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Yudhiṣṭhira said.
How should one examine the task, quickly or after some delay? In all respects, in this difficult matter, you are our supreme teacher.
Bhīṣma said.
Here too, they recount this ancient story—an event of long ago that once took place in the family of Angiras.
A person who acts after careful consideration—may you have auspiciousness, may you have auspiciousness, O thoughtful one! For indeed, a wise person who acts with deliberation does not err in actions.
The very wise son of Gautama, who acts after careful consideration, became such; for, indeed, one who examines all actions thoroughly undertakes them only after long deliberation.
He who ponders matters for a long time, stays awake for a long time, sleeps for a long time, and acts only after the accomplishment of long-term tasks is called a deliberate person.
A person who has acquired laziness is called one of poor intellect; such a person, lacking intelligence and foresight, is thus described.
However, in the case of adultery, if a woman transgresses with other sons, the father, being angry, may say: "Destroy me, (your) mother."
He replied 'so be it' only after a long time, for by nature he was slow to act; and having reflected, due to his slowness, he indeed pondered for a long while.
How can I obey my father's command? How can I avoid killing my mother? How can I avoid sinking in this pretext of dharma like a wicked person?
The father's command is the highest duty; my own duty is to protect my mother. Being a son means not being independent, so what here could trouble me?
Who could ever be happy after killing a woman and his own mother? And who could ever attain honor after disregarding his father?
How can one transgress me by not observing non-disregard for the father, support, protection of the mother, and proper forgiveness of both?
The father truly entrusts his own self to the wife in the form of offspring. This is for the preservation of the family's character, conduct, lineage, and honor.
He, who is myself, was again made a son by his own father; how could I not have knowledge? He understood that he was born from himself.
Whatever the father declares at the birth and initiation ceremonies is sufficient confirmation for establishing respect for the father.
The teacher is the highest and supreme in righteousness; benefit comes from nourishment and study. What the father declares as righteousness is also firmly established in the Vedas.
A son gives only affection to his father, but a father gives everything to his son. The father alone gives even the body and all else.
Therefore, one must carry out the father's command without any consideration. Even sins are purified for those who obey the father's word.
In enjoyment, fortune, childbirth, public view, by the husband and in union, and in the parting of the hair ceremony, likewise.
The father is regarded as heaven, as righteousness, and as the highest austerity. When the father is pleased, all the gods are pleased as well.
The blessings which a father bestows upon this man are those he utters. The atonement for all sins is what the father approves.
A flower is freed from its bondage, a fruit is freed from its stalk; but even when troubled by affection for his son, a father does not let go of his affection.
So far, I have considered the honor of the father for the son. But the father's position is indeed lesser; now I will consider the mother.
This body, composed of five elements and subject to mortality, is an aggregate in me; my mother is its cause, just as the fire-stick is the cause of fire. The mother is the body’s fire-stick for men, for all, and for the afflicted, she is the source of release.
He neither grieves nor is affected by old age; even one who is deprived of prosperity, if he calls out 'Mother' in the house, is acknowledged.
Even if a person is surrounded by sons and grandsons, if he has taken refuge in his mother, even at the end of a hundred years, he should conduct himself like a two-year-old child.
A mother protects her child, whether he is capable or not, weak or not, in every way; no other caretaker does so by nature.
A person is truly old when he is sorrowful; his world becomes empty when he is parted from his mother.
There is no shade like a mother, no refuge like a mother. There is no protection like a mother, nor any resting place like a mother.
She is called dhātrī because she sustains the womb, jananī because she gives birth, ambā because she nourishes the limbs, and vīrasūḥ because she bears heroes.
Immediately after the mother, who serves the child, departs from the body, a conscious man should kill one whose head is not hollow.
The intention formed at the union of the couple's lives is truly known by the mother or the father, for the real fact resides in the mother.
It is the mother who knows the family lineage; she knows whose child he is. The mother's affection arises from merely nurturing, while the father's love is for his offspring.
After performing the marriage by their own will and entering into shared duties, if men endure hardships, women should not be made to endure them.
A husband is called so for women because he maintains and protects her; but if he ceases to possess this virtue, he is no longer a husband.
Thus, the woman is not at fault; it is the man who is truly at fault. By uttering a great offense, it is the man who is truly culpable.
For a woman, the husband is regarded as the highest divinity. But he gave her a self equal to his own supreme self. Because women are liable to error in all actions, they are not considered to commit offences.
