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The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

O >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4






SECTION CXII

"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou hast told me, O regenerate one, what the end is
of unrighteousness or sin. I desire now to hear, O foremost of speakers,
of what the end is of Righteousness. Having committed diverse acts of
sin, by what acts of people succeed in attaining to an auspicious end in
this world? By what acts also do people attain to an auspicious end in
heaven?'

"Vrihaspati said, 'By committing sinful acts with perverted mind, one
yields to the sway of unrighteousness and as a consequence goeth to hell.
That man who, having perpetrated sinful acts through stupefaction of
mind, feels the pangs of repentance and sets his heart on contemplation
(of the deity), has not to endure the consequences of his sins. One
becomes freed from one's sins in proportion as one repents for them. If
one having committed a sin, O king, proclaims it in the presence of
Brahmanas conversant with duties, one becomes quickly cleansed from the
obloquy arising from one's sin. Accordingly as one becomes cleansed
therefrom fully or otherwise, like a snake freed from his diseased
slough. By making, with a concentrated mind, gifts of diverse kinds unto
a Brahmana, and concentrating the mind (on the deity), one attains to an
auspicious end. I shall now tell thee what those gifts are, O
Yudhisthira, by making which a person, even if guilty of having committed
sinful acts, may become endued with merit. Of all kinds of gifts, that of
food is regarded as the best. One desirous of attaining to merit should,
with a sincere heart, make gifts of food. Food is the life-breath of men.
From it all creatures are born. All the worlds of living creatures are
established upon food. Hence food is applauded. The deities, Rishis,
Pitris, and men, all praise food. King Rantideva, in days of old,
proceeded to Heaven by making gifts of food. Food that is good and that
has been acquired lawfully, should be given, with a cheerful heart, unto
such Brahmanas as are possessed of Vedic lore. That man has never to take
birth in an intermediate order, whose food, given with a cheerful heart
is taken by a thousand Brahmanas. A person, O chief of men, by feeding
ten thousand Brahmanas, becomes cleansed of the piety and devoted to Yoga
practices. A Brahmana conversant with the Vedas, by giving away food
acquired by him as alms, unto a Brahmana devoted to the study of the
Vedas, succeeds in attaining to happiness here. That Kshatriya who,
without taking anything that belongs to a Brahmana, protects his subjects
lawfully, and makes gifts of food, obtained by the exercise of his
strength, unto Brahmanas foremost in Vedic knowledge, with concentrated
heart, succeeds by such conduct, O thou of righteous soul, in cleansing
himself, O son of Pandu, of all his sinful acts. That Vaisya who divides
the produce of his fields into six equal shares and makes a gift of one
of those shares unto Brahmanas, succeeds by such conduct in cleansing
himself from every sin. That Sudra who, earning food by hard labour and
at the risk of life itself, makes a gift of it to Brahmanas, becomes
cleansed from every sin. That man who, by putting forth his physical
strength, earns food without doing any act of injury to any creature, and
makes gift of it unto Brahmanas succeeds in avoiding all calamities. A
person by cheerfully making gifts of food acquired by lawful means unto
Brahmanas pre-eminent for Vedic lore, becomes cleansed of all his sins.
By treading in the path of the righteous one becomes freed from all sins.
A person by making gifts of such food as is productive of great energy,
becomes himself possessed of great energy. The path made by charitable
persons is always trod by those that are endued with wisdom. They that
make gifts of food are regarded as givers of life. The merit they acquire
by such gifts is eternal. Hence, a person should, under all
circumstances, seek to earn food by lawful means, and having earned to
make always gifts of it unto deserving men. Food is the great refuge of
the world of living creatures. By making gifts of food, one has never to
go to hell. Hence, one should always make gifts of food, having earned it
by lawful means. The householder should always seek to eat after having
made a gift of food unto a Brahmana. Every man should make the day
fruitful by making gifts of food.[518] A person by feeding, O king, a
thousand Brahmanas all of whom are conversant with duties and the
scriptures and the sacred histories, has not to go to Hell and to return
to this world for undergoing rebirths. Endued with the fruition of every
wish, he enjoys great felicity hereafter. Possessed of such merit, he
sports in happiness, freed from every anxiety, possessed of beauty of
form and great fame and endued with wealth. I have thus told thee all
about the high merit of gifts of food. Even this is the root of all
righteousness and merit, as also of all gifts, O Bharata!'"



