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The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

o >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3






SECTION XXXIV-XXXV

"Yudhishthira said, 'After doing what acts does a man become liable to
perform expiation? And what are those acts which he must do for being
freed from sin? Tell me this, O grandsire.'

"Vyasa said, 'Having omitted to do those acts that have been ordained,
and done those that have been interdicted, and having behaved
deceitfully, a man becomes liable to perform expiation. The person in the
observance of the Brahmacharya vow, who rises from bed after the sun has
risen or goes to bed while the sun is setting, one who has a rotten nail
or black teeth, one whose younger brother weds first, one who weds before
his elder brother is wedded, one who has been guilty of the slaughter of
a Brahmana, one who speaks ill of others, one who weds a younger sister
before the elder sister has been wedded, one who weds an elder sister
after having wedded a younger one, one who falls away from a vow, one who
slays any one of the regenerate classes, one who imparts a knowledge of
the Vedas to a person unworthy of it, one who does not impart a knowledge
thereof to a person that is worthy of it, one who takes many lives, one
who sells flesh, one who has abandoned his (sacred) fire, one who sells a
knowledge of the Vedas,[111] one who slays his preceptor or a woman, one
born in a sinful family, one who slays an animal wilfully,[112] one who
sets fire to a dwelling house, one who lives by deceit, one who acts in
opposition to his preceptor, and one who has violated a compact,--these
all are guilty of sins requiring expiation. I shall now mention other
acts that men should not do, viz., acts that are interdicted by both the
world and the Vedas. Listen to me with concentrated attention. The
rejection of one's own creed, the practice of other people's creed,
assisting at the sacrifice or the religious rites of one that is not
worthy of such assistance, eating of food that is forbidden, deserting
one that craves protection, neglect in maintaining servants and
dependants, selling salt and treacle (and similar other substances),
killing of birds and animals, refusal, though competent, to procreate
upon a soliciting woman, omission to present the daily gifts (of handfuls
of grass to kine and the like), omission to present the dakshina,
humiliating a Brahmana,--these all have been pronounced by persons
conversant with duty to be acts that no one should do. The son that
quarrels with the father, the person that violates the bed of his
preceptor, one that neglects to produce offspring in one's wedded wife,
are all sinful, O tiger among men! I have now declared to thee, in brief
as also in detail, those acts and omissions by which a man becomes liable
to perform expiation. Listen now to the circumstances under which men, by
even committing these acts, do not become stained with sin. If a Brahmana
well acquainted with the Vedas takes up arms and rushes against thee in
battle for killing thee, thou mayst proceed against him for taking his
life. By such an act the slayer does not become guilty of the slaughter
of a Brahmana.[113] There is a mantra in the Vedas, O son of Kunti, that
lays this down, I declare unto thee only those practices that are
sanctioned by the authority of the Vedas. One who slays a Brahmana that
has fallen away from his own duties and that advances, weapon in hand,
with intent to slaughter, does not truly become the slayer of a Brahmana.
In such a case it is the wrath of the slayer that proceeds against the
wrath of the slain. A person by drinking alcoholic stimulants in
ignorance or upon the advice of a virtuous physician when his life is at
peril, should have the regenerating ceremonies performed once more in his
case. All that I have told thee, O son of Kunti, about the eating of
interdicted food, may be cleansed by such expiatory rites. Connection
with the preceptor's wife at the preceptor's command does not stain the
pupil. The sage Uddalaka caused his son Swetaketu to be begotten by a
disciple. A person by committing theft for the sake of his preceptor in a
season of distress is not stained with sin. One, however, that takes to
thieving for procuring enjoyments for himself becomes stained. One is not
stained by stealing from other than Brahmanas (in a season of distress
and for the sake of one's preceptor). Only one that steals under such
circumstances without himself appropriating any portion thereof is
untouched by sin. A falsehood may be spoken for saving one's own life or
that of another, or for the sake of one's preceptor, or for gratifying a
woman, or for bringing about a marriage. One's vow of Brahmacharya is not
broken by having wet dreams. In such cases the expiation laid down
consists in the pouring of libations of clarified butter on the blazing
fire. If the elder brother be fallen or has renounced the world, the
younger brother does not incur sin by marrying. Solicited by a woman,
connection with her is not destructive of virtue. One should not slay or
cause to be slain an animal except in a sacrifice. Animals have become
sacred (fit for sacrifice) through the kindness manifested towards them
by the Creator himself in the ordinance laid down by him. By making a
gift in ignorance to an undeserving Brahmana one does not incur sin. The
omission (through ignorance) to behave with liberality towards a
deserving person does not lead to sin. By casting off an adulterous wife
one does not incur sin. By such treatment the woman herself may be purged
while the husband may avoid sin. One who knows the true use of the Soma
juice, does not incur sin by selling it.[114] By dismissing a servant who
is incompetent to render service one is not touched by sin. I have now
said unto thee those acts by doing which one does not incur sin. I shall
now speak to thee of expiation in detail.'"



