Mahābhārata

M. N. Dutt: Vaishampayana said Once the great sage KrishnaDvaipayana said these words to the son of Kunti, who had no enemies.

M. N. Dutt: Let these great car-warriors, possessing sufficient mental strength, O king, let these your brothers, O Yudhishthira the chief of the Bharatas, satisfying those wishes of theirs which they entertained while living in the woods. Rule you the Earth, O son of Pritha, like (another) Yayati the son of Nahusha.

M. N. Dutt: Before this you suffered misery while living in the woods in the observance of ascetic penances. That misery has ended, O foremost of men. Enjoy happiness, therefore, for some time.

M. N. Dutt: Having, O Bharata, acquired and enjoyed religious merit and wealth and pleasure for some time with your brothers, you may then, O king, retire into the forest.

M. N. Dutt: Be freed first, О Bharata, from the debt you owe to persons who may beg of you to the Pitris, and to the gods. You may then, O son of Kunti, follow all the other modes of life.

M. N. Dutt: Do you, O son of Kuru's race, celebrate the sacrifices of Sarvamedha and Ashvainedha. You will then attain, O king, to the highest end hereafter.

M. N. Dutt: Making your brothers also perform great sacrifices with profuse presents, you will, O son of Pandu, acquire great fame.

M. N. Dutt: There is a saying, O foremost of men and best of the Kurus! Listen to it, for by acting according to it, O king, you will not deviate from the path of virtue.

M. N. Dutt: Those men only O Yudhishthira, who behave like robbers, advise a king to undertake wars and acquire victory.

M. N. Dutt: That king who, knowing proper place and time and following the injunctions of the scriptures, pardons even a nuinber of robbers, incurs no sin.

M. N. Dutt: That king, who, realising his tribute of a sixth, does not protect his kingdom, shares a fourth part of the sins of his kingdom.

M. N. Dutt: Listen also to that by which a king may not deviate from the path of virtue. By disregarding the scriptures one incurs sin, while by obeying them one may live fearlessly.

M. N. Dutt: That king who, following the scriptural injunctions and disregarding lust and anger, behaves impartially, like a father, towards all his subjects, never incurs sin.

M. N. Dutt: O you of great splendour, if a king, possessed by destiny, fails to accomplish an act in proper time, such failure would not be called a trespass.

M. N. Dutt: By power and policy should the king subjugate his foes. He must not allow sin to be committed in his kingdom, but should cause virtue to be practised.

M. N. Dutt: Brave men, the respectable, the virtuous, the learned, O Yudhishthira, Brahmanas conversant with Vedic texts and rites, and men of wcalth, should especially be protected.

M. N. Dutt: In trying cases and performing religious acts, they who are possessed of great learning should alone be employed. A prudent king should never place his confidence in one individual however accomplished.

M. N. Dutt: That king who does not protect his subjects, whose passions are not under-control, who is full of vanity, who is haughty and malicious, incurs sin and becomes notorious as a tyrant.

M. N. Dutt: If the subjects of a king, O monarch, die from want of protection and are afflicted by the gods and oppressed by robbers, the sin of all this affects the king himself.

M. N. Dutt: There is no sin, O Yudhishthira, in doing an act with full heart, after mature consideration and consultation with men capable of giving good advice.

M. N. Dutt: Our works fail or succeed through destiny. If activity, however, be applied, sin would not affect the king.

M. N. Dutt: I shall recite to you, O foremost of kings, the story of what happened to an ancient king of the name of Hayagriva, O son of Pandu,the story of the heroic Hayagriva of unsullied deeds, who after having killed a host of enemies in battle, was himself defeated and killed while without a follower by his side.

M. N. Dutt: Having done all for restraining his foes and adopted all those foremost of means by which men may be protected, Hayagriva won great fame from the battles he fought and is now enjoying great bliss in heaven.

M. N. Dutt: Wounded by robbers with weapons, bravely fighting with them, and giving up his life in battle, the great Hayagriva, ever devoted to his royal duties, achieved the object of his life and is now enjoying great bliss in heaven.

