Chapter 17

“Yudhishthira said, ‘Discontent, heedless attachment to earthly goods,the absence of tranquillity, might, folly, vanity, and anxiety,–affectedby these sins, O Bhima, thou covetest sovereignty. Freed from desire,prevailing over joy and grief and attaining to tranquillity, strive thouto be happy. That peerless monarch who will govern this unbounded earth,will have but one stomach. Why dost thou then applaud this course oflife? One’s desires, O bull of Bharata’s race, are incapable of beingfilled in a day, or in many months. Desire, which is incapable ofgratification, cannot, indeed, be fitted in course of one’s whole life.Fire, when fed with fuel, blazeth forth; when not so fed, it isextinguished. Do thou, therefore, extinguish with little food the fire inthy stomach when it appears. He that is bereft of wisdom seeks much foodfor his stomach. Conquer thy stomach first. (Thou shalt then be able toconquer the Earth). The earth being conquered, that which is for thypermanent good will then be won by thee. Thou applaudest desires andenjoyments and prosperity. They, however, that have renounced allenjoyments and reduced their bodies by penances, attain to regions ofbeatitude. The acquisition and preservation of kingdom is attended withboth righteousness and unrighteousness. The desire for them exists inthee. Free thyself, however, from thy great burthens, and adoptrenunciation. The tiger, for filling one stomach of his, slaughters manyanimals. Other animals destitute of strength and moved by covetousnesslive upon the tiger’s prey.[47] If kings, accepting earthly possessions,practise renunciation, they can never have contentment. Behold the lossof understanding that is noticeable in them. As a matter of fact,however, they who subsist on leaves of trees, or use two stones only ortheir teeth alone for husking their grain, or live upon water only or airalone, succeed in conquering hell.[48] That king who rules this wideunbounded earth, and that person who regards gold and pebbles equally,amongst these two, the latter is said to have attained the object of hislife and not the former. Depending, therefore, upon that which is theeternal refuge of joy both here and hereafter, cease thou to act and hopewith respect to thy wishes and cease to bear attachment to them. Theythat have given up desire and enjoyment have never to grieve. Thou,however, grievest for enjoyments.[49] Discarding desire and enjoyment,thou mayst succeed in liberating thyself from false speech.[50] There aretwo well-known paths (for us), viz., the path of the Pitris and the pathof the gods. They that perform sacrifices go by the Pitri-path, whilethey that are for salvation, go by the god-path.[51] By penances, byBrahmacharya, by study (of the Vedas), the great Rishis, casting offtheir bodies, proceeded to regions that are above the power of Death.Worldly enjoyments have been styled as bonds, They have also been calledAction. Liberated from those two sins (viz., bonds and action), oneattains to the highest end. Mention is made of a verse sung (of old) byJanaka who was freed from the pairs of opposites, liberated from desireand enjoyments, and observant of the religion of Moksha. That verse runsthus: ‘My treasures are immense, yet I have nothing! If again the wholeof Mithila were burnt and reduced to ashes, nothing of mine will beburnt!’ As a person on the hill-top looketh down upon men on the plainbelow, so he that has got up on the top of the mansion of knowledge,seeth people grieving for things that do not call for grief. He, however,that is of foolish understanding, does not see this. He who, casting hiseyes on visible things, really seeth them, is said to have eyes andunderstanding. The faculty called understanding is so called because ofthe knowledge and comprehension it gives of unknown and incomprehensiblethings. He who is acquainted with the words of persons that are learned,that are of cleansed souls, and that have attained to a state of Brahma,succeeds in obtaining great honours. When one seeth creatures of infinitediversity to be all one and the same and to be but diversified emanationsfrom the same essence, one is then said to have attained Brahma.[52]Those who reach this high state of culture attain to that supreme andblissful end, and not they who are without knowledge, or they who are oflittle and narrow souls, or they who are bereft of understanding, or theywho are without penances. Indeed, everything rests on the (cultivated)understanding!'”