12.017
Library: Yudhishthira advises his brothers and Draupadi on truth.
Yudhishthira said:
Non-contentment, negligence, arrogance, attachment, restlessness, strength, delusion, pride, and agitation—all these are found entirely.
You are overcome by these sins and desire the kingdom. Be free from desire, completely liberated, peaceful, and truly happy.
Even if a single king were to conquer this entire earth, he still has only one belly to fill; so what is it that you praise so much?
O best of men, it is not possible to fill (it) in a day or even in a month; even if one desires to fill the unfillable with a lifetime, one could not accomplish it.
Just as a fire, though kindled, is extinguished if not fed, so by eating little, subdue the hunger that arises in the belly. Conquering your belly is better for you than conquering the whole earth.
You praise humans, sensual enjoyments, and sovereignty; but those who abstain from enjoyment and the powerless indeed attain the highest state.
Both acquisition and preservation, as well as the kingdom's righteousness and unrighteousness, rest upon you. Free yourself from this great burden; truly, seek refuge in renunciation.
The tiger, hunting only to fill its own belly, leaves much leftover food; other slow-moving deer also survive on those remains.
When the ascetic withdraws from sense objects and practices renunciation, the kings are still not satisfied—see how the difference in understanding works.
This hell is conquered by those who live on leaves, grind with stones, use their teeth as mortars, and by those who subsist on water and air.
Even if a king rules the whole earth, only he who regards stone and gold as equal is truly fulfilled, not merely a king.
Be without undertaking, hope, or possessiveness in your intentions. Remain in a state free from sorrow, both here and in the hereafter, and in the imperishable.
Those who are free from desire do not grieve; why do you grieve for the object of desire? If you abandon all desire, you will be freed from falsehood.
The two well-known paths, the path of the ancestors and the path of the gods, are followed by those who perform sacrifices; by these paths, they attain liberation.
Purified by austerity, celibacy, and self-study, having been freed from their bodies, they shine, having reached a state beyond the domain of death.
In this world, meat is considered bondage, and desire for action is also regarded as such. One who is freed from both these fetters attains that supreme state.
Indeed, they say that this verse, sung by Janaka, is spoken by one who is free from dualities, liberated, and who thoroughly perceives liberation.
Truly, my wealth is infinite, for I possess nothing. Even if Mithilā is ablaze, nothing of mine is consumed.
Having ascended the palace of wisdom, he looks upon the people grieving for those not to be grieved, just as one standing on a mountain looks at those of dull intellect on the earth.
He who, seeing the visible, is endowed with eyes and wisdom, is called wise. Intellect is said to arise from knowledge and from the complete understanding of the unknown.
But one who understands speech should truly show great respect to those physicians who are born from the state of Brahman and whose souls are purified.
When one sees the separate existences of beings as rooted in the One and their expansion from That alone, then one attains Brahman.
Those people reach that state; the ignorant, those of little intelligence, the unwise, and those without austerity do not. Everything is established in the intellect.