M. N. Dutt: The bow was his (sacrificial) stake and the bow-string was the cord for trying the animals. Arrows were the smaller ladle and the sword the larger one, and blood formed the clarified butter that he poured. The car constituted the altar and the anger he left in battle was the fire, and the four best of horses yoked to his vehicle were the four Hotris.

M. N. Dutt: Having poured upon that sacrificial fire his enemies as libations and then his own life at the termination of the sacrifice, that foremost of kings, Hayagriva, became freed from sin and is now playing in the regions of the celestials.

M. N. Dutt: Having protected his kingdom with policy and intelligence, the great and self-controlled Hayagriva of great strength of mind and given to the performance of sacrifices filled all the worlds with his glory and is now sporting in the region of the celestials.

M. N. Dutt: Having acquired the merit of celebrating sacrifices as also every kind of merit of human worlds, he held the rod of chastisement and ruled the Earth with vigour and without pride. For this the virtuous and great Hayagriva is sporting in the region of the celestials.

M. N. Dutt: Learned men practising renunciation, cherishing faith, and grateful, that king, having performed various acts, left this world of men and attained the regions that are reserved for the intelligent and the wise and those who are of approved conduct and behaviour and prepared to kill themselves in battle.

M. N. Dutt: Having read the Vedas well and the other scriptures also, having governed his kingdom properly and made all the four orders follow their respective duties, the Hayagriva is sporting merrily in the regions of the celestials. Having gained many battles and cherished his subjects, having drunk the Soma juice in sacrifices and satisfied the foremost of Brahmanas with presents and judiciously held the rod of chastisement over those placed under his sway and at last sacrificed his life in battle, that king is living happily in heaven.

M. N. Dutt: His life was worthy of every complement. Learned and honest, men speak high of it, for it deserves every praise. Having acquired heaven and won the regions reserved for heroes, that great king of virtuous deeds became drowned with success.

M. N. Dutt: Hearing the words of Dvaipayana Vyasa and seeing Dhananjaya angry, Yudhishthira the son of Kunti saluted Vyasa and said.

M. N. Dutt: Yudhishthira said This earthly sovereignty and the various objects of enjoyments cannot give me any joy. On the other hand, this painful grief is cutting me to the quick.

M. N. Dutt: Hearing the lamentations of these women who have lost their heroic husbands and children, I cannot enjoy peace, O sage.

M. N. Dutt: Vaishampayana said Thus addressed, the virtuous Vyasa, the best of all persons conversant with Yoga, endued with great wisdom and a master of the Vedas, said to Yudhishthira.

M. N. Dutt: Vyasa said, No one can acquire anything by his own deeds or by sacrifices and adoration. No man can give anything to another. Man gets everything through Time. The Great Ordainer has made the course of Time the instrument of acquisition.

M. N. Dutt: By mere intelligence of study of the scriptures, men, if Time be not propitious, cannot acquire any earthly object. Sometimes an ignorant fool may acquire wealth. Time is the the powerful instrument for the accomplishment of all acts.

M. N. Dutt: During the hour of adversity, neither science, nor incantations, nor drugs, produce any fruits. In prosperity, however, those very things, applied, yield abundant fruits.

M. N. Dutt: By time the winds blow violently; by Time the clouds become surcharged with rain; by Time tanks become adorned with lotuses of various sorts; by Time trees in the forest are covered with flowers.

M. N. Dutt: By Time nights become dark or lighted. By Time the Moon becomes full. If the proper Time does not come, trees do not bear flowers and fruits. If the proper Time does not come, the currents of rivers do not become powerful.

M. N. Dutt: Birds, snakes, deer, elephants and other animals never become excited when the proper Time does not come. If the proper Time does not come, women do not conceive. It is with Time that winter, summer, and the rainy seasons come.

M. N. Dutt: If the proper Time does not come, no one is born and no one dies. If the Time does not come, the infant does not gain power of speech. If the Time does not come one does not come by youth. It is with Time that the seed sown sprouts up.

