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Yudhiṣṭhira said.
Therefore, O mighty-armed one, please tell me further what is best; I am not satisfied with your words, O grandsire, just as one is never satisfied with nectar.
O best of men, what is the action that, when performed, enables a man to attain the highest good both in this world and after death? Please tell me that.
Bhīṣma said.
Here I will tell you as it was formerly told by the greatly renowned one. King Janaka asked the great-souled Parāśara.
Please tell me what is the highest good for all beings in this world and the next, which should be practiced.
Then the sage, who was engaged in austerity and knew all ordinances of dharma, with a mind favoring the king, spoke these words.
The wise have said that performing righteousness is the highest both in this world and the next; therefore, nothing surpasses it.
When a man undertakes righteousness, he is honored in heaven. O best of kings, the prescription of actions rooted in righteousness is for embodied beings. There, the virtuous who dwell in āśramas perform their own duties here.
O dear one, the journey of the world is of four kinds. Wherever mortals stand, that too is driven by desire.
Beings, divided into ten and a half categories, follow many courses as a result of performing good and bad actions by various methods.
Just as a vessel of gold or silver is filled, so too is a creature embodied according to the influence of previous actions.
Nothing is born from a non-seed; happiness does not increase without effort. The virtuous person attains happiness, and after the destruction of the body, the man achieves it.
O dear one, I do not see fate; there is no means to attain fate. The gods, gandharvas, and dānavas are perfected by their very nature.
After death, people do not always remember the actions performed in their previous birth. Only when the results of those actions are attained do they recall the fourfold nature of karma.
Dear one, the word is established as the basis for worldly conduct, relying on the Veda; this is intended for the peace of mind, not merely as the instruction of the elders.
Whatever actions a person performs in four ways—by the eye, mind, speech, and action—of that very kind are the results they receive.
O king, actions continuously and in mixed forms bear fruit; whether auspicious or sinful, their destruction does not occur.
Sometimes, O dear one, a good deed remains steadfast like an anvil; for one who is sinking in saṃsāra, it endures until he is freed from suffering.
After removing suffering, a person engages in good actions; but when the merit of good deeds is exhausted, he turns to bad deeds—know this, O king of men.
Self-restraint, forbearance, steadfastness, energy, contentment, truthfulness, modesty, non-violence, freedom from vice, and dexterity are qualities that bring happiness.
A creature does not become (what he is) from evil or good deeds alone. The wise should always strive for concentration of mind.
A person does not experience the good or bad deeds of another; whatever kind of action one does, that kind one obtains.
When a man composes his mind in both happiness and sorrow, he proceeds differently. Likewise, every person, all who are associated, and even the king, each go their own way.
One should not act in a way toward others that one would criticize in them. For a person who is envious in this way restrains ridicule.
A kṣatriya who is cowardly, a brāhmaṇa who eats anything, a vaiśya who is lazy, of low caste, and without effort, a learned person without character or conduct though of noble family, a brāhmaṇa fallen from truth, and a wicked woman—these are all condemned.
Those who are attached, those who are liberated, those who cook for themselves, fools, speakers, and a kingdom without a king—all these are to be pitied; as is a king who is improper and devoid of affection for his subjects.
