Chapter 69

“Sanjaya said, ‘Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, Kunti’s son owning whitesteeds, filled with rage, drew his sword for slaying that bull ofBharata’s race. Beholding his wrath, Keshava, conversant with theworkings of the (human) heart said, “Why, O Partha, dost thou draw thysword? I do not, O Dhananjaya, behold anyone here with whom thou hast tofight! The Dhartarashtras have now been assailed by the intelligentBhimasena. Thou comest from battle, O son of Kunti, for seeing the king.The king has been seen by thee. Indeed, Yudhishthira is well. Having seenthat tiger among kings who is endued with prowess equal to that of atiger, why this folly at a time when thou shouldst rejoice? I do not seehere, O son of Kunti, the person whom thou mayst slay. Why then dost thoudesire to strike? What is this delusion of thy mind? Why dost thou, withsuch speed, take up that formidable sword? I ask thee this, O son, ofKunti! What is this that thou art about, inasmuch as, O thou ofinconceivable prowess, thou graspest that sword in anger?” Thus addressedby Krishna, Arjuna, casting his eyes on Yudhishthira, and breathing likean angry snake, said unto Govinda, “I would cut off the head of that manwho would tell me ‘Give thy Gandiva to another person.” Even this is mysecret vow. Those words have been spoken by this king, O thou ofimmeasurable prowess, in thy presence, O Govinda! I dare not forgivethem. I will for that slay this king who himself fears the slightestfalling from virtue. Slaying this best of men, I will keep my vow. It isfor this that I have drawn the sword, O delighter of the Yadus. Even I,slaying Yudhishthira, will pay off my debt to truth. By that I willdispel my grief and fever, O Janardana. I ask thee, what do you thinksuitable to the circumstances that have arisen? Thou, O sire, knowest theentire past and future of this universe. I will do what thou wilt tellme.'”

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Govinda then said, “Fie, fie,” unto Partha and oncemore continued to say, “I now know, O Partha, that thou hast not waitedupon the old, since, O tiger among men, thou hast yielded to wrath at atime when thou shouldst not have done so. No one that is acquainted withthe distinctions of morality would act in the way, O Dhananjaya, in whichthou, O son of Pandu, that art unacquainted with them, art acting today!He, O Partha, is the worst of men who committeth acts that should not bedone and doeth acts that are apparently proper but condemned by thescriptures. Thou knowest not the decisions of those learned men who,waited upon by pupils, declare their opinions, following the dictates ofmorality. The man that is not acquainted with those rulings becomesconfounded and stupefied, O Partha, even as thou hast been stupefied, indiscriminating between what should be done and what should not. Whatshould be done and what should not cannot be ascertained easily.Everything can be ascertained by the aid of the scriptures. Thou,however, art not acquainted with the scriptures. Since (believingthyself) conversant with morality, thou art desirous of observingmorality (in this way, it seems) thou art actuated by ignorance. Thoubelievest thyself to be conversant with virtue, but thou dost not know, OPartha, that the slaughter of living creatures is a sin. Abstention frominjury to animals is, I think, the highest virtue. One may even speak anuntruth, but one should never kill. How then, O foremost of men, couldstthou wish, like an ordinary person, to slay thy eldest brother, the King,who is conversant with morality? The slaughter of a person not engaged inbattle, or of a foe, O Bharata who has turned his face from battle or whoflies away or seeks protection or joins his hands or yields himself up oris careless, is never applauded by the righteous. All these attributesare in thy superior. This vow, O Partha, was adopted by thee before fromfoolishness. In consequence of that vow thou art now, from folly,desirous of perpetrating a sinful act. Why, O Partha, dost thou rushtowards thy reverend superior for slaying him, without having resolvedthe exceedingly subtle course of morality that is, again, difficult ofbeing understood? I will now tell thee, O son of Pandu, this mysteryconnected with morality, this mystery that was declared by Bhishma, bythe righteous Yudhishthira, by Vidura otherwise called Kshatri, and byKunti, of great celebrity. I will tell thee that mystery in all itsdetails. Listen to it, O Dhananjaya! One who speaks truth is righteous.There is nothing higher than truth. Behold, however, truth as practisedis exceedingly difficult to be understood as regards its essentialattributes. Truth may be unutterable, and even falsehood may be utterablewhere falsehood would become truth and truth would become falsehood. In asituation of peril to life and in marriage, falsehood becomes utterable.In a situation involving the loss of one’s entire property, falsehoodbecomes utterable. On an occasion of marriage, or of enjoying a woman, orwhen life is in danger, or when one’s entire property is about to betaken away, or for the sake of a Brahmana, falsehood may be uttered.These five kinds of falsehood have been declared to be sinless. On theseoccasions falsehood would become truth and truth would become falsehood.He is a fool that practises truth without knowing the difference betweentruth and falsehood. One is said to be conversant with morality when oneis able to distinguish between truth and falsehood. What wonder then inthis that a man of wisdom, by perpetrating even a cruel act, may obtaingreat merit like Valaka by the slaughter of the blind beast? What wonder,again, in this that a foolish and ignorant person, from even the desireof winning merit, earns great sin like Kausika (living) among the rivers?”

“‘Arjuna said, “Tell me, O holy one, this story that I may understand it,viz., this illustration about Valaka and about Kausika (living) amongrivers.”

