Chapter 289

“Yudhishthira said, ‘How, O grandsire, should a king like us behave inthis world, keeping in view the great object of acquisition? Whatattributes, again, should he always possess so that he may be freed fromattachments?’

“Bhishma said, ‘I shall in this connection recite to thee the oldnarrative that was uttered by Arishtanemi unto Sagara who had sought hiscounsel.’

“Sagara said, ‘What is that good, O Brahmana, by doing which one mayenjoy felicity here? How, indeed, may one avoid grief and agitation? Iwish to know all this!’

“Bhishma continued, ‘Thus addressed by Sagara, Arishtanemi of Tarkshya’srace, conversant with all the scriptures, regarding the questioner to beevery way deserving of his instructions, said these words,[1480] ‘Thefelicity of Emancipation is true felicity in the world. The man ofignorance knows it not, attached as he is to children and animals andpossessed of wealth and corn. An understanding that is attached toworldly objects and a mind suffering from thirst,–these two baffle allskilful treatment. The ignorant man who is bound in the chains ofaffection is incapable of acquiring Emancipation.[1481] I shall presentlyspeak to thee of all the bonds that spring from the affections. Hear themwith attention. Indeed, they are capable of being heard with profit byone that is possessed of knowledge. Having procreated children in duetime and married them when they become young men, and having ascertainedthem to be competent for earning their livelihood, do thou free thyselffrom all attachments and rove about in happiness. When thou seest thydearly-cherished wife grown old in years and attached to the son she hasbrought forth, do thou leave her in time, keeping in view the highestobject of acquisition (viz., Emancipation). Whether thou obtainest a sonor not, having during the first years of thy life duly enjoyed with thysenses the objects that are addressed to them, free thyself fromattachments and rove about in happiness. Having indulged the senses withtheir objects, thou shouldst suppress the desire of further indulgingthem. Freeing thyself then from attachments, thou shouldst rove infelicity, contenting thyself with what is obtained without effort andprevious calculation, and casting an equal eye upon all creatures andobjects.[1482] Thus, O son, have I told thee in brief (of what the way isfor freeing thyself from attachments). Hear me now, for I shall presentlytell thee, in detail, the desirability of the acquisition ofEmancipation.[1483] Those persons who live in this world freed fromattachments and fear, succeed in obtaining happiness. Those persons,however, who are attached to worldly objects, without doubt, meet withdestruction. Worms and ants (like men) are engaged in the acquisition offood and are seen to die in the search. They that are freed fromattachments are happy, while they that are attached to worldly objectsmeet with destruction. If thou desirest to attain to Emancipation thoushouldst never bestow thy thoughts on thy relatives, thinking,–How shallthese exist without me?–A living creature takes birth by himself, andgrows by himself, and obtains happiness and misery, and death by himself.In this world people enjoy and obtain food and raiment and otheracquisitions earned by their parents or themselves. This is the result ofthe acts of past lives, for nothing can be had in this life which is notthe result of the past. All creatures live on the Earth, protected bytheir own acts, and obtaining their food as the result of what isordained by Him who assigns the fruits of acts. A man is but a lump ofclay, and is always himself completely dependent on other forces. One,therefore, being oneself so, in firm, what rational consideration can onehave for protecting and feeding one’s relatives? When thy relatives arecarried away by Death in thy very sight and in spite of even thy utmostefforts to save them, that circumstance alone should awaken thee. In theevery lifetime of thy relatives and before thy own duty is completed offeeding and protecting them, thyself mayst meet with death and abandonthem. After thy relatives have been carried away from this world bydeath, thou canst not know what becomes of them there,–that is, whetherthey meet with happiness or misery. This circumstance ought to awakenthee. When in consequence of the fruits of their own acts thy relativessucceed in maintaining themselves in this world whether thou livest ordiest, reflecting on this thou shouldst do what is for thy owngood.[1484] When this is known to be the case, who in the world is to beregarded as whose? Do thou, therefore, set thy heart on the attainment ofEmancipation. Listen now to what more I shall say unto thee. That man offirm Soul is certainly emancipated who has conquered hunger and thirstand such other states of the body, as also wrath and cupidity and error.That man is always emancipated who does not forget himself, throughfolly, by indulging in gambling and drinking and concubinage and thechase. That man who is really touched by sorrow in consequence of thenecessity there is of eating every day and every night for supportinglife, is said to be cognisant of the faults of life. One who, as theresult of careful reflection, regards his repeated births to be only dueto sexual congress with women, is held to be freed from attachments. Thatman is certainly emancipated who knows truly the nature of the birth, thedestruction, and the exertion (or acts) of living creatures. That manbecomes certainly freed who regards (as worthy of his acceptance) only ahandful of corn, for the support of life, from amidst millions uponmillions of carts loaded with grain, and who disregards the differencebetween a shed of bamboo and reeds and a palatial mansion.[1485] That manbecomes certainly freed who beholds the world to be afflicted by deathand disease and famine.[1486] Indeed, one who beholds the world to besuch succeeds in becoming contented; while one who fails to behold theworld in such a light, meets with destruction. That man who is contentedwith only a little is regarded as freed. That man who beholds the worldas consisting of eaters and edibles (and himself as different from both)and who is never touched by pleasure and pain which are born of illusion,is regarded as emancipate. That man who regards a soft bed on a finebedstead and the hard soil as equal, and who regards good sali rice andhard thick rice as equal, is emancipated. That man who regards linen andcloth made of grass as equal, and in whose estimation cloth of silk andbarks of trees are the same, and who sees no difference between cleansheep-skin and unclean leather, is emancipated That man who looks uponthis world as the result of the combination of the five primal essences,and who behaves himself in this world, keeping this notion foremost, isemancipated. That man who regards pleasure and pain as equal, and gainand loss as on a par, in whose estimation victory and defeat differ not,to whom like and dislike are the same, and who is unchanged under fearand anxiety, is wholly emancipated. That man who regards his body whichhas so many imperfections to be only a mass of blood, urine and excreta,as also of disorders and diseases, is emancipated. That man becomesemancipated who always recollects that this body, when overtaken bydecrepitude, becomes assailed by wrinkles and white hairs and leannessand paleness of complexion and a bending of the form. That man whorecollects his body to be liable to loss of virility, and weakness ofsight, and deafness, and loss of strength, is emancipated. That man whoknows that the very Rishis, the deities, and the Asuras are beings thathave to depart from their respective spheres to other regions, isemancipated. That man who knows that thousands of kings possessed of evengreat offence and power have departed from this earth, succeeds inbecoming emancipated. That man who knows that in this world theacquisition of objects is always difficult, that pain is abundant, andthat the maintenance of relatives is ever attended with pain, becomesemancipated.[1487] Beholding the abundant faults of children and of othermen, who is there that would not adore Emancipation? That man who,awakened by the scriptures and the experience of the world, beholds everyhuman concern in this world to be unsubstantial, becomes emancipated.Bearing in mind those words of mine, do thou conduct thyself like onethat has become emancipated, whether it is a life of domesticity thatthou wouldst lead or pursue emancipation without suffering thyunderstanding to be confounded.'[1488] Hearing these words of his withattention, Sagara, that lord of earth, acquired those virtues which areproductive of Emancipation and continued, with their aid to rule hissubjects.'”