12.219
Bhīṣma said.
Right here, O Yudhiṣṭhira, they recount this ancient story: the conversation between Śatakratu (Indra) and Namuci.
Purandara (Indra) spoke thus to the one who, though bereft of fortune, sat unshaken like the ocean and was the knower of the existence and non-existence of beings.
O Namuci, you are bound by fetters, fallen from your position, under the control of enemies, and deprived of prosperity. Alas, you grieve, yet you do not grieve.
Namuci said.
When something is not attained and the body is tormented by grief, enemies rejoice; there is no help in grief.
Therefore, O Śakra, I do not grieve; for all this is perishable. By affliction, beauty is lost and even righteousness, O lord of the gods.
After dispelling the suffering that has arisen from dejection, a wise person should contemplate with their mind on what is wholesome and pleasing to the heart.
As a man directs his mind towards auspiciousness, so do all his aims become favorable; there is no doubt about this.
There is only one teacher, there is no second teacher; the teacher instructs even the person lying in the womb. Instructed by him, I flow like water from a slope; as I am appointed, so do I act. (12-219-8)
I understand what is real and unreal and am superior; I know what is better, but I do not act accordingly. I fulfill the hopes of Suśarmā's friends as I have been appointed, and thus I carry out my duty.
Whatever is destined for a person, he certainly attains in that very way. Whatever is destined to happen, happens exactly in that way.
Wherever the creator unites the womb again and again, there alone the soul dwells, not where it wishes by itself.
He whose disposition is always, 'This is destined for me,' is never deluded at any time.
There is no accuser for those who are being killed by various means. The real suffering is when the one who hates thinks, 'I am the doer.'
Sages, gods, great asuras, elders learned in the three Vedas, and forest sages—those who are unlearned do not approach them in the world; but those who know both the higher and lower truths are never confused.
The wise person neither becomes angry nor gets attached; he neither despairs nor rejoices. He does not grieve even in financial calamities; by nature, he remains steady like the Himalaya mountain.
He whom the attainment of the highest objectives does not elate, nor does misfortune at any time delude; who engages equally with happiness, sorrow, and the neutral, he is a steadfast man.
Whatever state a person attains, he should find contentment in it without distress. In this way, one should dispel the mental suffering and toil from the body.
He who, having attained the status of an assembly-member, does not fear the assembly, and who, having plunged into the essence of dharma, approaches with wisdom, he is truly a man capable of bearing burdens.
The actions of the wise are hard to understand; truly, the wise do not lose their composure even in times of confusion. O Gautama, if the old man did not become deluded after falling from his position, it was only because he had already endured great hardship.
A mortal cannot attain what is unattainable by mantra, strength, wisdom, or manliness; so what is the use of lamenting over it?
Whatever the creators have destined for one born as a human, I will experience exactly that. What can death do to me?
One attains only what is destined to be attained, goes only where one is destined to go, and experiences both sorrow and happiness as destined.
He who, having fully understood this, is not deluded, and who is skilled in both pleasure and pain, is truly the master of all riches.
