the truth. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! These forms of truth are worshipped and extended. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! It is impossible to speak about the infinite qualities of the truth. That is the reason truth is praised by the brahmanas, the ancestors and the gods. There is no dharma superior to the truth. There is no sin that is worse than falsehood. Truth is the foundation of dharma. That is the reason truth must not be destroyed. The giving of gifts, sacrifices with dakshina, vows, agnihotra sacrifices, the Vedas and other manifestations of dharma result from the truth. One thousand horse sacrifices and truth were held up on a weighing scale and truth surpassed the one thousand horse sacrifices.”’

‘Yudhishthira said, “O bull among the Bharata lineage! O immensely wise one! Tell me accurately about the origin of anger, desire, sorrow, confusion, scepticism, lassitude, intoxication, avarice, jealousy, contempt, slander, intolerance and pity. Tell me about all these.”

‘Bhishma replied, “Amongst beings, these thirteen are said to be extremely strong enemies. O great king! In this world, all of them unite and serve a man. They distract a man and distracted, he takes delight. They jump like wolves, when they see other men approach.
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Misery flows from these. Sin flows from these. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Mortal men must always realize this. O supreme among men! I will indeed tell you about the origin, status and destruction of these. Listen attentively. Anger results from greed and is stimulated by the sins of others. O king! It remains dormant through forgiveness. A prosperous person must refrain from it.
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Desire flows from resolution and grows when one serves it. When a wise person uses his knowledge to discern its true nature, it can no longer be seen and withers away. Scepticism is against the sacred texts and is seen to originate among those who are limited in intelligence. If one possesses true knowledge, it withdraws. Among beings, sorrow results from affection and separation.
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If one knows that this is futile, it is immediately destroyed. Lassitude results from the practice of anger and avarice. Indifference and kindness towards all beings makes it withdraw. Dispirited people serve malice and that which is injurious. O son! If virtuous people are served, these are destroyed. There are beings who are proud of their lineage, their knowledge and their prosperity. When they discern the reason behind this pride, it is immediately destroyed. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Envy flows from desire and rivalry. Among those who are mortals, wisdom destroys these. O king! Slander is generated from spiteful words of misguided people, those who are not on one’s side. The act of ignoring pacifies this. There may be a powerful person who causes injury and one may be incapable of countering him. Fierce resentment is generated. But compassion makes it withdraw. It is seen that pity
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always generates pity. If one knows about being devoted
to dharma, that pity is pacified. These are said to be the ways whereby these thirteen can be conquered and pacified. All these thirteen sins were there among the sons of Dhritarashtra. You always conquered them in your soul. That is the reason you triumphed over them.”’
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