03.002
Library: Conversation between Yodhisthira and Shaunaka on Sankhya’s detachment, Householder duty, and eightfold path.
Vaiśampāyana said.
At dawn, as the night ended, the Brāhmaṇas whose actions were tireless and who lived on alms stood at the front, wishing to go to the forest. Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Kuntī, spoke to them. (3-2-1)
Indeed, we, having lost all our possessions, kingdom, and prosperity, and living on fruits, roots, and meat, will go to the forest in sorrow. (3-2-2)
I think that in the forest, which is full of faults and has many wild beasts and reptiles, you will certainly experience much affliction. (3-2-3)
The suffering of the Brāhmaṇas can bring down even the gods; what to say of me? O Brāhmaṇas, please turn back from here as you wish. (3-2-4)
The brāhmaṇas said.
O king, we are ready to follow the path that is yours. You should not abandon us, your devotees who see the true dharma. (3-2-5)
Even the deities show compassion to devotees, especially to Brāhmaṇas who adhere to good conduct. (3-2-6)
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
O twice-born, I too always have supreme devotion for the brāhmaṇas; but your loss as a companion seems to deeply afflict me. (3-2-7)
Those who used to bring me fruits, roots, and animals—my brothers—are now bewildered by sorrows born of grief. (3-2-8)
Because of Draupadī, separation, and the loss of the kingdom, and afflicted by these sorrows and troubles, I am unable to compose myself here. (3-2-9)
The brāhmaṇas said.
O king, do not let your heart be troubled with anxiety about our sustenance. We will gather forest produce ourselves and follow you. (3-2-10)
Through meditation and the chanting of mantras, we will bring about your well-being; together, with agreeable stories, we will find joy in the forest. (3-2-11)
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
Indeed, there is no doubt about this; I would enjoy being with the Brāhmaṇas. However, because of my own deficiency, I see myself as a mere substitute. (3-2-12)
How can I look upon all of you, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who have personally brought food, suffering due to my devotion, unworthy and sinful, condemned as such? (3-2-13)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Having said this, the king, overcome with grief, sat down on the ground. Then, Śaunaka, the wise and twice-born sage, devoted to the Self and skilled in Yoga and Sāṅkhya, spoke these words to the king. (3-2-14)
Every day, thousands of causes for sorrow and hundreds of causes for fear assail the fool, but not the wise person. (3-2-15)
Truly, wise men like you do not become attached to actions that are opposed to knowledge, full of many faults, and obstructive to true welfare. (3-2-16)
O king, that eight-limbed intellect, which is endowed with śruti and smṛti and obstructs all supreme good, is established in you. (3-2-17)
Those like you do not falter in financial difficulties, dangers, calamities, or when their own people are involved, nor do they succumb to bodily or mental sufferings. (3-2-18)
Listen, I will now declare, as Janaka did in ancient times, the verses which are songs that bring about self-settlement, composed by the great-souled one. (3-2-19)
Hear this method of quiescence for the world afflicted by the twofold suffering arising from mind and body, through their expansion and contraction. (3-2-20)
Bodily pain arises from four causes: disease, contact with the undesirable, fatigue, and deprivation of the desirable. (3-2-21)
Thus, by prompt remedy and by always remaining free from anxiety, mental and physical afflictions are alleviated through the twofold method of action and yoga. (3-2-22)
Therefore, wise physicians bring about tranquility beforehand for the minds of men by means of pleasing stories and pleasurable introductions. (3-2-23)
The body is tormented by mental suffering, just as water contained in a pot is heated by a hot lump of iron. (3-2-24)
Therefore, one should pacify the mind with knowledge, just as fire is extinguished by water. When the mind is at peace, bodily suffering comes to rest. (3-2-25)
It is understood that attachment is the root of sorrow for the mind. From attachment, a creature becomes bound and attains association with sorrow. (3-2-26)
Sorrows are rooted in affection, fears are born from affection, and both grief and joy, as well as all exertion, arise from affection. (3-2-27)
From affection, both attachment to action and attachment to objects arose; both are considered not conducive to good, but among them, the former is regarded as more weighty. (3-2-28)
Just as fire in a hollow burns a tree completely, root and all, so too even a small fault of passion can destroy a seeker of dharma. (3-2-29)
It is not in separation, but through association, that a renouncer who sees faults attains dispassion; a creature becomes free from enmity and free from possessions. (3-2-30)
Therefore, one should dispel attachment to one's own group, friends, and the accumulation of wealth, as well as that which arises from one's own body, by means of knowledge. (3-2-31)
Attachment does not cling to those who are endowed with knowledge, are eminent, know the śāstra, and are self-controlled, just as water does not stick to lotus leaves. (3-2-32)
A person overpowered by attachment is drawn by desire. From this, wish arises in him, and then craving follows. (3-2-33)
Desire is truly the most sinful of all, constantly disturbing people; it is full of unrighteousness, dreadful, and always leads to sin. (3-2-34)
That craving, which is hard to abandon for the wicked-minded, which does not wither even as the body withers, which is a fatal disease—happiness comes to the one who abandons that craving. (3-2-35)
But that desire, which is without beginning or end and resides within the bodies of men, once arisen, destroys them like fire not born from a womb. (3-2-36)
Just as fuel is destroyed by fire that arises from itself, so too a person whose self is untrained is ruined by innate greed. (3-2-37)
The wealthy are always fearful—of the king, water, fire, thieves, and even their own people—just as all living beings are always fearful of death. (3-2-38)
Just as meat is eaten by birds in the sky, by beasts of prey on the earth, and by fishes in the water, in the same way, a wealthy person is consumed by everyone. (3-2-39)