SECTION XXXVI

"Vyasa said, 'By penances, religious rites, and gifts, O Bharata, a man
may wash off his sins if he does not commit them again. By subsisting
upon only one meal a day, and that procured by mendicancy, by doing all
his acts himself (without relying on the aid of a servant), by making his
round of mendicancy with a human skull in one hand and a khattanga in
another, by becoming a Brahmacharin and always ready for exertion, by
casting off all malice, by sleeping on the bare ground, by publishing his
offence to the world, by doing all this for full twelve years, a person
can cleanse himself from the sin of having slain a Brahmana. By perishing
upon the weapon of a person living by the use of arms, of one's own will
and upon the advice of persons learned in the scriptures, or by throwing
one's self down, for three times, with head downwards, upon a blazing
fire, or by walking a hundred Yojanas all the while reciting the Vedas,
or by giving away one's whole property to a Brahmana conversant with the
Vedas, or at least so much as would secure to him a competence for life,
or a house properly furnished, and by protecting kine and Brahmanas, one
may be cleansed of the sin of having slain a Brahmana. By living upon the
scantiest meal every day for a space of six years, a person may be
cleansed of that sin.[115] By observing a harder vow with regard to food
one may be cleansed in three years.[116] By living upon one meal a month,
one may be cleansed in course of only a year. By observing, again, an
absolute fast, one may be cleansed within a very short time. There is no
doubt again that: one is cleansed by a Horse-sacrifice. Men that have
been guilty of having slain a Brahmana and that have succeeded in taking
the final bath at the completion of the Horse-sacrifice, become cleansed
of all their sins. This is an injunction of great authority in the
Srutis. One again, by slaying down his life in a battle undertaken for
the sake of a Brahmana, becomes cleansed of the sin of having slain a
Brahmana. By giving away a hundred thousand kine unto persons deserving
of gifts, one becomes cleansed of the sin of having slain a Brahmana as
also, indeed, of all his sins. One that gives away five and twenty
thousand kine of the Kapila species and while all of them have calved,
becomes cleansed of all his sins. One who, at the point of death, gives
away a thousand kine with calves unto poor but deserving persons, becomes
freed from sin. That man, O king, who gives away a hundred steeds of the
Kamvoja breed unto Brahmanas of regulated behaviour, becomes freed from
sin. That man. O Bharata, who gives unto even one person all that he asks
for, and who, having given it, does not speak of his act to any one,
becomes freed from sin. If a person who has once taken alcohol drinks (as
expiation) hot liquor, he sanctifies himself both here and hereafter. By
falling from the summit of a mountain or entering a blazing fire, or by
going on an everlasting journey after renouncing the world, one is freed
from all sins. By performing the sacrifice laid down by Vrihaspati, a
Brahmana who drinks alcoholic liquors may succeed in attaining to the
region of Brahman. This has been said by Brahman himself. If a person,
after having drunk alcoholic liquor, becomes humble and makes a gift of
land, and abstains from it ever afterwards, he becomes sanctified and
cleansed. The person that has violated his preceptor's bed, should lie
down on a sheet of iron having heated it, and having cut off the emblem
of his sex should leave the world for a life in the woods, with eyes
always turned upwards. By casting off one's body, one becomes cleansed of
all his evil acts. Women, by leading a regulated life for one year,
become cleansed of all their sins. The person who observes a very rigid
vow, or gives away the whole of his wealth, or perishes in a battle
fought for the sake of his preceptor, becomes cleansed of all his sins.
One who uses falsehood before one's preceptor or acts in opposition to
him, becomes cleansed of that sin by doing something agreeable to one's
preceptor. One who has fallen off from the vow (of Brahmacharya ), may
become cleansed of that sin by wearing the hide of a cow for six months
and observing the penances laid down in the case of the slaughter of a
Brahmana. One who has been guilty of adultery, or of theft, may become
cleansed by observing rigid vows for a year. When one steals another's
property, one should, by every means in his power, return to that other
property of the value of what has been stolen. One may then be cleansed
of the sin (of theft). The younger brother who has married before the
marriage of the elder brother, as also the elder brother whose Younger
