If chastisement could not inspire fear, then ravens and beasts of prey would have eaten up all other animals and men and the clarified butter intended for sacrifice. If chastisement did not uphold and protect, then nobody would have studied the Vedas, nobody would have milked a milch cow, and no maiden would have married.[38] If chastisement did not uphold and protect, then ravage and confusion would have set in on every side, and all barriers would have been swept away, and the idea of property would have disappeared. If chastisement did not uphold and protect, people could never duly perform annual sacrifices with large presents. If chastisement did not uphold and protect, no one, to whatever mode of life he might belong, would observe the duties of that mode as declared (in the scriptures), and no one would have succeeded in acquiring knowledge.[39] Neither camels, nor oxen, nor horses, nor mules, nor asses, would, even if yoked thereto, drag cars and carriages, if chastisement did not uphold and protect. Upon chastisement depend all creatures. The learned, therefore, say that chastisement is the root of everything. Upon chastisement rests the heaven that men desire, and upon it rests this world also.
Thither where foe-destroying chastisement is well applied, no sin, no deception, and no wickedness, is to be seen. If the rod of ‘chastisement be not uplifted, the dog will lick the sacrificial butter. The crow also would take away the first (sacrificial) offering, if that rod were not kept uplifted. Righteously or unrighteously, this kingdom hath now become ours. Our duty now is to abandon grief. Do thou, therefore, enjoy it and perform sacrifices. Men that are fortunate, living with their dear wives (and children), eat good food, wear excellent clothes, and cheerfully acquire virtue. All our acts, without doubt, are dependent on wealth; that wealth again is dependent on chastisement. Behold, therefore, the importance of chastisement. Duties have been declared for only the maintenance of the relations of the world. There are two things here, viz., abstention from injury and injury prompted by righteous motives. Of these, two, that is superior by which righteousness may be acquired.[40] There is no act that is wholly meritorious, nor any that is wholly wicked. Right or wrong, in all acts, something of both is seen. Subjecting animals to castration, their horns again are cut off.
They are then made to bear weights, are tethered, and chastised. In this world that is unsubstantial and rotten with abuses and rendered painful, O monarch, do thou practise the ancient customs of men, following the rules and analogies cited above. Perform sacrifices, give alms, protect thy subjects, and practise righteousness. Slay thy foes, O son of Kunti, and protect thy friends. Let no cheerlessness be thine. O king, while slaying foes. He that does it, O Bharata, does not incur the slightest sin. He that takes up a weapon and slays an armed foe advancing against him, does not incur the sin of killing a foetus, for it is the wrath of the advancing foe that provokes the wrath of the slayer. The inner soul of every creature is incapable of being slain. When the soul is incapable of being slain, how then can one be slain by another? As a person enters a new house, even so a creature enters successive bodies. Abandoning forms that are worn out, a creature acquires new forms. People capable of seeing the truth regard this transformation to be death.'”
SECTION XVI
Vaisampayana said, “After the conclusion of Arjuna’s speech, Bhimasena of great wrath and energy, mustering all his patience, said these words unto his eldest brother, ‘Thou art, O monarch, conversant with all duties. There is nothing unknown to thee. We always wish to imitate thy conduct, but, alas, we cannot do it!–“I will not say anything! I will not say anything–! Even this is what I had wished! Impelled, however, by great grief I am constrained to say something. Listen to these words of mine, O ruler of men! Through the stupefaction of thy faculties, everything is endangered, and ourselves are being made cheerless and weak. How is it that thou that art the ruler of the world, thou that art conversant with all branches of knowledge, sufferest thy understanding to be clouded, in consequence of cheerlessness, like a coward? The righteous and unrighteous paths of the world are known to thee. There is nothing belonging either to the future or the present that is also unknown to thee, O puissant one! When such is the case, O monarch, I will indicate, O ruler of men, the reasons in favour of your assuming sovereignty. Listen to me with undivided attention. There are two kinds of diseases, viz., physical and mental. Each springs from the other. None of them can be seen existing independently. Without doubt, mental diseases spring from physical ones. Similarly physical diseases spring from mental ones. This is the truth. He that indulgeth in regrets on account of past physical or mental woes, reapeth woe from woe and suffereth double woe. Cold, heat, and wind,–these three are the attributes of the body.[41]
Their existence in harmony is the sign of health. If one of the three prevails over the rest, remedies have been laid down. Cold is checked by heat, and heat is checked by cold. Goodness, passion, and darkness are the three attributes of the mind. The existence of these three in harmony is the sign of (mental) health. If one of these prevails over the rest, remedies have been prescribed. Grief is checked by joy, and joy is checked by grief. One, living in the present enjoyment of this, wishes to recollect his past woes. Another, living in the present suffering of woe, wishes to recollect his past bliss. Thou, however, wert never sad in grief or glad in bliss.[42] Thou, shouldst not, therefore, use thy memory for becoming sad during times of bliss, or glad during times of woe.
It seems that Destiny is all-powerful. Or, if it be thy nature, in consequence of which thou art thus afflicted, how is it that it does not behove thee to recollect the sight thou sawest before, viz., the scantily-clad Krishna dragged, while in her season, before the assembly.[43] Why does it not behove thee to recollect our expulsion from the (Kuru) city and our exile (into the woods) dressed in deerskins, as also our living in the great forests? Why hast thou forgotten the woes inflicted by Jatasura, the battle with Chitrasena, and the distress suffered at the hands of the Sindhu king? Why hast thou forgotten the kick received by the princess Draupadi from Kichaka white we were living in concealment? A fierce battle, O chastiser of foes, like that which thou hast fought with Bhishma and Drona is now before thee, to be fought (however) with thy mind alone. In deed, that battle is now before thee in which there is no need of arrows, of friends, of relatives and kinsmen, but which will have to be fought with thy mind alone.
If thou givest up thy life-breath before conquering in this battle, then, assuming another body, thou shalt have to fight these very foes again.[44] Therefore, fight that battle this very day, O bull of Bharata’s race, disregarding the concerns of thy body, and aided by thy own acts, conquer and identify with thy mind’s foe.[45] If thou canst not win that battle, what wilt be thy condition? On the other hand, by winning it, O monarch, thou shalt have attained the great end of life. Applying thy intellect to this, and ascertaining the right and the wrong paths of creatures, follow thou the course adopted by thy sire before thee and govern properly thy kingdom. By good luck, O king, the sinful Duryodhana hath been stain with all his followers. By good luck, thou too hast attained to the condition of Draupadi’s locks.[46] Perform with due rites and profuse presents the horse-sacrifice. We, are thy servants, O son of Pritha, as also Vasudeva of great energy!'”
SECTION XVII
“Yudhishthira said, ‘Discontent, heedless attachment to earthly goods, the absence of tranquillity, might, folly, vanity, and anxiety,–affected by these sins, O Bhima, thou covetest sovereignty. Freed from desire, prevailing over joy and grief and attaining to tranquillity, strive thou to be happy. That peerless monarch who will govern this unbounded earth, will have but one stomach. Why dost thou then applaud this course of life? One’s desires, O bull of Bharata’s race, are incapable of being filled in a day, or in many months. Desire, which is incapable of gratification, cannot, indeed, be fitted in course of one’s whole life. Fire, when fed with fuel, blazeth forth; when not so fed, it is extinguished. Do thou, therefore, extinguish with little food the fire in thy stomach when it appears. He that is bereft of wisdom seeks much food for his stomach. Conquer thy stomach first. (Thou shalt then be able to conquer the Earth). The earth being conquered, that which is for thy permanent good will then be won by thee.
