Chapter 40

“Vidura said, ‘Worshipped by the good and abandoning pride, that good manwho pursueth his objects without outstepping the limits of his power,soon succeedeth in winning fame, for they that are good, when gratifiedwith a person, are certainly competent to bestow happiness on him. Hethat forsaketh, of his own accord, even a great object owing to its beingfraught with unrighteousness, liveth happily, casting off all foes, likea snake that hath cast off its slough. A victory gained by an untruth,deceitful conduct towards the king, and insincerity of intentionsexpressed before the preceptor,–these three are each equal to the sin ofslaying a Brahmana. Excessive envy, death, and boastfulness, are thecauses of the destruction of prosperity. Carelessness in waiting uponpreceptor, haste, and boastlessness, are the three enemies of knowledge.Idleness, inattention, confusion of the intellect, restlessness,gathering for killing time, haughtiness, pride, and covetous ness,–theseseven constitute, it is said, the faults of students in the pursuit oflearning. How can they that desire pleasure have knowledge? Students,again, engaged in the pursuit of learning, cannot have pleasure. Votariesof pleasure must give up knowledge, and votaries of knowledge must giveup pleasure. Fire is never gratified with fuel (but can consume anymeasure thereof). The great ocean is never gratified with the rivers itreceives (but can receive any number of them). Death is never gratifiedeven with entire living creatures. A beautiful woman is never gratifiedwith any number of men (she may have). O king, hope killeth patience;Yama killeth growth; anger killeth prosperity; miserliness killeth fame;absence of tending killeth cattle; one angry Brahmana destroyeth a wholekingdom. Let goats, brass, silver, honey, antidotes of poison, birds,Brahmanas versed in the Vedas, old relatives, and men of high birth sunkin poverty, be always present in thy house. O Bharata, Manu hath saidthat goats, bulls, sandal, lyres, mirrors, honey, clarified butter, iron,copper, conch-shells, salagram (the stony-image of Vishnu with goldwithin) and gorochana should always be kept in one’s house for theworship of the gods. Brahmanas, and guests, for all those objects areauspicious. O sire, I would impart to thee another sacred lessonproductive of great fruits, and which is the highest of all teachings,viz., virtue should never be forsaken from desire, fear, or temptation,nay, nor for the sake of life itself. Virtue is everlasting; pleasure andpain are transitory; life is, indeed, everlasting but its particularphases are transitory. Forsaking those which are transitory, betakethyself to that which is everlasting, and let contentment be thine, forcontentment is the highest of all acquisitions. Behold, illustrious andmighty kings, having ruled lands abounding with wealth and corn, havebecome the victims of the Universal Destroyer, leaving behind theirkingdoms and vast sources of enjoyment. The son brought up with anxiouscare, when dead, is taken up and carried away by men (to the burningground). With the dishevelled hair and crying piteously, they then castthe body into the funeral pyre, as if it were a piece of wood. Othersenjoy the deceased’s wealth, while birds and fire feast on the elementsof his body. With two only he goeth to the other world, viz., his meritsand his sins which keep him company. Throwing away the body, O sire,relatives, friends, and sons retrace their steps, like birds abandoningtrees without blossoms and fruits. The person cast into the funeral pyreis followed only by his own acts. Therefore, should men carefully andgradually earn the merit of righteousness. In the world above this, andalso in that below this, there are regions of great gloom and darkness.Know, O king, that those are regions where the senses of men areexceedingly afflicted. Oh, let not any of those places to thine.Carefully listening to these words, if thou canst act according to them,thou wilt obtain great fame in this world of men, and fear will not bethine here or hereafter. O Bharata, the soul is spoken of as a river;religious merit constitutes its sacred baths; truth, its water;self-control, its banks; kindness, its waves. He that is righteouspurifieth himself by a bath therein, for the soul is sacred, and theabsence of desire is the highest merit. O king, life is a river whosewaters are the five senses, and whose crocodiles and sharks are desireand anger. Making self-control thy raft, cross thou its eddies which arerepresented by repeated births! Worshipping and gratifying friends thatare eminent in wisdom, virtue, learning, and years, he that asketh theiradvice about what he should do and should not do, is never misled. Oneshould restrain one’s lust and stomach by patience; one’s hands and feetby one’s eyes; one’s eyes and ears by one’s mind; and one’s mind andwords by one’s acts. That Brahmana who never omitteth to perform hisablutions, who always weareth his sacred thread, who always attendeth tothe study of the Vedas, who always avoideth food that is unclean, whotelleth the truth and performeth acts in honour of his preceptor, neverfalleth off from the region of Brahma. Having studied the Vedas, pouredlibations into fire, performed sacrifices, protected subjects, sanctifiedhis soul by drawing weapons for protecting kine and Brahmanas, and diedon the field of battle, the Kshatriya attaineth to heaven. Having studiedthe Vedas, and distributed in proper time, his wealth among Brahmanas,Kshatriyas, and his own dependents, and inhaled the sanctified smoke ofthe three kinds of fires, the Vaisya enjoyeth heavenly bliss in the otherworld. Having properly worshipped Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaisayas indue order, and having burnt his sins, by gratifying them, and thenpeacefully casting off his body, the Sudra enjoyeth the bliss of heaven.The duties of the four orders are thus set forth before thee. Listen nowto the reason of my speech as I discourse it. Yudhishthira, the son ofPandu, is falling off from the duties of the Kshatriya order. Place him,therefore, O king, in a position to discharge the duties of kings.’

“Dhritarashtra said, It is even so as thou always teachest me. O amiableone, my heart also inclineth that very way of which thou tellest me.Although, however, I incline in my mind towards the Pandavas even as thouteachest me to do, yet as soon as I come in contact with Duryodhana itturneth off in a different way. No creature is able to avert fate.Indeed, Destiny, I think, is certain to take its course; individualexertion is futile.'”