Chapter 15

Vaisampayana said, “Hearing these words of Yajnasena’s daughter, Arjunaonce more spoke, showing proper regard for his mighty-armed eldestbrother of unfading glory.

“Arjuna said, ‘The man armed with the rod of chastisement governs allsubjects and protects them. The rod of chastisement is awake when allelse is sleep. For this, the wise have characterised the rod ofchastisement to be Righteousness itself. The rod of chastisement protectsRighteousness and Profit. It protects also, O king! For this, the rod ofchastisement is identified with the triple objects of life. Corn andwealth are both protected by the rod of chastisement. Knowing this, Othou that art possessed of learning, take up the rod of chastisement andobserve the course of the world. One class of sinful men desist from sinthrough fear of the rod of chastisement in the king’s bands. Anotherclass desist from similar acts through fear of Yama’s rod, and yetanother from fear of the next world. Another class of persons desist fromsinful acts through fear of society. Thus, O king, in this world, whosecourse is such, everything is, dependent on the rod of chastisement.There is a class of persons who are restrained by only the rod ofchastisement from devouring one another. If the rod of chastisement didnot protect people, they would have sunk in the darkness of hell. The rodof chastisement (danda) has been so named by the wise because itrestrains the ungovernable and punishes the wicked, The chastisement ofBrahmanas should be by word of mouth; of Kshatriyas, by giving them onlythat much of food as would suffice for the support of life; of Vaisyas,by the imposition of fines and forfeitures of property, while for Sudrasthere is no punishment.[34] For keeping men awake (to their duties) andfor the protection of property, ordinances, O king, have been establishedin the world, under the name of chastisement (or punitive legislation).Thither where chastisement, of dark complexion and red eyes, stands in anattitude of readiness (to grapple with every offender) and the king is ofrighteous vision, the subjects never forget themselves. The Brahmacharinand the house-holder, the recluse in the forest and the religiousmendicant, all these walk in their respective ways through fear ofchastisement alone. He that is without any fear, O king, never performs asacrifice. He that is without fear never giveth away. The man that iswithout any fear never desires to adhere to any engagement or compact.Without piercing the vitals of others, without achieving the mostdifficult feats and without staying creatures like a fisherman (slayingfish), no person can obtain great prosperity.[35] Without slaughter, noman has been able to achieve fame in this world or acquire wealth orsubjects. Indra himself, by the slaughter of Vritra, became the greatIndra. Those amongst the gods that are given to slaughtering others areadored much more by men. Rudra, Skanda, Sakra, Agni, Varuna, are allslaughterers. Kala and Mrityu and Vayu and Kuvera and Surya, the Vasus,the Maruts, the Sadhyas, and the Viswadevas, O Bharata, are allslaughterers. Humbled by their prowess, all people bend to those gods,but not to Brahman or Dhatri or Pushan at any time. Only a few men thatare noble of disposition adore in all their acts those among the godsthat are equally disposed towards all creatures and that areself-restrained and peaceful. I do not behold the creature in this worldthat supports life without doing any act of injury to others. Animalslive upon animals, the stronger upon the weaker. The mongoose devoursmice; the cat devours the mongoose; the dog devours the cat; the dogagain is devoured by the spotted leopard. Behold all things again aredevoured by the Destroyer when he comes! This mobile and immobileuniverse is food for living creatures. This has, been ordained by thegods. The man of knowledge, therefore, is never stupefied at it. Itbehoveth thee, O great king, to become that which thou art by birth.Foolish (Kshatriyas) alone, restraining wrath and joy take refuge in thewoods. The very ascetics cannot support their lives without killingcreatures. In water, on earth, and fruits, there are innumerablecreatures. It is not true that one does not slaughter them. What higherduty is there than supporting one’s life?