SECTION CXIII

"Yudhishthira said, 'Abstention from injury, the observance of the Vedic
ritual, meditation, subjugation of the senses, penances, and obedient
services rendered to the preceptors,--which amongst these is fraught with
the greatest merit with respect to a person?'

"Vrihaspati said, All these six are fraught with merit. They are
different doors of piety. I shall discourse upon them presently. Do thou
listen to them, O chief of the Bharatas! I shall tell thee what
constitutes the highest good of a human being. That man who practises the
religion of universal compassion achieves his highest good. That man who
keeps under control the three faults, viz., lust, wrath, and cupidity, by
throwing them upon all creatures (and practises the virtue of
compassion), attains to success[519]. He who, from motives of his own
happiness, slays other harmless creatures with the rod of chastisement,
never attains to happiness, in the next world. That man who regards all
creatures as his own self, and behaves towards them as towards his own
self, laying aside the rod of chastisement and completely subjugating his
wrath, succeeds in attaining to happiness. The very deities, who are
desirous of a fixed abode, become stupefied in ascertaining the track of
that person who constitutes himself the soul of all creatures and looks
upon them all as his own self, for such a person leaves no track
behind.[520] One should never do that to another which one regards as
injurious to one's own self. This, in brief, is the rule of
Righteousness. One by acting in a different way by yielding to desire,
becomes guilty of unrighteousness. In refusals and gifts, in happiness
and misery, in the agreeable, and the disagreeable, one should judge of
their effects by a reference to one's own self.[521] When One injures
another, the injured turns round and injures the injurer. Similarly, when
one cherishes another, that other cherishes the cherisher. One should
frame one's rule of conduct according to this. I have told thee what
Righteousness is even by this subtile way.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'The preceptor of the deities, possessed of
great intelligence, having said this unto king Yudhishthira the just,
ascended upwards for proceeding to Heaven, before our eyes.'"



SECTION CXIV

"Vaisampayana said, 'After this, king Yudhishthira, endued with great
energy, and the foremost of eloquent men, addressed his grandsire lying
on his bed of arrows, in the following words.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'O thou of great intelligence, the Rishis and
Brahmanas and the deities, led by the authority of the Vedas, all applaud
that religion which has compassion for its indication. But, O king, whet
I ask thee is this: how does a man, who has perpetrated acts of injury to
others in word, thought and deed, succeed in cleansing himself from
misery?'

"Bhishma said, 'Utterers of Brahma have said that there are four kinds of
compassion or abstention from injury. If even one of those four kinds be
not observed, the religion of compassion, it is said, is not observed. As
all four-footed animals are incapable of standing on three legs, even so
the religion of compassion cannot stand if any of those four divisions or
parts be wanting. As the footprints of all other animals are engulfed in
those of the elephant, even so all other religions are said to be
comprehended in that of compassion. A person becomes guilty of injury
through acts, words and thoughts[522]. Discarding it mentally at the
outset, one should next discard in word and thought. He who, according to
this rule, abstains from eating meat is said to be cleansed in a
threefold way. It is heard that utterers of Brahma ascribe to three
causes (the sin of eating meat). That sin may attach to the mind, to
words, and to acts. It is for this reason that men of wisdom who are
endued with penances refrain from eating meat. Listen to me, O king, as I
tell thee what the faults are that attach to the eating of meat. The meat
of other animals is like the flesh of one's son. That foolish person,
stupefied by folly, who eats meat is regarded as the vilest of human
beings. The union of father and mother produces an offspring. After the
same manner, the cruelty that a helpless and sinful wretch commits,
produces its progeny of repeated rebirths fraught with great misery. As
the tongue is the cause of the knowledge or sensation of taste, so the
scriptures declare, attachment proceeds from taste.[523] Well-dressed,
cooked with salt or without salt, meat, in whatever form one may take it,
gradually attracts the mind and enslaves it. How will those foolish men
that subsist upon meat succeed in listening to the sweet music of
(celestial) drums and cymbals and lyres and harps? They who eat meat
applaud it highly, suffering themselves to be stupefied by its taste
which they pronounce to be something inconceivable, undescribable, and
unimaginable. Such praise even of meat is fraught with demerit. In former
days, many righteous men, by giving the flesh of their own bodies,
protected the flesh of other creatures and as a consequence of such acts
of merit, have proceeded to heaven. In this way, O monarch the religion
of compassion is surrounded by four considerations. I have thus declared
to thee that religion which comprises all other religions within it.'"



