Yudhishthira said: “Draupadi! Anger is the slayer of men and is again their
prosper or. Know this, that anger is the root of all prosperity and all
adversity. He that suppresses his anger earns prosperity. That man, again,
who always gives way to anger, reaps adversity from his fierce anger. It is
seen in this world that anger is the cause of destruction of every
creature. How then can one like me indulge his anger which is so
destructive of the world? The angry man commits sin. The angry man kills
even his preceptors. The angry man insults even his superiors in harsh
words. The man that is angry fails to distinguish between what should be
said and what should not. There is no act that an angry man may not do, no
word that an angry man may not utter. From anger a man may slay one that
deserves not to be slain, and may worship one that deserves to be slain.
The angry man may even send his own soul to the regions of Yama. Beholding
all these faults, the wise control their anger, desirous of obtaining high
prosperity both in this and the other world. It is for this that they of
tranquil souls have banished wrath. How can one like us indulge in it then?
Reflecting upon all this, my anger is not excited. One that acts not
against a man whose wrath has been up, rescues himself as also others from
great fear. In fact, he may be regarded to be the physician of the two.
*“If a weak man, persecuted by others, foolishly becomes angry towards men
that are mightier than he, he then becomes himself the cause of his own
destruction*. In respect of the one who thus deliberately throws away his
life, there are no regions hereafter to gain. Therefore, it has been said
that a weak man should always suppress his wrath. The wise man also who
though presecuted, suffers not his wrath to be roused, joys in the other
world, having passed his persecutor over in indifference. It is for this
reason has it been said that a wise man, whether strong or weak, should
ever forgive his persecutor even when the latter is in the straits. It is
for this that the virtuous applaud them that have conquered their wrath.
Indeed, it is the opinion of the virtuous that the honest and forgiving man
is ever victorious.
Truth is more beneficial than untruth; and gentleness than cruel
behaviour. How can one like me, therefore, even for the purpose of slaying
Duryodhana, exhibit anger which has so many faults and which the virtuous
banish from their souls? They that are regarded by the learned of
foresight, as possessed of force of character, are certainly those who are
wrathful in outward show only. Men of learning and of true insight call him
to be possessed of force of character who by his wisdom can suppress his
risen wrath. The angry man sees not things in their true light. The man
that is angry sees not his way, nor respects persons. The angry man kills
even those that deserve not to be killed. The man of wrath slays even his
preceptors. Therefore, the man possessing force of character should ever
banish wrath to a distance. The man that is overwhelmed with wrath acquires
not with ease generosity, dignity, courage, skill, and other attributes
belonging to real force of character.
A man by forsaking anger can exhibit proper energy, whereas, it is
highly difficult for the angry man to exhibit his energy at the proper
time! The ignorant always regard anger as equivalent to energy. Wrath,
however has been given to man for the destruction of the world. The man,
therefore, who wishes to behave properly, must ever forsake anger. Even one
who has abandoned the excellent virtues of his own order, it is certain,
indulges in wrath. If fools, of mind without light, transgress in every
respect, how can one like me transgress?
“If amongst men there were not persons equal unto the earth in forgiveness,
there would be no peace among men but continued strife caused by wrath. If
the injured return their injuries, if one chastised by his superior were to
chastise his superior in return, the consequence would be the destruction
of every creature, and sin also would prevail in the world. If the man who
has ill speeches from another, returns those speeches afterwards; if the
injured man returns his injuries: if the chastised person chastises in
return; if fathers slay sons, and sons fathers and if husbands slay wives,
and wives husbands; then, how can birth take place in a world where anger
prevails so! For, know that the birth of creatures is due to peace! If the
kings also gives way to wrath, his subjects soon meet with destruction.
Wrath, therefore, has for its consequence the destruction and the distress
of the people.
“Because it is seen that there are in the world men who are forgiving like
the Earth, it is therefore that creatures derive their life and prosperity.