brother has married before him, becomes cleansed by observing a rigid
vow, with collected soul, for twelve nights. The younger brother,
however, should wed again for rescuing his deceased ancestors. Upon such
second wedding, the first wife becomes cleansed and her husband himself
would not incur sin by taking her. Men conversant with the scriptures
declare that women may be cleansed of even the greatest sins by observing
the vow of chaturmasya, all the while living upon scanty and cleansing
food. Persons conversant with the scriptures do not take into account the
sins that women may commit at heart. Whatever their sins (of this
description), they are cleansed by their menstrual course like a metallic
plate that is scoured with ashes. Plates (made of the alloy of brass and
copper) stained by a Sudra eating off it, or a vessel of the same metal
that has been smelt by a cow, or stained by a Brahmana's Gandusha, may be
cleansed by means of the ten purifying substances.[117] It has been laid
down that a Brahmana should acquire and practise the full measure of
virtue. For a person at the kingly order it has been laid down that he
should acquire and practise a measure of virtue less by a fourth part.
So, a Vaisya should acquire a measure less (than a Kshatriya's) by a
fourth and a Sudra less (than a Vaisya's) by a fourth. The heaviness or
lightness of sins (for purposes of expiation) of each of the four orders,
should be determined upon this principle. Having slain a bird or an
animal, or cut down living trees, a person should publish his sin and
fast for three nights. By having intercourse with one with whom
intercourse is prohibited, the expiation for one is wandering in wet
clothes and sleeping on a bed of ashes. These, O king, are the expiations
for sinful acts, according to precedent and reason and scriptures and the
ordinances. A Brahmana may be cleansed of all sins by reciting the
Gayatri in a sacred place, all the while living upon frugal fare, casting
off malice, abandoning wrath and hate, unmoved by praise and blame, and
abstaining from speech. He should during the day-time be under shelter of
the sky and should lie down at night even at such a place. Thrice during
the day, and thrice during the night, he should also plunge with his
clothes into a stream or lake for performing his ablutions. Observant of
rigid vows, he should abstain from speech with women, Sudras, and fallen
persons. A Brahmana by observing such regulations may be cleansed of all
sins unconsciously committed by him. A person obtains in the other world
the fruits, good or bad, of his acts here which are all witnessed by the
elements. Be it virtue or be it vice, according to the true measure that
one acquires of either, one enjoys or suffers the consequences (even
here). By knowledge, by penances, and by righteous acts, therefore, one
enhances his weal (even here). One, therefore may similarly enhance his
misery by committing unrighteous acts. One should, therefore, always
achieve acts that are righteous and abstain altogether from those that
are unrighteous. I have now indicated what the expiations are of the sins
that have been mentioned. There is expiation for every sin except those
that are called Mahapatakas (highly heinous sins). As regards sins in
respect of unclean food and the like, and improper speeches, etc., they
are of two classes, viz., those committed consciously and those that are
committed unconsciously. All sins that are committed consciously are
grave, while those that are committed unconsciously are trivial or light.
There is expiation for both. Indeed sin is capable of being washed away
by (observance of) the ordinances spoken of. Those ordinances, however,
have been laid down only for believers (in God) and those that have
faith. They are not for atheists or those that have no faith, or those in
whom pride and malice predominate. A person, O tiger among men, that is
desirous of weal both here and hereafter, should, O foremost of virtuous
men, have recourse to righteous behaviour, to (the counsels of) men that
are righteous, and to the duties that have been ordained for him.
Therefore, for the reasons already advanced (by me), thou, O king, shalt
be cleansed of all thy sins for thou hast slain thy foes in the discharge
of thy duties as a king and for the protection of thy life-breath and thy
inheritance. Or, if not withstanding this, thou still regardest thyself
to be sinful, perform expiation. Do not cast away thy life in consequence
of such grief that is not becoming a wise man.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by the holy Rishi, king
Yudhishthira the just, having reflected for a short while, said these
words unto the sage.'"



