Chapter 299

“Bhishma said, ‘Once again Janaka, the ruler of Mithila, questioned thehigh-souled Parasara endued with certain knowledge in respect of allduties.’

“Janaka said, ‘What is productive of good? What is the best path (forliving creatures)? What is that which being accomplished is neverdestroyed? What is that spot repairing whither one has not to come back?Tell me all this, O thou of high intelligence!’

“Parasara said, ‘Dissociation (from attachments) is the root of what isgood.[1558] Knowledge is the highest path. Penances practised are neverdestroyed, Gifts also, made to deserving persons, are not lost. When one,breaking the bonds of sin, begins to take pleasure in righteousness, andwhen one makes that highest of all gifts, viz., the pledge ofharmlessness unto all creatures, then does one achieve success. He whogives away thousands of kine and hundreds of horses (to deservingpersons), and who gives unto all creatures the pledge of harmlessness,receives in return the pledge of harmlessness from all. One may live inthe midst of all kinds of wealth and enjoyment, yet, if blessed withintelligence, one does not live in them: while he that is destitute ofintelligence lives wholly in objects of enjoyment that are evenunsubstantial.[1559] Sin cannot attach to a man of wisdom even as watercannot drench the leaves of the lotus. Sin adheres more firmly to him whois without attachment even as lac and wood adhere firmly to each other.Sin, which cannot be extinguished except by endurance of its fruits,never abandons the doer. Verily, the doer, when the time comes, has toendure the consequences arising from it.[1560] They, however, that are ofcleansed souls and that realise the existence of Brahma, are neverafflicted by the fruits of their acts. Heedless in respect of one’ssenses of knowledge and of action, one that is not conscious of one’swicked acts, and whose heart is attached to both good and bad, becomesafflicted with great fear. One who at all times becomes entirely freedfrom attachments and who completely subjugates the passion of wrath, isnever stained by sin even if he lives in the enjoyment of worldlyobjects. As a dyke built across a river, if not washed away, causes thewaters thereof to swell up, even so the man who, without being attachedto objects of enjoyments, creates the dyke of righteousness whosematerials consist of the limitations set down in the scriptures, hasnever to languish. On the other hand, his merits and penances increase.As the pure gem (called Suryakanta) absorbs and attracts to itself, therays of the Sun, even so, O tiger among kings, does Yoga proceed by helpof concentrated attention.[1561] As sesame seeds, in consequence of theirrepeated intermingling with (fragrant) flowers, become in respect ofquality very agreeable, even so the quality of Sattwa arises in men inproportion to the measure of their association with persons of cleansedsouls.[1562] When one becomes desirous of dwelling in heaven, one castsoff one’s spouses and wealth and rank and vehicles and diverse kinds ofgood acts. Indeed, when one attains to such a frame of mind, one’sunderstanding is said to be dissociated from the objects of the senses.That man (on the other hand) who, with understanding attached to theobjects of the senses, becomes blind to what is for his real good, isdragged (to his ruin) by his heart which runs after all worldly objects,like a fish (dragged to its ruin) by the bait of meat. Like unto the bodythat is made up of different limbs and organs, all mortal creatures existdepending upon one another. They are as destitute of vigour as the pithof the banana plant. (Left to themselves) they sink in the world’s oceanlike a boat (made of weak materials). There is no fixed time for theacquisition of righteousness. Death waits for no man. When man isconstantly running towards the jaws of Death, the accomplishment ofrighteous acts is proper at all times. Like a blind man who, withattention, is capable of moving about his own house, the man of wisdom,with mind set on Yoga, succeeds in proceeding along the track (he shouldfollow).[1563] It has been said that death arises in consequence ofbirth. Birth is subject to the sway of death. One unacquainted with thecourse of the duties of Emancipation revolves like a wheel between birthand death, unable to free oneself from that fate. One who walketh alongthe track recommended by the understanding earns happiness both here andhereafter. The Diverse are fraught with misery, while the Few areproductive of happiness. Fruits represented by the not-Soul are said toconstitute the Diverse. Renunciation is (said to constitute the Few andthat is) productive of the soul’s happiness.[1564] As the lotus stalkquickly leaves the mire attached to it, even so the Soul can speedilycast off the mind.[1565] It is the mind that at first inclines the Soulto Yoga. The latter then merges the former into itself. When the Soulachieves success in Yoga, it then beholds itself uninvested withattributes.