One should forgive under every injury. It has been said that the
continuation of species is due to man being forgiving. He, indeed, is a
wise and excellent person who has conquered his wrath and who shows
forgiveness even when insulted, oppressed, and angered by a strong person.
The man of power who controls his wrath, has numerous everlasting regions;
while he that is angry, is called foolish, and meets with destruction both
in this and the other world.
The illustrious and forgiving Kashyapa
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/kashyapa/> has, in this respect,
sung the following verses in honour of men that are ever forgiving:
‘Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice, forgiveness is the Vedas
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/vedas/>, forgiveness is the
Shruti. He that knows this is capable of forgiving everything. Forgiveness
is Brahma <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/brahma/>; forgiveness
is truth; forgiveness is stored ascetic merit; forgiveness protects the
ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is
holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together.
Persons that are forgiving attain to the regions obtainable by those that
have preformed meritorious sacrifices, or those that are well-conversant
with the Vedas, or those that have high ascetic merit. Those that perform
Vedic sacrifices as also those that perform the meritorious rites of Dharma
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/dharma-2/> obtain other regions.
Men of forgiveness, however, obtain those much-adored regions that are in
the world of Brahma. Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is
sacrifice; forgiveness is quiet of mind. How can one like us abandon
forgiveness, which is such, and in which are established Brahma, and truth,
and wisdom and the worlds? The man of wisdom should ever forgive, for when
he is capable of forgiving everything, he attains to Brahma. The world
belongs to those that are forgiving; the other world is also theirs. The
forgiving acquire honours here, and a state of blessedness hereafter. Those
men that ever conquer their wrath by forgiveness, obtain the higher
regions. Therefore, has it been said that forgiveness is the highest
virtue.’
“Those are the verses sung by Kashyapa in respect of those that are
everforgiving. O Draupadi! Having listened to these verses in respect of
forgiveness, content yourself! Give not way to your wrath! Our grandsire,
the son of Shantanu <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/shantanu/>,
will worship peace; Krishna
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/krishna/>, the son of Devaki
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/devaki/>, will worship peace; the
preceptor Drona <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/drona/> and Vidura
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/vidura/> called Kshatri will both
speak of peace; Kripa <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/kripa/> and
Sanjaya <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/sanjaya/> also will
preach peace. Somadatta
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/somadatta/>, Yuyutshu, Drona's
son and our grandsire Vyasa
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/vyasa/>, every one of them speaks
always of peace. Ever urged by these towards peace, the king Dhritarashtra
will, I think, return us our kingdom. If however, he yields to temptation,
he will meet with destruction. A crisis has come in the history of Bharatas
for plunging them into calamity! This has been my certain conclusion from
some time before! Suyodhana deserves not the kingdom. Therefore, he has
been unable to acquire forgiveness. I, however, deserve the sovereignty and
therefore is it forgiveness that has taken possession of me. Forgiveness
and gentleness are the qualities of the self-possessed. They represent
eternal virtue. I shall, therefore, truly adopt those qualities.”
Draupadi said: “I bow down unto Dhatri and Vidhatri who have thus clouded
your sense! Regarding the burden you think differently from the ways of
your fathers and grand-fathers! Influenced by acts men are placed in
different situations of life. Acts, therefore, produce consequences that
are inevitable; emancipation is desired from mere folly. It seems that man
can never attain prosperity in this world by virtue, gentleness,
forgiveness, straight-forwardness and fear of censure! If this were not so,
this insufferable calamity would never have overtaken you who are so
undeserving of it, and these your brothers of great energy! Neither in
those days of prosperity nor in these days of your adversity, you, has ever
known anything so dear to you as virtue, which you have even regarded as
dearer to you than life? That your kingdom is for virtue alone, that your
life also is for virtue alone, is known to Brahmanas and your superiors and
even the celestials! I think you can abandon Bhimasena, Arjuna and these
twin sons of Madri along with myself but you can not abandon virtue! I have
heard that the king protects virtue; and virtue, protected by him, protects
him! I see, however, that virtue protects you not! Like the shadow pursuing
a man, your heart, with singleness of purpose, ever seeks virtue. You have
never disregarded your equals, and inferiors and superiors. Obtaining even
the entire world, your pride never increased!
