Mahābhārata

M. N. Dutt: Yudhishthira said I am stupefied, O grandfather, to hear your words! Thinking that the Earth is now destitute of a very large number of kings all of whom were gifted with great prosperity, my heart becomes filled with grief.

M. N. Dutt: Having conquered the Earth and acquired hundreds of kingdoms, O Bharata, I turn with grief, O grandfather, at the thought of the millions of men I have killed.

M. N. Dutt: Alas, what will the condition be of those foremost ladies who have been deprived by us of husbands and sons and maternal uncles and brothers?

M. N. Dutt: Having killed those Kurus our kinsmen, that is, and our friends and wellwisherswe shall have to sink in hell with heads hanging downwards. There is no doubt of this.

M. N. Dutt: I wish, O Bharata, to afflict my body with, severe, penances. With that end in view, O king. I wish to receive instructions from you.

M. N. Dutt: Vaishampayana said The great Bhishma, hearing these words of Yudhishthira, reflected upon them acutely with the help of his understanding, and addressed Yudhishthira in reply.

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said Hear what I say to you. It is highly wonderful and is a great mystery. The subject is the ends that creatures acquire after death as the rewards of particular acts or courses of conduct they follow.

M. N. Dutt: One goes to Heaven by penances. By penances one acquires fame. By penances, O mighty king, one lives long and gets all articles of enjoyment.

M. N. Dutt: By penances one acquires knowledge, science, health and freedom from disease, beauty of person, prosperity and blessedness, O chief of Bharata's race.

M. N. Dutt: By penances one acquires riches. By observing the vow of silence one succeeds in bringing the whole world under his sway. By making gifts one gets all kinds of enjoyable articles. By observing the rite of Diksha one acquires birth in a good and high family. Those who spend their lives living upon only fruits and roots succeed in acquiring kingdom and sovereignty. Those who live upon the leaves of plants and trees as their food succeed in going to Heaven.

M. N. Dutt: One who live upon water only attains to Heaven. By making gifts one simply increases his wealth. By serving with reverence his preceptor, acquires learning. By performing Shraddhas every day in honour of his Departed Manes, one acquires a large number of children.

M. N. Dutt: By observing Diksha upon potherbs and vegetables, one acquires a large number of kine. Those who live upon grass and straw succeed in going to Heaven. By bathing thrice every day with necessary rites, one acquires a large number of waves. By drinking the air alone, one acquires residence in the regions of Prajapati.

M. N. Dutt: one The Brahmana who bathes every day and recites sacred Mantras in the two twilights, becomes possessed of the position of Daksha himself. By adoring the deities in a forest or desert, one acquires a kingdom or sovereignty, and by observing the vow of relinquishing the body by a long fast, one goes to the celestial region.

M. N. Dutt: One having penances for wealth and always passing his days in Yoga obtains good beds and seats and Vehicles. Renouncing the body by entering a burning fire, one becomes an object of respect in the region of Brahman.

M. N. Dutt: Those who lie on the hard and bare ground acquire houses and beds. Those who clothe themselves in rags and barks get good dresses and ornaments.

M. N. Dutt: By avoiding the several agreeable tastes one succeeds in winning great prosperity. By abstaining from meat and fish, one gets longlived children.

M. N. Dutt: One who passes sometime in Udavasa, mode of life, becomes the very lord of the celestial region. The man who speaks the truth, O best of men, succeeds in sporting happily with the celestials themselves.

M. N. Dutt: By making gifts one acquires great fame on account of his high achievements. By abstention from cruelty, one acquires health and freedom from disease. By serving the Brahmanas with respect, one acquires kingdom and sovereignty, and the high position of a Brahmana.

M. N. Dutt: By making gifts of water and other drinks, one acquires eternal fame on account of high achievements. By making gifts of food, one acquires various articles of enjoyment.

M. N. Dutt: One who gives peace to all creatures, (by refraining to do them any injury), becomes freed from every region. By serving the gods, one obtains a kingdom and celestial beauty,

M. N. Dutt: By presenting lights at places which are dark and frequented by men, one acquires a good eyesight. By giving away good and beautiful objects, one acquires a good memory and understanding.

M. N. Dutt: By distributing scents and garlands, one acquires farreaching fame. Those who abstain from shaving off their hair and beards, get excellent children.

M. N. Dutt: By observing fasts and initiation and baths, O Bharata, for twelve years one acquires a region which is superior to that attainable by unreturning heroes.