[1566] Engaged amid the objects of the senses, one who regardssuch engagement to be one’s employment falleth away from one’s trueemployment in consequence of such devotion to those objects. The soul ofthe wise man attains, through its righteous acts, to a state of highfelicity in heaven, while that of the man who is not possessed of wisdomsinks very low or obtains birth among intermediate creatures. As a liquidsubstance, if kept in a baked earthen vessel, does not escape therefrombut remains undiminished, after the same manner one’s body with which onehas undergone austerities enjoys (without rejecting) all objects ofenjoyment (up to what are contained in the region of Brahma himself).Verily, that man who enjoys worldly objects can never be emancipated.That man, on the other hand, who casts off such objects (in this world),succeeds in enjoying great happiness hereafter. Like one afflicted withcongenital blindness and, therefore, incapable of seeing his way, thesensualist, with soul confined in an opaque case, seems to be surroundedby a mist and fails to see (the true object for which he should strive).As merchants, going across the sea, make profits proportioned to theircapital, even so creatures, in this world of mortals, attain to endsaccording to their respective acts. Like a snake devouring air, Deathwanders in this world made up of days and nights in the form ofDecrepitude and devours all creatures. A creature, when born, enjoys orendures the fruits of acts done by him in his previous lives. There isnothing agreeable or disagreeable which one enjoys or endures without itsbeing the result of the acts one has done in one’s previous lives.Whether lying or proceeding, whether sitting idly engaged in hisoccupations, in whatever state a man may be, his acts (of past lives)good or bad always approach him. One that has attained to the other shoreof the ocean, wishes not to cross the main for returning to the shorewhence he had sailed.[1567] As the fisherman, when he wishes, raises withthe help of his chord his boat sunk in the waters (of a river or lake),after the same manner the mind, by the aid of Yoga-contemplation, raisesJiva sunk in the world’s ocean and unemancipated from consciousness ofbody.[1568] As all rivers running towards the ocean, unite themselveswith it, even so the mind, when engaged in Yoga, becomes united withprimal Prakriti.[1569] Men whose minds become bound by diverse chains ofaffection, and who are engulfed in ignorance, meet with destruction likehouses of sand in water.[1570] That embodied creature who regards hisbody as only a house and purity (both external and internal) as itssacred water, and who walks along the path of the understanding, succeedsin attaining to happiness both here and hereafter.[1571] The Diverse areproductive of misery; while the Few are productive of happiness. TheDiverse are the fruits represented by the not-Soul. Renunciation (whichis identical with Few) is productive of the soul’s benefit.[1572] One’sfriends who spring up from one’s determination, and one’s kinsmen whoseattachment is due to (selfish) reasons, one’s spouses and sons andservants, only devour one’s wealth. Neither the mother, nor the father,can confer the slightest benefit upon one in the next world. Giftsconstitute the diet upon which one can subsist. Indeed, one must have toenjoy the fruits of one’s own acts.[1573] The mother, the son, the sire,the brother, the wife, and friends, are like lines traced with gold bythe side of gold itself.[1574] All acts, good and bad, done in past livescome to the doer. Knowing that everything one enjoys or endures atpresent is the result of the acts of past lives, the soul urges theunderstanding on different directions (so that it may act in such a wayas to avoid all unpleasant fruits). Relying on earnest endeavour, andequipped with proper aids, he who sets himself to accomplish his tasksnever meets with failure. As the rays of light never abandon the Sun,even so prosperity never abandons one who is endued with undoubtingfaith. That act which a man of stainless soul does with faith andearnestness, with the aid of proper means, without pride, and withintelligence, becomes never lost. A creature obtains from the very timeof his abode in the mother’s womb all his own acts good and bad that wereachieved by him in his past lives. Death, which is irresistible, aided byTime which brings about the destruction of life, leads all creatures totheir end like wind scattering the dust of sawed timber.[1575] Throughacts good and bad performed by himself in his past lives, man obtainsgold and animals and spouses, and children, and honour of birth, andpossessions of value, and his entire affluence.’

“Bhishma continued, ‘Thus addressed conformably to the truth by the sage,Janaka, that foremost of righteous persons, O king, heard everything theRishi said and obtained great happiness from it.'”