For some, wealth itself becomes a source of harm for men. A man attached to the prosperity of wealth does not attain the highest good. Therefore, all acquisitions of wealth only increase the delusion of the mind. (3-2-40)
The wise recognize that misery, pride and arrogance, fear, and anxiety, as well as those arising from material pursuits, are the sufferings experienced by embodied beings. (3-2-41)
Suffering arises in the acquisition, preservation, loss, destruction, and expenditure of wealth; all these afflictions are caused by wealth. (3-2-42)
Objects of desire should be abandoned as they bring suffering; even if preserved, they do not bring happiness. They are attained with suffering, so one should not worry about their destruction. (3-2-43)
Fools are absorbed in discontent, while the wise attain contentment. There is no end to desire; contentment is the highest happiness. (3-2-44)
Therefore, the wise regard only contentment as true wealth in this world; youth, beauty, life, and the accumulation of possessions are all impermanent. A wise person does not covet prosperity or the company of loved ones among such things. (3-2-45)
Therefore, one should give up hoarding; for who can bear the suffering that comes from it? Indeed, no one who accumulates is ever seen to be free from trouble. (3-2-46)
Therefore, the wise praise the avoidance of contact; for it is better to keep away from mud than to have to wash it off. (3-2-47)
Yudhiṣṭhira, you should not desire for objects in this way. If your duty is to be performed by dharma, then be free from desire with respect to wealth. (3-2-48)
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
O Brāhmaṇa, this girl, who desires wealth, is not mine for the sake of enjoyment of wealth; I seek her only for the maintenance of the Brāhmaṇas, not out of greed. (3-2-49)
O Brāhmaṇa, how could someone like me, living as a householder, not provide for and protect his followers? (3-2-50)
Distribution among all beings is indeed prescribed. Likewise, food should be given by the householder to those who cook. (3-2-51)
In the homes of the virtuous, grass, earth, water, words of greeting, and truthful speech are never lacking. (3-2-52)
A bed should be provided to one who is afflicted, a seat to one who is weary from standing, water to the thirsty, and food to the hungry. (3-2-53)
One should offer attention, thought, speech, and truthful words; after going forth to meet and approaching, one should honor with propriety. (3-2-54)
If not honored, the sacrificial fire, one without a bull, relatives, guests, kinsmen, sons, wives, and dependents would all be destroyed. (3-2-55)
One should not cook food for personal use, nor kill animals needlessly; and one should not eat that which has not been properly offered according to prescribed rites. (3-2-56)
One should offer (food) on the ground to dogs, outcaste dog-eaters, and birds; this offering, called Vaiśvadeva, is prescribed for the evening and morning. (3-2-57)
Therefore, one who partakes of remnants should always eat as if consuming nectar. The remnants are what is left by servants, but the remainder of a sacrifice is truly like nectar. (3-2-58)
O brāhmaṇa, they declare that the supreme duty is of him who, being in the householder's order, abides by this conduct. What do you think?
Śaunaka said.
Ah, truly, what great suffering! This world is turned upside down: the one who feels no shame is pleased with both the good and the wicked alike. (3-2-60)
The foolish person, overcome by delusion and attachment, and under the sway of sense-objects, consumes much leftover food for the sake of his genitals and belly. (3-2-61)
Even a discerning man is overpowered by the senses, just as a charioteer with a confused mind is carried away by wild, uncontrollable horses. (3-2-62)
When the six senses come into contact with the object, then the mind, which is born of previous intention, arises for them. (3-2-63)
When a person's mind is driven towards the objects of the senses, restlessness and activity arise in him. (3-2-64)
Then, empowered by resolve and driven by desire, pierced by the arrows of sense-objects, one falls into the fire of greed, just as a moth falls due to its attraction to light. (3-2-65)
Then, O lord of men, being deluded by enjoyments and foods, and immersed in the jaws of great delusion, he does not recognize his own self. (3-2-66)
Thus, one falls into the cycle of existence, being whirled among various wombs here by ignorance, actions, and desires, just like a wheel. (3-2-67)
It revolves among Brahmā and others, among those ending as grass, and among the sacrificed; being born again and again in water, on earth, and likewise in space. (3-2-68)
This is the path of the ignorant; now hear from me the path of the wise—those people who are devoted to dharma, intent on the highest good, and dedicated to liberation. (3-2-69)
One should not perform all these dharmas out of pride, just because the Veda says "Do action, abandon". (3-2-70)
The path of dharma is said to be eightfold: sacrifice, study, charity, austerity, truth, forbearance, self-restraint, and absence of greed. (3-2-71)
There, the earlier fourfold aim is established on the ancestral path. One should perform the action that is duty, but not out of pride. (3-2-72)
However, the superior Devayāna path is always followed by the virtuous. A person of purified soul should practice it solely by the eightfold path. (3-2-73)
Through proper association with right resolve, proper restraint of the senses, distinguished observance of vows, and proper service to the teacher. (3-2-74)
By proper union with food, proper study and acquisition, proper renunciation of actions, and proper restraint of the mind, those who wish to conquer worldly existence act in this way. (3-2-75)
The deities, having become free from attachment and aversion, have attained sovereignty; the Rudras, Sādhyas, Ādityas, Vasus, and the Aśvins, all endowed with yogic sovereignty, sustain these beings. (3-2-76)
In the same way, O son of Kunti, you too should embrace abundant tranquility and, through austerity, strive for perfection and the accomplishment of yoga, O Bharata. (3-2-77)
You have attained the accomplishment related to your parents, and the one related to action is yours; now, by austerity, seek accomplishment for the maintenance of the twice-born. (3-2-78)
Perfected beings accomplish whatever they desire by favor; therefore, undertake austerity and fulfill your own wish. (3-2-79)