“‘Vasudeva said, “There was a certain hunter of animals, O Bharata, ofthe name of Valaka. He used, for the livelihood of his son and wives andnot from will, to slay animals. Devoted to the duties of his own orderand always speaking the truth and never harbouring malice, he used alsoto support his parents and others that depended upon him. One day,searching for animals even with perseverance and care, he found none. Atlast he saw a beast of prey whose sense of smell supplied the defect ofhis eyes, employed in drinking water. Although he had never seen such ananimal before, still he slew it immediately. After the slaughter of thatblind beast, a floral shower fell from the skies (upon the head of thehunter). A celestial car also, exceedingly delightful and resounding withthe songs of Apsaras and the music of their instruments, came from heavenfor taking away that hunter of animals. That beast of prey, havingundergone ascetic austerities, had obtained a boon and had become thecause of the destruction of all creatures. For this reason he was madeblind by the Self-born. Having slain that animal which had resolved toslay all creatures, Valaka went to heaven. Morality is even so difficultof being understood. There was an ascetic of the name of Kausika withoutmuch knowledge of the scriptures. He lived in a spot much removed from avillage, at a point where many rivers met. He made a vow, saying, ‘I mustalways speak the truth.’ He then became celebrated, O Dhananjaya, as aspeaker of truth. At that time certain persons, from fear of robbers,entered that wood (where Kausika dwelt). Thither even, the robbers,filled with rage, searched for them carefully. Approaching Kausika then,that speaker of truth, they asked him saying, ‘O holy one, by which pathhave a multitude of men gone a little while before? Asked in the name ofTruth, answer us. If thou hast seen them, tell us this’. Thus adjured,Kausika told them the truth, saying, ‘Those men have entered this woodcrowded with many trees and creepers and plants’. Even thus, O Partha,did Kausika give them the information. Then those cruel men, it is heard,finding out the persons they sought, slew them all. In consequence ofthat great sin consisting in the words spoken, Kausika, ignorant of thesubtilities of morality, fell into a grievous hell, even as a foolishman, of little knowledge, and unacquainted with the distinctions ofmorality, falleth into painful hell by not having asked persons of agefor the solution of his doubts. There must be some indications fordistinguishing virtue from sin. Sometimes that high and unattainableknowledge may be had by the exercise of reason. Many persons say, on theone hand, that the scriptures indicate morality. I do not contradictthis. The scriptures, however, do not provide for every case. For thegrowth of creatures have precepts of morality been declared. That whichis connected with inoffensiveness is religion. Dharma protects andpreserves the people. So it is the conclusion of the Pandits that whatmaintains is Dharma. O Partha, I have narrated to you the signs andindications of Dharma. Hearing this, you decide whether Yudhishthira isto be slaughtered by you or not.” Arjuna said, “Krishna, your words arefraught with great intelligence and impregnated with wisdom. Thou art tous like our parents and our refuge. Nothing is unknown to thee in thethree worlds, so thou art conversant with the canons of morality. OKeshava of the Vrishni clan, thou knowest my vow that whoever among menwould tell me, ‘Partha, give thy Gandiva to some one braver than you,’ Ishall at once put an end to his life. Bhima has also made a promise thatwhoever would call him ‘tularak’, would be slaughtered by him there andthen. Now the King has repeatedly used those very words to me in thypresence, O hero, viz., ‘Give thy bow.’ If I slay him, O Keshava, I willnot be able to live in this world for even a moment. Having intendedagain the slaughter of the king through folly and the loss of my mentalfaculties, I have been polluted by sin. It behoveth thee today, Oforemost of all righteous persons, to give me such counsel that my vow,known throughout the world, may become true while at the same time bothmyself and the eldest son of Pandu may live.'”

“‘Vasudeva said, “The king was fatigued, and under the influence ofgrief, He had been mangled in battle by Karna with numerous arrows. Afterthat, O hero, he was repeatedly struck by the Suta’s son (with hisshafts), while he was retreating from battle. It was for this that,labouring under a load of sorrow, he spoke those improper words unto theein wrath. He provoked thee by those words so that thou mightest slayKarna in battle. The son of Pandu knows that the wretched Karna isincapable of being borne by any one else in the world (save thee). It wasfor this, O Partha, that the king in great wrath said those harsh wordsto thy face. The stake in the game of today’s battle has been made to liein the ever alert and always unbearable Karna. That Karna being slain,the Kauravas would necessarily be vanquished. Even this is what the royalson of Dharma had thought. For this the son of Dharma does not deservedeath. Thy vow also, O Arjuna, should be kept. Listen now to my counselsthat will be agreeable to thee, to counsels in consequence of whichYudhishthira without being actually deprived of life may yet be dead. Aslong as one that is deserving of respect continues to receive respect,one is said to live in the world of men. When, however, such a personmeets with disrespect, he is spoken of as one that is dead though alive.This king hath always been respected by thee and by Bhima and the twins,as also by all heroes and all persons in the world that are venerable foryears. In some trifle then show him disrespect. Therefore, O Partha,address this Yudhishthira as ‘thou’ when his usual form of address is’your honour.’ A superior, O Bharata, by being addressed as ‘thou,’ iskilled though not deprived of life. Bear thyself thus, O son of Kunti,towards king Yudhishthira, the just. Adopt this censurable behaviour, Operpetuator of Kuru’s race! This best audition of all auditions, hathbeen declared by both Atharvan and Angiras. Men desiring good shouldalways act in this way without scruples of any kind. Without beingdeprived of life a superior is yet said to be killed if that venerableone is addressed as ‘thou.’ Conversant with duty as thou art, addressking Yudhishthira the just, in the manner I have indicated. This death, Oson of Pandu, at thy hands, king Yudhishthira will never regard as anoffence committed by thee. Having addressed him in this way, thou maystthen worship his feet and speak words of respect unto this son of Prithaand soothe his wounded honour. Thy brother is wise. The royal son ofPandu, therefore, will never be angry with thee. Freed from falsehood asalso from fratricide, thou wilt then, O Partha, cheerfully slay theSuta’s son Karna!”‘”