There is no doubt that it is clearly unrighteousness when someone gives an instruction, as spoken by a woman, for the satisfaction of sexual union.
As long as a woman, especially as a mother, is held in the highest respect, even unwise animals should recognize her as inviolable.
The united assembly of the gods is regarded as the father, but out of affection, mortals and gods alike turn to the mother.
While he was thus reflecting for a long time, much time passed; then his father arrived.
Medhātithi, the greatly wise Gautama, who was engaged in austerity, upon reflection, realized in due course the transgression regarding his wife's death.
He, overwhelmed with sorrow and shedding copious tears, spoke, having come to remorse through the encouragement of heard wisdom.
Purandara, the lord of the three worlds, came to my hermitage, having taken the vow of hospitality, and assumed the form of a brāhmaṇa.
Samayā soothed him with words, honored him with a welcoming reception, and properly presented the offerings of water and water for washing his feet.
I have also been addressed in another's matter and will act with policy; here, when difficulty has arisen, there is no transgression for women.
Thus, neither a woman, nor I, nor a traveller, nor even the lord of the gods transgresses dharma; rather, it is negligence that transgresses.
They say that misfortune is born of envy, and even those who are celibate are affected by it; but I, having been cast down by envy, am now immersed in the ocean of evil deeds.
Having killed a virtuous woman and a woman, and being punished due to affliction, who indeed will deliver me, who am to be supported as a wife?
If the noble-minded one, though slow to act and not instructed by me, should ever delay, may he protect me from sin.
O procrastinator, auspiciousness to you, auspiciousness to you, O procrastinator! Whatever you do, since you always delay, you are indeed a procrastinator.
O long-enduring one, protect me, my mother, and the austerity I have acquired; today, be the protector of my self from sins.
May your innate long-standing nature, due to your long-acquired wisdom, be fruitful today; may you today become one who acts after a long time.
You were long hoped for by your mother and long carried in her womb; now, make her long effort fruitful, O one who acts after a long time.
He remains for a long time and, due to suffering, sleeps for a long time, being prevented. Observing the long suffering of us both, he acts only after a long time.
Thus, O king, the great sage Gautama, afflicted with sorrow, saw his son, who had returned after a long time, standing nearby.
But the one who acts after long consideration, upon seeing his father and being extremely distressed, abandoned his weapon and then approached him with his head (bowed) to seek favor.
But when Gautama saw his son fallen headlong on the ground and his wife rendered formless, he attained supreme joy.
Indeed, she was not united as a wife by that great-souled one; in solitude, the hermitage-dweller's son also remained composed.
One should kill, but only without exception, when the son stands armed; after questioning the well-behaved (one), one should decide regarding one's own duties.
Seeing the son bowed at his father's feet, the intellect restrains the rashness of seizing weapons out of fear.
Then the father, after praising him for a long time, smelling his head for a long time, and embracing him with both arms for a long time, uttered, 'May he live long.'
Thus, Gautama, filled with affection and joy, greeted his son and the great wise one spoke these words.
O slow-acting one, may you be well. Remain slow to act for a long time. While you delay, I have long been deeply distressed.
The wise sage Gautama, foremost among sages, also spoke these verses, prompted by the enumeration of virtues, among those who act with patience and wisdom.
One should form a friendship only after a long period of consideration, and similarly, sever a friendship only after long deliberation. For a friendship formed after due time is worthy of being maintained for a long duration.
One who acts after careful consideration is praised, whether it is in passion, arrogance, pride, enmity, sin, action, unpleasant matters, or duty.
When it comes to relatives, friends, servants, and womenfolk, in cases where offences are unclear, one who acts after due deliberation is praised.
Thus, O Bhārata, Gautama was pleased with his son, O Kauravya, because of that act and its long performance.
Thus, when a person considers all actions carefully and makes a decision after thorough deliberation, he does not regret it for a long time.
One who bears anger for a long time and restrains action for a long time, never performs any action that leads to regret.
One should serve elders for a long time, and after staying with them for a long time, honor them. One should practice virtues for a long time and pursue inquiry for a long time.
By living long with the wise, serving the learned for a long time, and restraining oneself for a long time, one attains respect and is not despised.
One should listen to and speak words imbued with dharma, even if they are from another, for a long time; such words are not disregarded even after a long time.
After performing worship for many years in that hermitage, the brāhmaṇa of great austerity, together with his son, attained heaven at that time.