You ever worshipped Brahmanas, gods, and the Pitris
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/pitris/>, with Swadhas, and other
forms of worship! You have ever gratified the Brahmanas by fulfilling every
wish of theirs! Yatis, Sannyasins and mendicants of domestic lives have
always been fed in your house from off plates of gold where I have
distributed amongst them. Unto the Vanaprasthas you always give gold and
food. There is nothing in your house you may not give unto the Brahmanas!
In the Vishwadeva sacrifice, that is, for your peace, performed in your
house, the things consecrated are first offered unto guests and all
creatures while you live yourself with what remains! Ishtis, Pashubandhas,
sacrifices for obtaining fruition of desire, the religions rites of
domesticity, Paka sacrifices, and sacrifices of other kinds, are ever
performed in your house. Even in this great forest, so solitary and haunted
by robbers, living in exile, divested of your kingdom, your virtue has
sustained no diminution! The Ashvamedha, the Rajasuya, the Pundarika, and
Gosava, these grand sacrifices requiring large gifts have all been
performed by you! Impelled by a perverse sense during that dire hour of a
losing match at dice, you did yet stake and lose your kingdom, your wealth,
your weapons, your brothers, and myself! Simple, gentle, liberal, modest,
truthful, how, could your mind be attracted to the vice of gambling? I am
almost deprived of my sense, and my heart is overwhelmed with grief,
beholding this your distress, and this your calamity!
“An old history is cited as an illustration for the truth that men are
subjects to the will of God and never to their own wishes! The Supreme Lord
and Ordainer of all ordains everything in respect of the weal and woe, the
happiness and misery, of all creatures, even prior to their births guided
by the acts of each, which are even like a seed. As a wooden doll is made
to move its limbs by the string-puller, so are creatures made to work by
the Lord of all. Like space that covers every object, God, pervading every
creature, ordains its weal or woe. Like a bird tied with a string, every
creature is dependent on God. Every one is subject to God and none else. No
one can be his own ordainer. Like a pearl on its string, or a bull held
fast by the cord passing through its nose, or a tree fallen from the bank
into the middle of the stream, every creature follows the command of the
Creator, because imbued with His Spirit and because established in Him. Man
himself, dependent on the Universal Soul, cannot pass a moment
independently. Enveloped in darkness, creatures are not masters of their
own weal or woe. They go to heaven or hell urged by God Himself. Like light
straws dependent on strong winds, all creatures are dependent on God! God
himself, pervading all creatures and engaged in acts right and wrong, moves
in the universe, though none can say this is God! This body with its
physical attributes is only the means by which God, the Supreme Lord of all
makes to reap fruits that are good or bad. Behold the power of illusion
that has been spread by God, who confounding with his illusion, makes
creatures slay their fellows!
Truth-knowing Munis
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/munis/> behold those differently.
They appear to them in a different light, even like the rays of the Sun.
Ordinary men behold the things of the earth otherwise. It is God who makes
them all, adopting different processes in their creation and destruction.
The Self-created Grandsire, Almighty God, spreading illusion, slays his
creatures by the instrumentality of his creatures, as one may break a piece
of inert and senseless wood with wood, or stone with stone, or iron with
iron. The Supreme Lord, according to his pleasure, sports with His
creatures, creating and destroying them, like a child with his toy.