SECTION XXXVII

"Yudhishthira said, 'Tell me, O grandfather, what food is clean and what
unclean, what gift is praiseworthy, and who should be considered
deserving and who undeserving (of gifts).'

"Vyasa said, 'In this connection is cited the old account of a discourse
between the ascetics and that lord of creation, viz., Manu. In the Krita
age, an assembly of Rishis, of rigid vows, having approached the great
and puissant lord of creation, Manu, while seated at his ease, solicited
him to discourse on duties, saying, 'What food should be taken, who is to
be regarded a deserving person (for gifts), what gifts should be made,
how should a person study, and what penances should one perform and how,
and what acts should be done and what acts should not be done, O lord of
creation, tell us everything about all this.' Thus addressed by them, the
divine and self-born Manu said unto them, 'Listen to me as I expound the
duties in brief and in detail. In regions which have not been
interdicted, silent recitation (of sacred mantras, homa), fasts,
knowledge of self, sacred rivers, regions inhabited by men devoted to
this pious acts,--these have been laid down as acts and objects that are
cleansing. Certain mountains also are cleansing, as also the eating of
gold and bathing in waters into which have been dipped gems and precious
stones. Sojourn to holy places, and eating of sanctified butter--these
also, without doubt speedily cleanse a man. No man would ever be called
wise if he is indulged in pride. If he wishes to be long-lived, he should
for three nights drink hot water (as an expiation for having indulged in
pride). Refusal to appropriate what is not given, gift, study (of
scriptures), penance, abstention from injury, truth, freedom from wrath,
and worship of the gods in sacrifices,--these are the characteristics of
virtue. That again which is virtue may, according to time and place, be
sin. Thus appropriation (of what belongs to others), untruth, and injury
and killing, may under special circumstances, become virtue. With respect
to persons capable of judging, acts are of two kinds, viz., virtuous and
sinful. From the worldly and the Vedic points of view again, virtue and
sin are good or bad (according to their consequences). From the Vedic
point of view, virtue and sin (i.e., everything a man may do or not do),
would be classed under action and inaction. Inaction (i.e., abstention
from Vedic rites and adoption of a life of contemplation) leads to
emancipation (from rebirth); while the consequences of action (i.e.,
practice of Vedic rites) are repeated death and rebirth. From the worldly
point of view, acts that are evil lead to evil and those that are good to
consequences that are good. From the worldly point of view, therefore,
virtue and sin are to be distinguished by the good and the evil character
of their consequences.[118] Acts that are (apparently) evil, when
undertaken from considerations connected with the gods, the scriptures,
life itself, and the means by which life is sustained, produce
consequences that are good. When an act is undertaken from the
expectation, however doubtful, that it will produce mischief (to some
one) in the future, or when an act is done whose consequence is visibly
mischievous, expiation has been laid down. When an act is done from wrath
or clouded judgment, then expiation should be performed by giving pain to
the body, guided by precedent, by scriptures, and by reason. When
anything, again, is done for pleasing or displeasing the mind, the sin
arising therefrom may be cleansed by sanctified food and recitation of
mantras. The king who lays aside (in a particular case) the rod of
chastisement, should fast for one night. The priest who (in a particular
case) abstains from advising the king to inflict punishment, should fast
for three nights as an expiation. The person who, from grief, attempts to
commit suicide by means of weapons, should fast for three nights. There
is no expiation for them that cast off the duties and practices of their
order and class, country, and family, and that abandon their very creed.
When an occasion for doubt respecting what should be done arises, that
should be regarded as the injunction of the scriptures which ten persons
versed in Vedic scriptures or three of those that frequently recite them
may declare.[119] The bull, earth, little ants, worms generated in dirt,
and poison, should not be eaten by Brahmanas. They should not also eat
fishes that have no scales, and four-footed aquatic animals like frogs
and others, except the tortoise. Water-fowls called Bhasas, ducks,
Suparnas, Chakravakas, diving ducks, cranes, crows, shags, vultures,
hawks, owls, as also all four-footed animals that are carnivorous and
that have sharp and long teeth, and birds, and animals having two teeth
and those having four teeth, as also the milk of the sheep, the she-ass,
the she-camel, the newly-calved cow, woman and deer, should not be taken
by a Brahmana. Besides this, the food that has been offered to the man,
that which has been cooked by a woman who has recently brought forth a
