Chapter 25

Vaisampayana said, “Hearing the words of the Island-born Rishi and seeingDhananjaya angry, Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, saluted Vyasa and madethe following answer.

“Yudhishthira said, ‘This earthly sovereignty and the diverse enjoyments(appertaining thereto) fail to give any joy to my heart. On the otherhand, this poignant grief (consequent upon the loss of my kinsmen) iseating away its core. Hearing the lamentations of these women who havelost their heroic husbands and children, I fail to attain peace, Osage!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Thus addressed, the virtuous Vyasa that foremostof all persons conversant with Yoga, possessed of great wisdom andintimately acquainted with the Vedas, said unto Yudhisthira (thefollowing words).

“Vyasa said, ‘No man can acquire anything by his own acts or bysacrifices and worship. No man can give anything to a fellow man. Manacquires everything through Time. The Supreme Ordainer has made thecourse of Time the means of acquisition. By mere intelligence or study ofthe scriptures, men, if Time be unfavourable, cannot acquire any earthlypossession. Sometimes an ignorant fool may succeed in winning wealth.Time is the efficacious means for the accomplishment of all acts. Duringtimes of adversity, neither science, nor incantations, nor drugs, yieldany fruits. In times, however, of prosperity, those very things, properlyapplied, become efficacious and bear success. By Time the winds blowviolently: by Time the clouds become rain-charged; by Time tanks becomeadorned with lotuses of different kinds; by Time trees in the forestbecome decked with flowers. By Time nights become dark or lighted. ByTime the Moon becomes full. If the Time for it does not come, trees donot bear flowers and fruits. If the Time for it does not come, thecurrents of rivers do not become fierce. Birds and snakes and deer andelephants and other animals never become excited when the Time for itdoes not come. If the Time for it does not come, women do not conceive.It is with Time that winter, and summer, and the rainy season come. Ifthe Time for it does not come, no one is born and no one dies. If theTime does not come, the infant does not acquire power of speech. If theTime does not come, one does not acquire youth. It is with Time that theseed sown puts forth its sprouts. If the Time does not come, the Sun doesnot appear above the horizon, nor, when the Time for it does not come,does he repair to the Asta hills. If the Time for it does not come, theMoon does not wax nor wane, nor the ocean, with its high billows, riseand ebb. In this connection is instanced the old story recited, OYudhishthira, by king Senajit in grief. The irresistible course of Timeaffects all mortals. All earthly things, ripened by Time, sufferdestruction. Some, O king, slay some men. The slayers, again, are slainby others. This is the language of the world. Really, however, no onestays and no one is slain. Some one thinks men slay (their fellow-men).Another thinks men do not slay. The truth is that the birth anddestruction of all creatures have been ordained to happen in consequenceof their very nature. Upon the loss of one’s wealth or the death of one’swife or son or sire, one cries out, saying ‘Alas, what grief!’ anddwelling upon that sorrow always enhances it. Why do you, like a foolishperson, indulge in grief? Why do you grieve for them that are subject togrief?[74] Behold, grief is increased by indulgence as fear is byyielding to. This body even is not mine. Nothing in this earth is mine.Or, the things of this earth belong as much to others as to me. The wise,seeing, this, do not suffer themselves to be deluded. There are thousandsof causes for sorrow, and hundreds of causes for joy. These every dayaffect the ignorant only, but not him that is wise. These, in course ofTime. become objects of affection or aversion, and appearing as bliss orwoe revolve (as if in a wheel) for affecting living creatures. There isonly sorrow in this world but no happiness. It is for this that sorrowonly is felt. Indeed, sorrow springs from that affliction called desire,and happiness springs from the affliction called sorrow. Sorrow comesafter happiness, and happiness after sorrow. One does not always suffersorrow or always enjoy happiness. Happiness always ends in sorrow, andsometimes proceeds from sorrow itself. He, therefore, that desireseternal happiness must abandon both. When sorrow must arise upon theexpiration of happiness, and happiness upon the expiration of sorrow, oneshould, for that, cast off, like a (snake-bit) limb of one’s body, thatfrom which one experiences sorrow or that heart-burning which is nurturedby sorrow or that which is the root of his anxiety.[75] Be it happinessor sorrow, be it agreeable or disagreeable, whatever comes should beborne with an unaffected heart. O amiable one, if thou abstainest, ineven a slight measure, from doing what is agreeable to your wives andchildren, thou shalt then know who is whose and why so and for what. Theythat are highly stupid and they that are masters of their souls enjoyhappiness here. They however, that occupy an intermediate place suffermisery. This, O Yudhishthira, is what Senajit of great wisdom said, thatperson who was conversant with what is good or bad in this world, withduties, and with happiness and misery. He who is grieved at otherpeople’s griefs can never be happy. There is no end of grief, and griefarises from happiness itself. Happiness and misery, prosperity andadversity, gain and loss, death and life, in their turn, wait upon allcreatures. For this reason the wise man of tranquil soul should neitherbe elated with joy nor be depressed with sorrow. To be engaged in battlehas been said to be the Sacrifice for a king; a due observance of thescience of chastisement is his Yoga; and the gift of wealth in sacrificesin the form of Dakshina is his Renunciation. All these should be regardedas acts that sanctify him. By governing the kingdom with intelligence andpolicy, casting off pride, performing sacrifices, and looking ateverything and all persons with kindness and impartiality, a high-souledking, after death, sports in the region of the gods. By winning battles,protecting his kingdom, drinking the Soma juice, advancing his subjects,wielding judiciously the rod of Chastisement, and casting off his body atlast in fight, a king enjoys happiness in heaven. Having studied all theVedas and the other scriptures duty, having protected the kingdomproperly, and having caused all the four orders to adhere to theirrespective duties, a king becomes sanctified and finally sports inheaven. He is the best of kings whose conduct, even after his death, isapplauded by the inhabitants of city and country and by his counsellorsand friends.”