12.286
Parāśara said.
O king, in this world, fathers, friends, teachers, and women are never without virtues. Those who are exclusively devoted, who speak pleasantly, who are well-wishers, and who are obedient are also the same.
The father is regarded as the highest divinity among humans; it is said that the father is even more distinguished than the mother. The highest gain is considered to be knowledge; those who have conquered their senses attain the supreme goal.
Where, in the battlefield, on the bed of arrow-fire, the prince, having met his death and being burned, goes to worlds that are very difficult even for the gods to attain, and enjoys the fruits of heaven in complete ease.
O king, one should never harm those who are tired, frightened, deprived of weapons, weeping, turned away, deprived of equipment, not raising arms, sick, or begging, nor should one harm children or the elderly.
A king, equipped and well-endowed, having attained equal status and readiness, would surpass a Kṣatriya's son in battle.
It is determined that, for kings, killing an equal is preferable to killing a superior, while killing an inferior or a coward is considered blameworthy.
O king, it is certain that killing a sinner, one of evil conduct and depravity, is declared to lead to hell.
O king, no one can protect a person who has come under the power of fate. And indeed, no one can take away someone whose allotted lifespan still remains.
Affectionate people should restrain actions being performed here; one should not desire actions of violent nature at the cost of another's life.
O dear, for all householders who desire their end, death on the riverbanks while performing rites is considered auspicious.
When life comes to its end, it reaches dissolution into the five elements (death). This does not occur without a cause; it is always brought about by causes.
In this way, the body is formed by that which originates from the body. This traveler on the path moves from one house to another.
There is no other second cause there. That body of the embodied beings, being joined, remains among those who have attained liberation.
A body is an aggregate of veins, sinews, and bones, filled with horrible and impure substances, a combination of beings, senses, and qualities.
Those who contemplate on the Self, the wise, say that the body, which ends with the skin, even when worn out by the guṇas, has reached mortality.
When the embodied one abandons it, the body, now motionless and devoid of consciousness, having returned to its original state through the elements, then sinks into the earth.
By the union with action, manifestation arises again and again. This body, O Vaideha, perishes wherever it must. Thus, another nature is observed: the dissolution of action itself.
O king, this (soul) is not born again at any time; the embodied soul wanders like a great cloud in the sky.
O king, he is born again after attaining an abode here, O ruler. The self is indeed supreme over the mind; and the mind is higher than the senses.
O king, among beings of two kinds, the moving are the highest. Among the moving, the two-footed are considered the highest. Among the two-footed, the twice-born are indeed regarded as the highest.
O king, even among the twice-born, the wise are regarded as the highest; among the wise, those who are self-realized; and among the self-realized, those who are free from pride.
It is certain that for men, birth is followed by death. All actions are finite; beings act according to their qualities.
O king, when the sun has reached the northern solstice, whoever dies at an auspicious time and constellation, having performed meritorious deeds, attains merit.
Having afflicted the people and overwhelmed them with evil deeds, here, by an extraordinary death, he performed the act by his own power.
Painful binding, burning, and killing by the hand of a robber are considered; likewise, killing by fanged creatures and animals is called natural killing.
Those of meritorious deeds are not united by these, nor by those arising from intention; nor by such, nor by many others, nor even by ordinary people.
O king, the vital breaths of the doers of merit proceed upwards after leaving; from the middle, those of middling merit; downwards, those of evil deeds.
O king, for a person, there is only one enemy, not a second; that is ignorance. When enveloped by it, impelled, he performs terrible and very cruel actions.
A prince whose awakening is for the sake of knowledge, who is endowed with Vedic dharma, who serves elders, and who is to be accomplished by effort—when struck down by the arrow of wisdom, he departs.
After studying the Vedas and practicing austerity, the celibate student, having performed the five sacrifices to the best of his ability, should renounce them here and go to the forest. A man who desires righteousness, after considering the highest good and ensuring the continuation of his lineage, should do so.
One should never let oneself fall into despair even if deprived of pleasures. O dear one, even in the condition of an outcaste, humanity is always rare and precious.
O lord of the earth, this is indeed the first origin; having attained it, the self can truly be protected by actions of auspicious nature.
O lord, how could we not perish from her origin? Men perform their duties because they do not perceive the authority of the Veda.
Whoever, having attained the exceedingly rare human birth here, disregards dharma and is led by desire, is truly deceived.
But, O dear one, he who looks upon beings with affection, sees them as long as the flame (of life) is not extinguished, just as one sees lamps while their flame endures.
One who conciliates, gives gifts, speaks pleasantly, and remains even-minded in pleasure and pain is honored in the next world.
Gift and renunciation are auspicious forms for the waters; the body is purified again and again by austerity. In Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Puṣkara, and other holy places on earth, too, this holds true.
When a person dies in a house, it is proper to remove the body. Transporting it by vehicle to the cremation ground, and then cremating it with purity and according to prescribed rules, is certainly recommended.
Whatever sacrifices, nourishments, worships, causing others to perform sacrifices, gifts, applications of meritorious actions, ancestral rites, or any praiseworthy acts a man performs for himself, all these—whoever does them according to his ability—
O king, treatises on dharma, the Vedas, and the six limbs are prescribed for the highest good of a man whose actions are without fatigue.
Bhīṣma said.
Thus, O king, all this was once declared by the great-souled sage to the king of Videha for the sake of the highest good.