child, and food cooked by an unknown person, should not be eaten. The
milk also of a cow that has recently calved should not be taken. If a
Brahmana takes food that has been cooked by a Kshatriya, it diminishes
his energy; if he takes the food provided by a Sudra, it dims his
Brahmanic lustre; and if he takes the food provided by a goldsmith or a
woman who has neither husband nor children it lessens the period of his
life. The food provided by a usurer is equivalent to dirt, while that
provided by a woman living by prostitution is equivalent to semen. The
food also provided by persons that tolerate the unchastity of their
wives, and by persons that are ruled by their spouses, is forbidden. The
food provided by a person selected (for receiving gifts) at a certain
stage of a sacrifice, by one who does not enjoy his wealth or make any
gifts, that provided by one who sells Soma, or one who is a shoe-maker,
by an unchaste woman, by a washerman, by a physician, by persons serving
as watchmen, by a multitude of persons, by one who is pointed at by a
whole village, by one deriving his support from keep of dancing girls, by
persons wedding before their elder brothers are wedded, by professional
panegyrists and bards, and by those that are gamblers, the food also
which is brought with the left hand or which is stale, the food which is
mixed with alcohol, the food a portion of which has been already tasted,
and the food that forms the remnant of a feast, should not be taken (by a
Brahmana). Cakes, sugarcanes, potherbs, and rice boiled in sugared milk,
if they have lost their relish, should not be taken. The powder of fried
barley and of other kinds of fried grain, mixed with curds, if become
stale with age, should not be taken. Rice boiled in sugared milk, food
mixed with the tila seed, meat, and cakes, that have not been dedicated
to the gods, should not be taken by Brahmanas leading a domestic mode of
life, Having first gratified the gods, Rishis, guests, Pitris, and the
household deities, a Brahmana leading a domestic mode of life should then
take his food. A householder by living thus in his own house becomes like
a person of the Bhikshu order that has renounced the world. A man of such
behaviour, living with his wives in domesticity, earns great religious
merit. No one should make a gift for the sake of acquiring fame, or from
fear (of censure and the like) or unto a benefactor. A virtuous man would
not make gifts unto persons living by singing and dancing or unto those
that are professional jesters, or unto a person that is intoxicated, or
unto one that is insane, or unto a thief, or unto a slanderer, or unto an
idiot, or unto one that is pale of hue, or unto one that is defective of
a limb, or unto a dwarf, or unto a wicked person, or unto one born in a
low and wicked family, or unto one that has not been sanctified by the
observance of vows. No gift should be made to a Brahmana destitute of
knowledge of the Vedas. Gifts should be made unto him only that is a
Srotriya.[120] An improper gift and an improper acceptance produce evil
consequences unto both the giver and the acceptor. As a person who seeks
to cross the ocean with the aid of a rock or a mass of catechu sinks
along with his support, even so the giver and the acceptor (in such a
case) both sink together. As a fire that is covered with wet fuel does
not blaze forth, even so the acceptor of a gift who is bereft of penances
and study and piety cannot confer any benefit (upon the giver). As water
in a (human skull) and milk in a bag made of dog-skin become unclean in
consequence of the uncleanliness of the vessels in which they are kept
even so the Vedas become fruitless in a person who is not of good
behaviour. One may give from compassion unto a low Brahmana who is
without mantras and vows, who is ignorant of the scriptures and who
harbours envy. One may, from compassion, give unto a person that is poor
or afflicted or ill. But he should not give unto such a person in the
belief that he would derive any (spiritual) benefit from it or that he
would earn any religious merit by it. There is no doubt that a gift made
to Brahmana bereft of the Vedas becomes perfectly fruitless in
consequence of the fault of the recipient. As an elephant made of wood or
an antelope made of leather, even so is a Brahmana that has not studied
the Vedas. All the three have nothing but names.[121] As a eunuch is
unproductive with women, as a cow is unproductive with a cow, as a bird
lives in vain that is featherless, even so is a Brahmana that is without
mantras. As grain without kernel, as a well without water, as libations
poured on ashes, even so is a gift to a Brahmana void of learning. An
unlearned Brahmana is an enemy (to all) and is the destroyer of the food
that is presented to the gods and Pitris. A gift made to such a person
goes for nothing. He is, therefore, like unto a robber (of other people's
wealth). He can never succeed in acquiring regions of bliss hereafter. I
have now told thee in brief, O Yudhishthira, all that was said (by Manu
on that occasion). This high discourse should be listened to by all, O
bull of Bharata's race.'"