[36] There are many creaturesthat are so minute that their existence can only be inferred. With thefailing of the eyelids alone, they are destroyed. There are men whosubduing wrath and pride betake themselves to ascetic courses of life andleaving village and towns repair to the woods. Arrived there, those menmay be seen to be so stupefied as to adopt the domestic mode of life oncemore. Others may be seen, who (in the observance of domesticity) tillingthe soil, uprooting herbs, cutting off trees and killing birds andanimals, perform sacrifices and at last attain to heaven. O son of Kunti,I have no doubt in this that the acts of all creatures become crownedwith success only when the policy of chastisement is properly applied. Ifchastisement were abolished from the world, creatures wood soon bedestroyed. Like fishes in the water, stronger animals prey on the weaker.This truth was formerly spoken by Brahmana himself, viz., thatchastisement, properly applied upholds creatures. Behold, the very fires,when extinguished, blaze up again, in fright, when blown. This is due tothe fear of force or chastisement. If there were no chastisement in theworld distinguishing the good from the bad, then the whole world wouldhave been enveloped in utter darkness and all things would have beenconfounded. Even they that are breakers of rules, that are atheists andscoffers of the Vedas, afflicted by chastisement, soon become disposed toobserve rules and restrictions.[37] Everyone in this world is keptstraight by chastisement. A person naturally pure and righteous isscarce. Yielding to the fear of chastisement, man becomes disposed toobserve rules and restraints. Chastisement was ordained by the Creatorhimself for protecting religion and profit, for the happiness of all thefour orders, and for making them righteous and modest. If chastisementcould not inspire fear, then ravens and beasts of prey would have eatenup all other animals and men and the clarified butter intended forsacrifice. If chastisement did not uphold and protect, then nobody wouldhave studied the Vedas, nobody would have milked a milch cow, and nomaiden would have married.[38] If chastisement did not uphold andprotect, then ravage and confusion would have set in on every side, andall barriers would have been swept away, and the idea of property wouldhave disappeared. If chastisement did not uphold and protect, peoplecould never duly perform annual sacrifices with large presents. Ifchastisement did not uphold and protect, no one, to whatever mode of lifehe might belong, would observe the duties of that mode as declared (inthe scriptures), and no one would have succeeded in acquiringknowledge.[39] Neither camels, nor oxen, nor horses, nor mules, norasses, would, even if yoked thereto, drag cars and carriages, ifchastisement did not uphold and protect. Upon chastisement depend allcreatures. The learned, therefore, say that chastisement is the root ofeverything. Upon chastisement rests the heaven that men desire, and uponit rests this world also. Thither where foe-destroying chastisement iswell applied, no sin, no deception, and no wickedness, is to be seen. Ifthe rod of ‘chastisement be not uplifted, the dog will lick thesacrificial butter. The crow also would take away the first (sacrificial)offering, if that rod were not kept uplifted. Righteously orunrighteously, this kingdom hath now become ours. Our duty now is toabandon grief. Do thou, therefore, enjoy it and perform sacrifices. Menthat are fortunate, living with their dear wives (and children), eat goodfood, wear excellent clothes, and cheerfully acquire virtue. All ouracts, without doubt, are dependent on wealth; that wealth again isdependent on chastisement. Behold, therefore, the importance ofchastisement. Duties have been declared for only the maintenance of therelations of the world. There are two things here, viz., abstention frominjury and injury prompted by righteous motives. Of these, two, that issuperior by which righteousness may be acquired.[40] There is no act thatis wholly meritorious, nor any that is wholly wicked. Right or wrong, inall acts, something of both is seen. Subjecting animals to castration,their horns again are cut off. They are then made to bear weights, aretethered, and chastised. In this world that is unsubstantial and rottenwith abuses and rendered painful, O monarch, do thou practise the ancientcustoms of men, following the rules and analogies cited above. Performsacrifices, give alms, protect thy subjects, and practise righteousness.Slay thy foes, O son of Kunti, and protect thy friends. Let nocheerlessness be thine. O king, while slaying foes. He that does it, OBharata, does not incur the slightest sin. He that takes up a weapon andslays an armed foe advancing against him, does not incur the sin ofkilling a foetus, for it is the wrath of the advancing foe that provokesthe wrath of the slayer. The inner soul of every creature is incapable ofbeing slain. When the soul is incapable of being slain, how then can onebe slain by another? As a person enters a new house, even so a creatureenters successive bodies. Abandoning forms that are worn out, a creatureacquires new forms. People capable of seeing the truth regard thistransformation to be death.'”