“It does seem to me that God behaves towards his creatures like a father or
mother unto them. Like a vicious person, He seems to bear himself towards
them in anger! Beholding superior and well-behaved and modest persons
persecuted, while the sinful are happy, I am sorely troubled. Beholding
this your distress and the prosperity of Suyodhana, I do not speak highly
of the Great Ordainer who suffers such inequality! What fruits does the
Great Ordainer reap by granting prosperity to Dhritarashtra's son who
transgresses the ordinances, who is crooked and covetous, and who injures
virtue and Dharma! If the act done pursues the doer and none else, then
certainly it is God himself who is stained with the sin of every act. If
however, the sin of an act done does not attach to the doer, then
individual might and not God is the true cause of acts, and I grieve for
those that have no might!”
Yudhishthira said: “Your speech, O Yajnaseni! is delightful, smooth and
full of excellent phrases. We have listened to it carefully. You speak,
however, the language of atheism. I never act, solicitous of the fruits of
my actions. I give away, because it is my duty to give; I sacrifice because
it is my duty to sacrifice! I accomplish to the best of my power whatever a
person living in domesticity should do, regardless of the fact whether
those acts have fruits or not. I act virtuously, not from the desire of
reaping the fruits of virtue, but of not transgressing the ordinances of
the Veda, and beholding also the conduct of the good and wise! My heart is
naturally attracted towards virtue. The man who wishes to reap the fruits
of virtue is a trader in virtue. His nature is mean and he should never be
counted amongst the virtuous. Nor does he ever obtain the fruits of his
virtues! Nor does he of sinful heart, who having accomplished a virtuous
act doubt in his mind, obtain the fruits of his act, in consequence of that
scepticism of his!
I speak unto you, under the authority of the Vedas, which
constitute the highest proof in such matters, that never should you doubt
virtue! The man that doubts virtue is destined to take his birth in the
brute species. The man of weak understanding who doubts dharma, virtue or
the words of the Rishis <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/rishis/>,
is precluded from regions of immortality and bliss, like Sudras from the
Vedas! If a child born of a good race studies the Vedas and bears himself
virtuously, royal sages of virtuous behaviour regard him as an aged sage!
The sinful wretch, however, who doubts dharma and transgresses the
scriptures, is regarded as lower even than Sudras and robbers! You have
seen with your own eyes the great ascetic Markandeya
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/markandeya/> of immeasurable soul
come to us! It is by virtue alone that he has acquired immortality in the
flesh. Vyasa, Vasistha, Maitreya, Narada
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/narada/>, Lomasa, Shuka
<https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/shuka/>, and other Rishis have
all, by virtue alone, become of pure soul! You behold them with your own
eyes as furnished with prowess of celestial asceticism, competent to curse
or bless, and superior to the very gods! These all, equal to the celestials
themselves, behold with their eyes what is written in the Vedas, and
describe virtue as the foremost duty! It beholds you not, therefore, to
either doubt or censure God or act, with a foolish heart.
“The fool that doubts Dharma and disregards virtue, proud of the proof
derived from his own reasoning, regards not other proofs and holds the
Rishis, who are capable of knowing the future as present as mad men. The
fool regards only the external world capable of gratifying his senses, and
is blind to everything else. He that doubts Dharma has no expiation for his
offence. That miserable wretch is full of anxiety and acquires not regions
of bliss hereafter. A rejector of proofs, a slanderer of the interpretation
of the Vedic scriptures, a transgressor urged by lust and covetousness,
that fool goes to hell. He on the other hand, who ever cherishes Dharma
with faith, obtains eternal bliss in the other world. The fool who
cherishes not Dharma, transgressing the proofs offered by the Rishis, never
obtains prosperity in any life, for such transgression of the scriptures.
It is certain, that with respect to him who regards not the words of the
Rishis or the conduct of the virtuous as proof, neither this nor the other
world exists. Doubt not, O Draupadi! the ancient Dharma that is practised
by the good and framed by Rishis of universal knowledge and capable of
seeing all things! Dharma is the only raft for those desirous of going to
heaven, like a ship to merchants desirous of crossing the ocean.
Part 2 20524 21524 KR IRS 20524//21524
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