SECTION CXV

"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou hast told it many times that abstention from
injury is the highest religion. In Sraddhas, however, that are performed
in honour of the Pitris, persons for their own good should make offerings
of diverse kinds of meat. Thou hast said so while discoursing formerly
upon the ordinances in respect of Sraddhas. How can meat, however, be
procured without slaying a living creature? Thy declarations, therefore,
seem to me to be contradictory. A doubt has, therefore, arisen in our
mind respecting the duty of abstaining from meat. What are the faults
that one incurs by eating meat, and what are the merits that one wins?
What are the demerits of him who eats meat by himself killing a living
creature? What are the merits of him who eats the meat of animals killed
by others? What the merits and demerits of him who kills a living
creature for another? Or of him who eats meat buying it of others? I
desire, O sinless one, that thou shouldst discourse to me on this topic
in detail. I desire to ascertain this eternal religion with certainty.
How does one attain to longevity? How does one acquire strength? How does
one attain to faultlessness of limbs? Indeed, how does one become endued
with excellent indications?

"Bhishma said, 'Listen to me, O, scion of Kuru's race, what the merit is
that attaches to abstention from meat. Listen to me as I declare to thee
what the excellent ordinances, in truth, are on this head. Those
high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life,
understanding, mental and physical strength, and memory, should abstain
from acts of injury. On this topic, O scion of Kuru's race, innumerable
discourses took place between the Rishis. Listen, O Yudhishthira, what
their opinion was. The merit acquired by that person, O Yudhishthira,
who, with the steadiness of a vow, adores the deities every month in
horse-sacrifices, is equal to his who discards honey and meat. The seven
celestial Rishis, the Valakhilyas, and those Rishis who drink the rays of
the sun, endued with great wisdom, applaud abstention from meat. The
Self-born Manu has said that that man who does not eat meat, or who does
not slay living creatures, or who does not cause them to be slain, is a
friend of all creatures. Such a man is incapable of being oppressed by
any creature. He enjoys the confidence of all living beings. He always
enjoys, besides, the approbation and commendation of the righteous. The
righteous-souled Narada has said that that man who wishes to increase his
own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures, meets with calamity.
Vrihaspati has said that that man who abstains from honey and meat
acquires the merit of gifts and sacrifices and penances. In my
estimation, these two persons are equal, viz., he who adores the deities
every month in a horse-sacrifice for a space of hundred years and he who
abstains from honey and meat. In consequence of abstention from meat one
comes to be regarded as one who always adores the deities in sacrifices,
or as one who always makes gifts to others, or as one who always
undergoes the severest austerities. That man who having eaten meat gives
it up afterwards, acquires merit by such an act that is so great that a
study of all the Vedas or a performance, O Bharata, of all the
sacrifices, cannot bestow its like. It is exceedingly difficult to give
up meat after one has become acquainted with its taste. Indeed, it is
exceedingly difficult for such a person to observe the high vow of
abstention from meat, a vow that assures every creature by dispelling all
fear. That learned person who giveth to all living creatures the Dakshina
of complete assurance comes to be regarded, without doubt, as the giver
of life-breaths in this world.[524] Even this is the high religion which
men of wisdom applaud. The life-breaths of other creatures are as dear to
them as those of one's to one's own self. Men endued with intelligence
and cleansed souls should always behave towards other creatures after the
manner of that behaviour which they like others to observe towards
themselves. It is seen that even those men who are possessed of learning
and who seek to achieve the highest good in the form of Emancipation, are
not free from the fear of death. What need there be said of those
innocent and healthy creatures endued with love of life, when they are
sought to be slain by sinful wretches subsisting by slaughter? For this
reason, O monarch, know that the discarding of meat is the highest refuge
of religion, of heaven, and of happiness. Abstention from injury is the
highest religion. It is, again, the highest penance. It is also the
highest truths from which all duty proceeds. Flesh cannot be had from
grass or wood or stone. Unless a living creature is slain, it cannot be
had. Hence is the fault in eating flesh. The deities who subsist upon
Swaha, Swadha, and nectar, are devoted to truth and sincerity. Those