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Various - "The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 49, October 14, 1897"

Elizabeth Elstob - "An Apology For The Study of Northern Antiquities"

Max Muller - "Memories"

John L. Stoddard - "John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Vol. 10 (of 10)"

Poster poems: Ballads
Articles published by guardian.co.uk Books

Fidel and Che: a revolutionary friendship

After last week's fairly open theme, I thought I'd go with something a bit more structured this time. As I type this, I'm listening to Steeleye Span and thinking about the great ballad traditions of Britain and Ireland. What is a ballad? I suppose the most inclusive definition would be that it's a singable narrative poem: that covers a multitude but will do for the moment.

Ballads in English stretch back to the middle ages, with fine examples to be found among the Scottish border ballads and the English Robin Hood poems. These early ballads are among the best-known poems and stories in the language, and form part of the common heritage of English speakers everywhere. They gave rise to a tradition of ballad-making that endures down to the present day.

In fact, most poets since have tried their hand at the ballad at one time or another, and the result has been to deny any definition more specific than the one I ventured in my first paragraph. If you look around the internet, you'll come up with a wide selection of poems that are called ballads but have little in common formally. Stanza length varies from two to 10 or more lines, and all sorts of metrical and rhyming patterns are used. A good number will be singable in only the loosest possible sense, and at times the narrative tends to get lost in a mesh of more-or-less successful verbal embroidery.

So, what should a ballad be? Well, "proper" ballad stanzas are quatrains in which the first and third lines have four stresses and the second and third have three. The lines will rhyme A-B-C-B or A-B-A-B. It's as simple, and as difficult, as that. Here's an example, from Robert Burns's extremely singable Comin Thro' the Rye:

Gin a body meet a body
          Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body –
          Need a body cry.

Burns wrote a good number of ballads, and his lead was followed by many 19th-century poets. Two examples that I particularly like are Robert Browning's Confessions and Christina Rossetti's Up-Hill, but you can find ballads by just about any Romantic or Victorian poet if you look for them.

There is a long, strong tradition of ballads and ballad singers in Ireland, too. It is hardly surprising, then, that the great appropriator of tradition, WB Yeats, tried his hand at the form. At least four of his poems have the word "ballad" in the title; the pick of the bunch, for my money, is The Ballad of Father Gilligan, which may have benefited from having been written with a specific tune in mind.

Ballads continued to be written in the 20th century; perhaps the most unexpected exponents were Ezra Pound, with his Ballad of the Goodly Fere, and WH Auden. In fact, the ballad The Quarry is probably my favourite Auden poem.

And so, this week I invite a chorus of balladeering. You may choose to go the whole hog and write in ballad stanzas or you might prefer to take a more liberal view of the formal requirements. Either way, sing up and – as they say at all the best Irish sessions when calling for a bit of hush for the singer – one voice please.

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When Argentinian doctor Che Guevara and Cuban lawyer Fidel Castro met in Mexico City, it was the beginning of a friendship that would change the world. Simon Reid-Henry talks about the contrasting personalities of the leading men in his groundbreaking dual biography, Fidel and Che