M. N. Dutt: By conferring one's daughter on an eligible bridegroom according to the Brahma form, one gets, O best of men, male and female slaves and ornaments and fields and houses.

M. N. Dutt: By celebrating sacrifices and observing fasts, one goes to the celestial region, O Bharata. The man who gives away fruits and flowers succeeds in gaining sacred knowledge.

M. N. Dutt: The man who gives away a thousand kine with horns bedecked with gold, succeeds in acquiring Heaven. This has been declared by the very deities in a celestial assemblage.

M. N. Dutt: One who gives away a Kapila cow with her calf, with a brazen pot for milking, with horns bedecked with gold, and possessed of various other accomplishments, obtains the fruition of all his desires from that cow.

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

M. N. Dutt: Such a person, on account of that act of gift, lives in the celestial region for as many years as there are hairs on the body of the cow and rescues in the next world his sons and grandsons and all his family to the seventh degree.

M. N. Dutt: That man gets to the regions of the Vasus who gives away a cow with horns beautifully decorated with gold, accompanied with a brazen jar for milking, along with a piece of cloth embroidered with gold, a measure of sesame and a sum of money as gift.

M. N. Dutt: A gift of kine rescues the giver in the next world when he finds himself falling into the deep darkness of hell and fettered by his own deeds in this world, like a boat with sails that have caught the air rescuing a person drowning in the ocean.

M. N. Dutt: He who confers a daughter according to the Brahma form upon an eligible person, or who makes a gift of land to a Brahmana, or who gives food according to due rites, succeeds in attaining to the region of Indra.

M. N. Dutt: That man who presents a house, furnished with every sort of furniture to Brahmana given to Vedic studies and endued with every accomplishment and good behaviour, lives in the country of UttaraKurus.

M. N. Dutt: By making gifts of draft bullocks, a person acquires the region of the Vasus. Gift of gold secures Heaven. Gift of pure gold yields greater merit still.

M. N. Dutt: By making gift of an umbrella, one acquires a palatial residence. By making gift of a pair of sandals or shoes, one acquires good cars, The reward of cloths, is personal beauty, and by making gifts of scents, one gets a fragrant body in next life.

M. N. Dutt: One who gives flowers and fruits and plants and trees to a Brahmana, acquires, without any toil, a palatial residence containing beautiful women and plenty of riches.

M. N. Dutt: The giver of food and drink of different tastes and other articles of enjoyment succeeds in acquiring profuse supply of such articles. The giver, again, of houses and cloths get articles of a similar nature. There is no doubt in this.

M. N. Dutt: That person who makes gifts of garlands and incense and scents and unguents and the articles needed by men after a bath, and garlands to Brahmanas, becomes freed from cvery disease and, possessed of personal beauty, sports in joy in the region reserved for great kings.

M. N. Dutt: That man, O king, who presents to a Brahmana a house that is stored with grain, furnished with beds, full of riches, auspicious, and delightful, acquires a palatial residence.

M. N. Dutt: He who gives to a Brahmana a good bed perfumed with fragrant scents, covered with an excellent sheet, and pillows, gets without any effort on his part a beautiful wife, belonging to a respectable family and of agreeable manners.

M. N. Dutt: The man who takes to a hero's bed on the field of battle becomes the equal of the Grandfather Brahman himself. There is no end that is higher than this. Even this is what the great Rishis have said,

M. N. Dutt: Vaishampayana said Hearing these words of his grandfather, Yudhishthira, the delighter of the Kurus, became anxious to get the end reserved for heroes and no longer expressed any disgust for leading a domestic mode of life.

M. N. Dutt: Then, O foremost of men, Yudhishthira, addressing all the other sons of Pandu, said to them Let the words which our grandfather has said, command your faith.'

M. N. Dutt: At this, all the Pandavas with the famous Draupadi amongst them, highly spoke of the words of Yudhishthira and said, yes.'

M. N. Dutt: Yudhishthira said I wish, O Bharata, chief to hear from you what the rewards are, O best of the Kurus, of the planting of trees and the digging of tanks.

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said A piece of land on a best sight, fertile, situate in the midst of charming adorned with various kinds of metals, and inhabited by all sorts of creatures, Is considered as the foremost of spots.

M. N. Dutt: A particular portion of such land should be chosen for digging a tank. I shall tell you, in due order, the different kinds of tanks. I shall also tell you what kinds of tanks. I shall also tell you what the merits also are of the digging of tanks.