M. N. Dutt: If the Time does not come, the Sun does not appear in the horizon, nor, when the Time for it does not come, does he set. If the Time for it does not come, the Moon does not increase nor wane, nor the ocean with its waves rise and ebb.

M. N. Dutt: In this connection is related the old story, O Yudhishthira, by king Senajit in sorrow.

M. N. Dutt: The powerful course of Time affects all mortals. All earthly objects, ripened by Time, meet with destruction.

M. N. Dutt: Some, O king, kill some men. The killers, again, are slain by others. This is what the world says. In reality, however, no one kills and no one is killed.

M. N. Dutt: Some body thinks men kill (their fellow men). Another thinks men do not kill. The truth is that the birth and death of all creatures have been ordained to happen by their very nature.

M. N. Dutt: At the loss of one's riches or the death of one's wife or son or father, one cries out saying-Alas what grief!-and the continued thought of that sorrow always increases it.

M. N. Dutt: Why do you, like a foolish man, grieve? Why do you grieve for them who are subject to grief? Mark, grief is enhanced by indulgence as fear is by fearing.

M. N. Dutt: This body even is not mine. Nothing in this Earth is mine. The things of this Earth belong as much to others as to me. Seeing this, the wise do not allow themselves to be beguiled.

M. N. Dutt: There are thousands of causes for sorrow and hundreds of causes for joy. These affect daily the ignorant only, but not the wise.

M. N. Dutt: These in course of Time. become objects of love or hatred, and appearing as happiness or misery revolve for affecting living creatures.

M. N. Dutt: There is only sorrow in this world and not happiness. Therefore sorrow only is felt. Desire begets sorrow and sorrow happiness.

M. N. Dutt: Sorrow comes after happiness. and happiness after sorrow. One does not always suffer sorrow or always enjoy happiness.

M. N. Dutt: Happiness always ends in sorrow and sometimes originates from sorrow itself. He, therefore, who desires perpetual happiness must give up both.

M. N. Dutt: When sorrow must arise upon termination of happiness, and happiness upon the termination of sorrow, and should, therefore, shake off, like a (snake-bit) limb, that which begets sorrow or that heart-burning which is reared by sorrow or that which is the root of his anxiety.

M. N. Dutt: Happiness or sorrow, whatever comes should be borne with an unaffected heart.

M. N. Dutt: O amiable king, if you do not in the least, do what is agreeable to your wives and children, you shall then know who is whose, and why so, and for what.

M. N. Dutt: Only those who stolid fools and those who are masters of their souls enjoy happiness here. They, however, who occupy an intermediate position suffering misery.

M. N. Dutt: This, O Yudhishthira, is what the highly wise the Senajit who was conversant with what is good or bad in this world, with duties, and with happiness and misery said.

M. N. Dutt: He who is grieved at other people's griefs can never enjoy happiness. There is no end of grief, and grief originates from happiness itself.

M. N. Dutt: Happiness and misery, prosperity and adversity, gain and loss, death and life, in their turn, visit all creatures. There the wise man, endued with equanimity soul would neither be puffed up with joy nor be depressed with sorrow.

M. N. Dutt: Battle has been described as the Sacrifice for a king; observance of chastisement is his Yoga; and the gift of riches in sacrifices in the form of presents his Renunciation. All these should be regarded as acts which purify him.

M. N. Dutt: By governing the kingdom with intelligence and policy, casting off wide, celebrating sacrifices, and looking at everything and all the persons with kindness and impartiality, a great king, after death, sports in the region of the celestials.

M. N. Dutt: By gaining battles, protecting his kingdom, drinking the Soma juice, making his subjects prosper, holding judiciously the rod of chastisement, and renouncing his body at last in fight, a king enjoy happiness in heaven.

M. N. Dutt: Having studied all the Vedas and the other scriptures duly, having protected the kingdom duly, and having made all the four orders follow their respective duties, a king become purified and finally sports in heaven.

Corresponding verse not found in M. N. Dutt's version.

Corresponding verse not found in M. N. Dutt's version.