persons, however, who are for gratifying the sensation of taste, should
be known as Rakshasas wedded to the attribute of Passion. That man who
abstains from meat, is never put in fear, O king, by any creature,
wherever he may be, viz., in terrible wildernesses or inaccessible
fastnesses, by day or by night, or at the two twilights, in the open
squares of towns or in assemblies of men, from upraised weapons or in
places where there is great fright from wild animals or snakes. All
creatures seek his protection. He is an object of confidence with all
creatures. He never causes any anxiety in others, and himself has never
to become anxious. If there were nobody who ate flesh there would then be
nobody to kill living creatures. The man who kills living creatures kill
them for the sake of the person who eats flesh. If flesh were regarded as
inedible, there would then be no slaughter of living creatures. It is for
the sake of the eater that the slaughter of living creatures goes on in
the world. Since, O thou of great splendour, the period of life is
shortened of persons who slaughter living creatures or cause them to be
slaughtered, it is clear that the person who wishes his own good should
give up meat entirely. Those fierce persons who are engaged in slaughter
of living creatures, never find protectors when they are in need. Such
persons should always be molested and persecuted even as beasts of prey.
Through cupidity or stupefaction of the understanding, for the sake of
strength and energy, or through association with the sinful, the
disposition manifests itself in men for sinning. That man who seeks to
increase his own flesh by (eating) the flesh of others, has to live in
this world in great anxiety and after death has to take birth in
indifferent races and families. High Rishis devoted to the observance of
vows and self-restraint have said that abstention from meat is worthy of
every praise, productive of fame and Heaven, and a great propitiation by
itself. This I heard in days of old, O son of Kunti, from Markandeya when
that Rishi discoursed on the demerits of eating flesh. He who eats the
flesh of animals that are desirous of living but that have been killed by
either himself or others, incurs the sin that attaches to the slaughter
for his this act of cruelty. He who purchases flesh slays living
creatures through his wealth. He who eats flesh slays living creatures
through such act of eating. He who binds or seizes and actually kills
living creatures is the slaughterer. Those are the three kinds of
slaughter, each of these three acts being so. He who does not himself eat
flesh but approves of an act of slaughter becomes stained with the sin of
slaughter. By abstaining from meat and showing compassion to all
creatures one becomes incapable of being molested by any creature, and
acquires a long life, perfect health, and happiness. The merit that is
acquired by a person by abstaining from meat, we have heard, is superior
to that of one who makes presents of gold, of kine, and of land. One
should never eat meat of animals not dedicated in sacrifices and that
are, therefore, slain for nothing, and that has not been offered to the
gods and Pitris with the aid of the ordinances. There is not the
slightest doubt that a person by eating such meat goes to Hell. If one
eats the meat that has been sanctified in consequence of its having been
procured from animals dedicated in sacrifices and that have been slain
for the purpose of feeding Brahmanas, one incurs a little fault. By
behaving otherwise, one becomes stained with sin. That wretch among men
who slays living creatures for the sake of those who would eat them,
incurs great demerit. The eater's demerit is not so great. That wretch
among men who, following the path of religious rites and sacrifices laid
down in the Vedas, would kill a living creature from desire of eating its
flesh, would certainly become a resident of hell. That man who having
eaten flesh abstains from it afterwards, attains to great merit in
consequence of such abstention from sin. He who arranges for obtaining
flesh, he who approves of those arrangements, he who slays, he who buys
or sells, he who cooks, and he who eats, are all regarded as eaters of
flesh. I shall now cite another authority, depending upon that was
declared by the ordainer himself, and established in the Vedas. It has
been said that that religion which has acts for its indications has been
ordained for householders, O chief of kings, and not for those men who
are desirous of emancipation. Mann himself has said that meat which is
sanctified with mantras and properly dedicated, according to the
ordinances of the Vedas, in rites performed in honour of the Pitris, is
pure. All other meat falls under the class of what is obtained by useless
slaughter, and is, therefore, uneatable, and leads to Hell and infamy.
One should never eat, O chief of Bharata's race, like a Rakshasa, any
meat that has been obtained by means not sanctioned by the ordinance.