M. N. Dutt: The man who causes a tank to be dug becomes entitled to the respect and adoration of the three worlds.

M. N. Dutt: A tank full of water is as agreeable and beneficial as the house of a friend. It is gratifying to the Sun himself. It also helps the growth of the celestials. It is the foremost of all things that lead to fame.

M. N. Dutt: The wise have said that the excavation of a tank brings on Virtue, Profit and Pleasure. A tank is said to be properly excavated, if it is made on a piece of land that is inhabited by respectable persons. A tank is said to be necessary for all the four purposes of living creatures. Thanks, again, are considered as forming the excellent beauty of a country.

M. N. Dutt: The celestials, human beings, Gandharvas. Departed Manes Uragas, Rakshasas, and even immobile beings, all resort to a tank full of water as their refuge.

M. N. Dutt: I shall, therefore, recite to you the merits attached to tanks as described by great Rishis, and the rewards in store for persons who cause them to be excavated.

M. N. Dutt: The wise have said that man acquires the merit of an Agnihotra sacrifice in whose tank water is held in the season of rains.

M. N. Dutt: The high reward in the world that is reaped by the person who makes a gift of a thousand kine is acquired by that man in whose tank water is held in the season of autumn.

M. N. Dutt: That person in whose tank water lics in the cold season acquires the merit of the wight who performs a sacrifice with profuse gifts of gold.

M. N. Dutt: That person in whose tank water lies in the season of dew, acquires, the wise have said, the merits of an Agnishtoma sacrifice.

M. N. Dutt: That man in whose wellmade tank water lies in the season of spring, acquires the merit of the Atiratra sacrifice.

M. N. Dutt: That man in whose tank water lies in the season of summer, wins, the Rishi say, the merits of a horsesacrifice.

M. N. Dutt: That man rescues his whole race in whose tank kine are seen to satisfy their thirst and from which pious men draw their water.

M. N. Dutt: That man in whose tank kine satisfy their thirst as also other animals and birds, and human being, gains the merits of of a horsesacrifice.

M. N. Dutt: Whatever quantity of water is drunk from one's tank and whatever quantity is taken therefrom by others for purposes of bathing, all become stored for the benefit of the excavater of the tank and he enjoys the same eternally in the next world.

M. N. Dutt: Water, especially in the other world, is difficult to get, O son. A gift of drink yields eternal happiness.

M. N. Dutt: Make gifts of sesame here. Make gifts of water. Do you also give lamps. While alive and awake, do you sport happily with kinsmen. These are acts which you shall not be able to achieve in the other world.

M. N. Dutt: The gift of drink, O chief of men, is superior to every other gift. In point of merit, it is superior to all other gifts. Therefore, do you make gifts of water.

M. N. Dutt: Thus have the Rishis described the high merits of the excavation of tanks, I shall now describe to you the planting of trees.

M. N. Dutt: Of immobile objects, six classes have been spoken. They are Vrikshas, Gulmas, Latas, Vallis, Tvaksaras, and Trinas of diverse kinds.

M. N. Dutt: These are the several kinds of vegetables. Listen now to the merit of their planting, By planting trees one acquires fame in the world of men and auspicious rewards in the next world.

M. N. Dutt: Such a man is applauded and respected in the world of the Departed Manes. Such a man's name does not die even when he goes to live in the world of celestials.

M. N. Dutt: The man who plants trees rescues the ancestors and descendants of both his paternal and maternal lines. Do you, therefore, plant trees, O Yudhishthira.

M. N. Dutt: The trees that a man plants become the planter's children. There is no doubt in this, Departing from this world, such a man goes to the celestial region, Indeed, he enjoys many cternal regions of bliss.

M. N. Dutt: Trees please the deities by their flowers; the Departed Manes by their fruits; and all guests and strangers by the shadow they afford.

M. N. Dutt: Kinnaras, Uragas, Rakshasas, deities Gandharvas, and human beings, as also Rishis, all resort to trees as their refuge.

M. N. Dutt: Trees that bear flowers and fruits please all men. The planter of trees is saved in the next world by the trees he plants like children saving their own father.

M. N. Dutt: Therefore, the man who is desirous of achieving his own good, should plant trees by the side of tanks and rear them like his own children. The trees which a man plants are, according to both reason and the scriptures, the children of the planter.

M. N. Dutt: That Brahmana who excavates a tank, and he who plants trees, and he who performs sacrifices, are all adored in the celestial region as men who are devoted to truth fullness of speech.

M. N. Dutt: Hence, one should cause tanks to be excavated and trees to be planted, adore the deities in diverse sacrifices, and speak the truth.