Indeed, one should never eat flesh obtained from useless slaughter and
that has not been sanctified by the ordinance. That man who wishes to
avoid calamity of every kind should abstain from the meat of every living
creature. It is heard that in the ancient Kalpa, persons, desirous of
attaining to regions of merit hereafter, performed sacrifices with seeds,
regarding such animals as dedicated by them. Filled with doubts
respecting the propriety of eating flesh, the Rishis asked Vasu the ruler
of the Chedis for solving them. King Vasu, knowing that flesh is
inedible, answered that is was edible, O monarch. From that moment Vasu
fell down from the firmament on the earth. After this he once more
repeated his opinion, with the result that he had to sink below the earth
for it. Desirous of benefiting all men, the high-souled Agastya, by the
aid of his penances, dedicated, once for all, all wild animals of the
deer species to the deities. Hence, there is no longer any necessity of
sanctifying those animals for offering them to the deities and the
Pitris. Served with flesh according to the ordinance, the Pitris become
gratified. Listen to me, O king of kings, as I tell thee this, O sinless
one. There is complete happiness in abstaining from meat, O monarch. He
that undergoes severe austerities for a hundred years and he that
abstains from meat, are both equal in point of merit. Even this is my
opinion, In the lighted fortnight of the month of Karttika in especial,
one should abstain from honey and meat. In this, it has been ordained,
there is great merit. He who abstains from meat for the four months of
the rains acquires the four valued blessings of achievements, longevity,
fame and might. He who abstains for the whole month of Karttika from meat
of every kind, transcends all kinds of woe and lives in complete
happiness. They who abstain from flesh by either months or fortnights at
a stretch have the region of Brahma ordained for them in consequence of
their abstention from cruelty. Many kings in ancient days, O son of
Pritha, who had constituted themselves the souls of all creatures and who
were conversant with the truths of all things, viz., Soul and Not-soul,
had abstained from flesh either for the whole of the month of Karttika or
for the whole of the lighted fortnight in that month. They were Nabhaga
and Amvarisha and the high-souled Gaya and Ayu and Anaranya and Dilipa
and Raghu and Puru and Kartavirya and Aniruddha and Nahusha and Yayati
and Nrigas and Vishwaksena and Sasavindu and Yuvanaswa and Sivi, the son
of Usinara, and Muchukunda and Mandhatri, and Harischandra. Do thou
always speak the truth. Never speak an untruth. Truth is an eternal duty.
It is by truth that Harischandra roves through heaven like a second
Chandramas. These other kings also, viz., Syenachitra, O monarch, and
Somaka and Vrika and Raivata and Rantideva and Vasu and Srinjaya, and
Dushmanta and Karushma and Rama and Alarka and Nala, and Virupaswa and
Nimi and Janaka of great intelligence, and Aila and Prithu and Virasena,
and Ikshvaku, and Sambhu, and Sweta, and Sagara, and Aja and Dhundhu and
Suvahu, and Haryaswa and Kshupa and Bharata, O monarch, did not eat flesh
for the month of Karttika and as the consequence thereof attained to
heaven, and endued with prosperity, blazed forth with effulgence in the
region of Brahman, adored by Gandharvas and surrounded by thousand
damsels of great beauty. Those high-souled men who practise this
excellent religion which is characterised by abstention from injury
succeed in attaining to a residence in heaven. These righteous men who,
from the time of birth, abstain from honey and meat and wine, are
regarded as Munis. That man who practises this religion consisting of
abstention from meat or who recites it for causing others to hear it,
will never have to go to hell even if he be exceedingly wicked in conduct
in other respects. He, O king, who (often-times) reads these ordinances
about abstention from meat, that are sacred and adored by the Rishis, or
hears it read, becomes cleansed of every sin and attains to great
felicity in consequence of the fruition of every wish. Without doubt, he
attains also to a position of eminence among kinsmen. When afflicted with
calamity, he readily transcends it. When obstructed with impediments, he
succeeds in freeing himself from them with the utmost ease. When ill with
disease, he becomes cured speedily, and afflicted with sorrow he becomes
liberated from it with greatest ease. Such a man has never to take birth
in the intermediate order of animals or birds. Born in the order of
humanity, he attains to great beauty of person. Endued with great
prosperity, O chief of Kuru's race, he acquires great fame as well. I
have thus told thee, O king, all that should be said on the subject of
abstention from meat, together with the ordinances respecting both the
religion of Pravritti and Nivritti as framed by the Rishis."

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